Building Your Brand Part 2: 8 Characters To Build Your Team Around

Last time, we talked about finding your voice. We failed to answer one very important question, though. What if you have multiple voices in your videos? Finding your voice is one thing, but finding the voice of your team is a completely different battle. In this article, we’ll discuss why variety and balance matters, and discuss some ideas for roles to play.

Have you ever been at an improv comedy night, and everyone is playing it safe? Pretty boring, right? How about a D&D campaign where everyone has lost the plot and turned to full chaos? Might be slightly entertaining, but nothing gets accomplished. Following that D&D analogy, there’s a reason most D&D parties diversify their classes. It keeps the story interesting and moving along. Let’s be honest, no matter how entertaining a party of 6 bards would be, they’re about to get curbstomped by a dragon if they don’t bring some firepower with them.

Ok, so we know we need to diversify our team, but how? What roles should we look at? One of the best ways to build a team is to look at classic heist movie tropes. So, let’s meet The Mastermind, The Squint, The Muscle, The Driver, The Rogue, The Wildcard, and The Fall Guy.

Let’s start from the top, shall we? No team can exist without The Mastermind, and this is a must on any team. They steer the party in the direction of the mission, organize the game plan, and get the ball rolling. Most commonly in the context of a content team, this is the person who runs the channel, or is responsible for creating content planning. They are going to be the most motivated and organized individual on your team.

The Squint is really a catchall for all techie roles on a team. In the context of this conversation, this individual will understand the ins and outs of how things work, and how to make things work to the advantage of the team. They are often a second point of contact to The Mastermind, as they are often the other person on the team with a complete understanding of the plan.

Want something to get done quick? Call The Muscle. In the context of this article, he is your go-to-guy for when you need things done now, but it doesn’t have to be pretty. Often on gaming teams, this is your most experienced, talented gamer.

You can always count on The Driver. Or at least, you had better hope you can, or the mission is dead in the water. In our discussion here, this is the guy you can always count on to show up and deliver. They may not be the best person on your team, at anything really, but they are always available to contribute wherever you need them. While the most basic role on any team, this is arguably the most important, so find a good driver.

The Rogue is another catchall term for all stealth roles on a team. For this discussion, this is the shifty, sneaky, clever one in the group. They are good at what their name implies. They are the sneaky ones, often running “man behind the curtain” ops. This is a role that doubles with others well.

Never underestimate The Wildcard. Really, it’s impossible to estimate them at all! The Wildcard is, at the purest level, an agent of chaos. This is another role that is easy to double with others. They may not have a specialized set of skills, but the mission and the content will never be boring with them around.

Finally, we meet The Fall Guy. This is the more pure, naive, straightforward personality. In comedy, we call this “The Straight Guy” approach. This personality tends to make a great target for The Wildcard’s shenanigans, and can lead to some interesting content. Again, this one can be doubled easily.

Now, it’s worth noting that you don’t need all 8 of these characters on one team, but it’s wise to to diversify, and these classic movie tropes are great places to start for building these personalities. With that said, the most important takeaway from this article is that you need different pieces to complete the mission. If you’ve got a team, who plays what role? Let us know in the #noname-nerd-podcast channel in our discord! You can grab the link at nerdsbelonghere.com. And as always, stay tuned for more great tips and tricks!