Main Character Energy

Every Tuesday, The Productive Disruptive delivers storytelling science, message makeovers, cultural commentary, and a little rebellious hope for anyone still stubborn enough to believe communication can change the world.

Author

Dorian Johnson
September 30, 2025

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A chart haaates to see Public Health coming😂.

A rate. A disparity stat.
A clean little bar graph that says:

“This group right here? They’re getting hit the hardest.”

But allow me to remind you of something you already know...
Stats are literal people.

Each represents someone’s parent, friend, neighbor, student, elder, baby, anything.
So when we reduce communities to cold data,
We miss the full story.
We lose the face, the heartbeat, the name.
We risk missing the protagonist.

And there are so many protagonists we don’t see enough in stories.

Not because they’re not there,
but because they’re often framed as:

  • Communities in crisis

  • Populations “at risk” and “vulnerable”

  • Groups to be studied, not understood

And too often, the stories that do get shared…
Aren’t owned by the people living them.

Because when we:

  • Pull from community stories without full context

  • Choose which parts of people to spotlight (or censor)

  • Try to simply plug pain into a PowerPoint...

The result isn’t clarity.
It’s confusion, frustration, and even mistrust if mishandled.

Protagonists we don’t see enough need to be promoted to Main Character Energy.

Believe it or not, this is a Burger King gif. Go figure.

Main character energy means asking:

  • Who are we centering?

  • Who’s doing the telling?

  • And does this frame honor the people it’s about?

I’m not saying storytelling solves all.
But I am saying it helps people find themselves in the work.

Main Character Energy isn’t just a vibe.
It’s a design choice.

It’s choosing to center people, not just problems.
To cast communities with dignity, not deficit.

And sometimes, that means you’re not the narrator.
Sometimes, your job is to listen, learn, and help steward the story responsibly.

Because if you’re not close enough to the people to tell it right,
You might be co-authoring confusion, not change.

🧠 Story Science Side Note: Story is the vessel. Data is the cargo.

Stats don’t float on their own.
They need something to carry them. That’s what story does.

Neuroscience backs this up.
Stories activate empathy, memory, and emotion.
They help the brain organize and store what matters.
A raw stat might spark a flicker of attention.
But story is what lets the message land and last.

we’ve seen the flip side, too. Pervasive myths got the receipts.

📝 Message Makeover:

Old: “We need to raise awareness about [insert issue here].”

Makeover: “We need to steward stories where others can see their truth reflected, not just collected.

🛠️ The PHacilitator’s Corner:

Give a stat some Main Character Energy!

Pick a stat. Any stat.
Now rewrite it as a 2-sentence mini-story.
But here’s the twist:
It has to center the protagonist with dignity, not deficit.

Honor their agency, their context, their humanity.

Main Character: Lisa didn’t call it control at first, just “sharing locations” and “checking in” like everyone else. But when her phone felt more like a leash than a lifeline, she trusted her gut and muted the whole situation.

Data shows the pattern. Stories show the people. Both matter.

Toodles!

How’d I do?