Life can be incredibly demanding with people experiencing an increase in pressure from work, school and social obligations. This, combined with the endless opportunities we have today, leads to many people feeling anxious and stressful. It's not completely incomprehensible that motivational speakers spring up like mushrooms, because honestly, who can’t use a little bit of guidance in their life every now and then?

Someone who knows exactly how to offer motivational guidance to his followers is Prince Ea. This spoken-word artist has over 2.2 million followers on Instagram, including celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Queen Latifah, who praise his work and content. Prince Ea doesn’t only know how to reach people via Social Media, but he also gives inspiring presentations and speeches at schools and universities all over the USA. How does he manage to move people with his work every single time and what roads did he walk to get where he is today? This article will not only answer these questions, but will also identify what you, as a content creator, can learn from Prince Ea and how you can emotionally affect your followers with your content.

The rise of Prince Ea

Prince Ea successfully studied Anthropology and wanted to make it in the music industry for a long time. He once mentioned that he wanted to become the best rapper of all time. While chasing this dream, he kept comparing his work to the music of others in the industry, which resulted in pain and distress. For this reason, he decided to give new meaning to his life and stopped making music. He told himself that he wanted to be happy, which may sound simple, but can be difficult to achieve.

That is why Prince Ea studied everything on how to become happy, from reading ancient books on happiness to studying modern views on spirituality and mindfulness. He mentioned that “through literature and introspection I realized that “doing” will never make me happy, it's only in “being” where happiness and peace arise. Another huge realization was of the limited number of breaths that each of us is taking on this planet. This realization of the brevity of life was what led me to create the content I produce now. I am grateful for every moment, every unrepeatable miracle, and while I’m here I want to reach every single heart on the planet to show them that at our core we are Love, we are free, and we are one.”

He decided to share this awareness with others in the shape of motivational and inspirational content on Social Media. His channels rapidly developed into a huge success, because he managed to move people with his words. The image below shows an example of the responses and praise he receives from his followers on a daily base.

What can you learn from Prince Ea?

Whether you create content to inspire others or create content with a different goal, the objective of emotionally moving your followers with your content is always good. This doesn’t mean that your content is only successful when it leaves your followers crying on the couch or completely changes their lives. Touching your followers’ emotions can be done in various ways. We have analyzed the content of Prince Ea and, based on his work, we drew the following lessons for you as a content creator.

#1 Stay true to yourself

The number one lesson in how to emotionally touch your followers with your content is to stay true to yourself at all times. We admit that it might sound a bit cliché, but it's essential for every creator out there. When looking at the content of Prince Ea you can feel the sincerity in his work. It almost feels like every piece of content is something exciting that he's been waiting to share with the world, which gives his content an extra amount of strength and conviction.

We all remember the time when we were in school and had to debate with classmates on a topic picked by the teacher. Even if you didn’t agree with the specific topic, you had to construct your arguments and use your power of persuasion to win the debate. The same goes for creating content. Think of the message that you want to convey with your content, make sure that this message is part of you and what you stand for in life. Communicate your message with passion as if it's the last piece of work you will publish for the rest of your life.

The power of persuasion in communicating your message can make or break the success of your content. No one will feel motivated, inspired or entertained when a certain message is not transmitted enthusiastically. Communication expert Tony Robbins, therefore, says: “The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives”.

In the case of content creators, this will also strongly influence the quality of the content. Any creator can move their followers emotionally and should not resort to recreating tricks, based on the work of others. Therefore it is important to stay true to yourself and not let yourself get distracted by trends, reactions or other external influences.

#2 Take a clear standpoint in your work

The second lesson that we can draw from the work of Prince Ea is to take a clear standpoint in your work, especially in this day and age where the internet is filled with different opinions, influences, and perspectives. It is important to decide for yourself what you stand for as a creator and how you project this in your content. Like Jonathan Ellery says: “Be fearful of mediocrity”. See every piece of content as a contribution to a larger message that you find worthy of repeatedly communicating to the world.

Prince Ea knows exactly how to incorporate this in his content. Because he is fully aware of his vision and what he stands for, his content can work very well for specific groups of people. Understandably, not everyone will like every piece of content that you create, which is not a bad thing. Negative responses to your content or the message that you are trying to convey can ignite a dialogue that will further develop your skills as a creator.

The main takeaway here is that people who share your views are more likely to become fans of your work when you take a clear standpoint. This is hard to achieve when people can’t make heads or tails of your opinions or standpoints in life.

#3 Be creative with consistency

Another ‘method’ that Prince Ea successfully applies in his work is the creative use of consistency. As you might know, it's important to remain consistent with the content you post on Social Media. This includes consistency in the time frame of your content, in the quality of your content and the main message of your content. Because this can have a positive effect on the algorithms of various Social Media platforms and the development of expectations of your online followers. However a focus on consistency in your content can negatively affect the creativity and variety of your work. Being consistent in your work doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t add an element of surprise to your content.

Prince Ea has a perfect balance between consistency and variety in the content he posts. For example, he describes his work in his Instagram bio in only two words: ‘Motivation & Self-Love. With these words, he wants to announce that all his content is created around these two concepts. This creates a layer of consistency in his work, while at the same time it allows him to add several sub-themes for additional variety in his work.

When you identify a clear main theme in your work, it's easier to incorporate smaller sub-themes that support your main theme, but also ensure a certain amount of variation in your work. For instance, Prince Ea can create content concerning marriage, education or the human mindset. These are all various sub-themes that he uses to communicate his vision on motivation and self-love.

So, we advise you to be specific in what you stand for as a creator and to consistently communicate about this, so people will recognize the signature of your work. At the same time, stay creative and allow yourself to process a certain degree of creative expression in your work through sub-themes. 

We encourage every content creator to take a look at the work of Prince Ea and think for yourself how you can get closer to your followers and move them with your vision and your content. If you would like to learn more about the various methods that you can apply to take your content to the next level, check out our article on Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York.