One time, I saw someone post on LinkedIn about the concert experience we see today.
People take out their handphones to take a video of what they're experiencing instead of enjoying the show as it is. Interactions are a bit different from what you see in a Queen concert at the old Wembley Stadium. You see Freddie Mercury engaging the crowd like he's the pied-piper telling them what to do. And the first act in the concert hasn't started yet. He's still warming up and vocalizing before getting down to business.
Then it dawned on me, why are we not doing the same thing when it comes to engaging people online? Are we simply out of touch, or is it because we're living in a different time now?
Before we get started, take a look at these videos of the rock band performing during the peak of their career.
The answer is that we've forgotten the art of the conductor. We've become observers behind screens instead of participants in a shared experience.
But here's the truth: Freddie Mercury's 1985 Live Aid performance didn't become legendary because he sang perfectly. It became legendary because he made 72,000 people feel like they were the only person in the room, and simultaneously part of something bigger than themselves. That's the chemistry we need to rediscover.
He also outsourced the singing part in "Love of My Life" at the Rock in Rio 85. There's nothing like it or ever will be. Just one man, telling an even larger crowd of 100,000 people to complete the entire act by letting all those people sing in unison.
Be the Pied-Piper, Not the Passive Performer
Freddie didn't just sing at people, he commanded them. "Ey-oh!" he'd call out, and Wembley would thunder back. That two-second exchange created a relationship.
Online, we're often terrified of asking anything from our audience. We post content and hope for likes, but we don't orchestrate participation.
For personal brands, end your LinkedIn posts with an invitation, not a statement. Instead of "Here's what I learned," try "What's your take?" or "Am I the only one who sees it this way?" Freddie gave the crowd permission to be loud. Give your network permission to disagree, to share, to become visible.
Businesses and companies should stop broadcasting features. Start conducting conversations. When Spotify Wrapped drops, they're not just showing you data. They're actually giving you something to scream about, share, and compare. They're Freddie on stage, microphone pointed at the crowd, letting you sing the chorus. Let them promote your brand with user-generated content because authenticity and resonance matter.
Warm Up Before the Main Act
That pre-show vocalizing wasn't wasted time—it was relationship-building. Freddie was already connecting before the first note. Online, we launch straight into our "content" without warming up the relationship.
Think of your engagement strategy in three simple things:
- The Soundcheck: Comment thoughtfully on others' posts for two weeks before publishing your big thought piece. Show up in their comments. Be curious. Freddie knew every fan's energy mattered before he played.
- The Opening Chord: When you do post, respond to the first five comments within the hour. Those early interactions set the tempo for everything that follows.
- The Encore: Follow up. "Hey Sarah, that point you made about X, I'm writing a follow-up. Can I quote you?" You've just made someone a co-creator.
Make Eye Contact Through the Screen
Freddie's magic was his ability to make you feel seen. Watch any footage, and you will see him constantly scanning, pointing, and connecting with individuals in a sea of faces.
Online, we have the same power if we choose to use it. Tag people specifically (not just @everyone). Take time to reference their work, like "This reminds me of what @jpthehistorian said about..."
Since not everyone engages with you first, and some passive users may stumble upon your content, you might as well acknowledge them. "If you're reading this but never comment, I'm talking to you too."
For brands, this means personalization at scale. When Duolingo's mascot comments on a user's 30-day streak with "We see you, 3am Spanish learner," they're doing Freddie's pointing-at-one-person-in-the-crowd thing. It's scalable intimacy.
Give Them a Chorus They Can Sing
Freddie knew you couldn't hand a crowd a complex solo, so they needed something simple, anthemic, repeatable. "We Will Rock You" is two minutes of stomp-stomp-clap. That's it.
Your online message needs a chorus, too. What's the one sentence your community can repeat? Simon Sinek has "Start with why." Seth Godin owns "Permission marketing." What's your "stomp-stomp-clap"?
Simplify your engagement strategy to one repeatable action. For my newsletter, it's "Hit reply, I'll answer." That's the chorus. People know what to do. They don't need to think. Thinking kills participation. Instinct drives it.
The Show Must Go On (But It Can't Be All Show)
Here's where we separate tribute acts from the real deal. Freddie's vulnerability was his superpower. When he stumbled, he laughed. When he was exhausted, he roared anyway. He wasn't perfect, yet he was present.
In 2017, there was one fascinating scene at Green Day's Revolution Radio Tour at Hyde Park, where a video on stage capturing the crowd as a recorded Queen performance of their classic hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" was being played. Crowd was animated and full of energy even though there was no one on stage. Not even the man himself. Yet, everyone sang the song from start to finish.
The key lesson here is that your engagement strategy fails the moment it becomes performance without humanity. Admit the typo. Share the failure. Respond to criticism with grace, not defense. When Airbnb's CEO posted his "We f*cked up" letter, that was Freddie-level honesty. The crowd doesn't want perfection, they want your presence.
However, you don't want to do serious damage control if you really f-ed up big time. Whatever goes through social media that ends up becoming viral, it's very difficult to undo it. Think about the canoodling cheating couple who got busted in the now infamous Coldplay concert kiss cam. A video was recorded, and the context is not captured. By the time the couple made their statements, it's already too late!
The Final Bow
That moment at Live Aid when Freddie held the crowd in the palm of his hand for 20 minutes? That's what every Zoom call, every social media thread, every brand campaign should aspire to. Not manipulation but magnetism. Not followers but a true, loyal following.
We're not living in a different time. We're just using different apps, tools, and platforms. The principles haven't changed: See your people. Invite their voice. Create a moment worth remembering. Make them feel like they belong to something.
So next time you're about to post, ask yourself: "What would Freddie do?"
He'd drop the phone. He'd point at you. He'd make you sing.
And you'd love every second of it.
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