The problem with coming attractions
“Knock, knock…”
That’s not a coming attraction. It’s an invitation. An opening. A bit of tension in terms of closure.
A coming attraction, on the other hand, gives it all away. It says, “here’s a bit of what we’ve got, and the rest of it is just like this, but almost as loud and almost as shiny.”
In the short run, coming attractions work faster. They get you a certain kind of audience and they lead to less disappointment.
But the alternative, the hard work of creating tension and then delivering on it–that’s where our best path lies. It requires trust, not proof, and the patience to find an audience that cares enough to work with you to get to where they’d like to go.
If someone insists on experiencing your experience before you give them the experience, it’s really unlikely you’re going to be able to delight them.