People don’t always embrace ideas that challenge what they’re used to. They need time to warm up to them. A familiarity runway is how you give them that time. You start with what they know, build trust incrementally, and then introduce the big idea—so it feels like a natural next step, not a risky leap.

Today we're talking about how to remove the initial friction that often kills visionary ideas too early.

When you’re pitching something unfamiliar—something that asks people to think or act differently—it won’t just be judged on merit. It’ll be judged on familiarity. Does it fit their existing mental map? Or does it require a stretch?

That stretch might be:

• Conceptual: “This changes how we think about the category”
• Behavioral: “This asks us to act differently"
• Emotional: “This feels riskier than what we’re used to”
• Operational: “This isn’t how we typically allocate resources”

This is where the idea of a familiarity runway comes in. Even if the term’s new to you, the experience isn’t. It’s the stretch of time—or repeated exposures—people need to get comfortable with something new. Not just to understand it, but to trust it and ideally, prefer it.

So if your idea doesn’t slot neatly into how your audience already thinks or behaves, don’t push harder. Build the runway. Give it the space to land.

In today’s edition, we’ll unpack the psychology behind the familiarity runway—and how to use it in your next pitch to get from “What is this?” to “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

The psychology behind the familiarity runway

Presenting a bold idea—a new direction, a creative concept, or a smarter system—means asking your audience to leave the safety of what they know. That alone is enough to trigger resistance.

It doesn’t have to involve major budget or behavior change. Even small shifts can spark hesitation if they challenge your audience’s assumptions, habits, or sense of control.

Three things are at play here:

1. We’re programmed to be cautious: It’s not just personal taste—it’s evolutionary. The brain treats unfamiliar ideas like unfamiliar food: potentially dangerous. That bias shows up as initial skepticism (questioning validity), hesitation (delaying commitment), or deferral (putting off a decision).
2. Familiarity lowers resistance: Research shows we’re more likely to trust, like, and agree with things we’ve seen before, even if only in passing. It’s called the mere exposure effect. Familiarity creates comfort, which creates openness.
3. The brain loves patterns: Our brains are naturally wired to look for and prefer patterns and connections in information.When a new idea aligns with these familiar patterns, it's processed more easily and feels less foreign. That's why using recognizable language, experiences, and examples helps a bold idea land better—it reduces the sense of stepping into completely unknown territory.

That’s the paradox: we say we want innovative ideas—but we’re far more likely to embrace the ones that feel like something we’ve seen before.

Use a gradual reveal to lead people to the big idea

A key thing to understand: the familiarity runway isn’t always built in one meeting. In fact, the bolder the idea, the more likely it is to require a sequence—a progression of conversations, touchpoints, or materials that build confidence over time.

That might look like:

• A kickoff or discovery session to understand your audience’s mindset—what they value, fear, or believe.
• A data or insight share-out to highlight what's not working—using stories, feedback, or numbers that come from the audience themselves or their customers. The goal is to show why change is needed, in language they already trust.
• A directional check-in to preview early thinking in a way that feels familiar (builds on what's already been shared)—whether that’s sharing concept boards, piloting a small piece of the idea, or testing a new tool in one workflow.
• A final concept presentation, where the big idea lands not as a surprise, but as the obvious next step.

You can simulate this sequence in a single presentation—but it takes intention. Lead with what’s known. Highlight the cracks. Offer a glimpse of where you’re going. Then deliver the idea as a natural response to everything that came before.

Wrap-up

A familiarity runway isn’t just a presentation technique, it’s a leadership tool. It's a way to unlock traction—for ideas that are smart but unfamiliar, necessary but unproven.

For executives, directors, and founders, it’s how you guide people—internally or externally—toward bold decisions without triggering resistance. If you’ve ever watched a necessary idea die before anyone even gave it a chance, odds are you hadn’t yet surfaced the pain points, socialized the shift, or shown how the move was rooted in what your audience already knows and feels.

For consultants and solo operators, it’s how you lead the client instead of slipping into the role of an order-taker. If you’ve ever been hired to do something, only to watch the project drift into territory you didn’t recommend and wouldn’t have pitched, the runway was likely what was missing.

It keeps you in the driver’s seat creating the conditions where alignment feels like the obvious result of everything that came before.

The most important question isn’t Did I explain the idea well?​
It’s: Have I built the conditions for my audience to say yes?

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Until next week,
Meghan
Founder, The Good Deck

Have an idea that needs a familiarity runway?​
Email us. We’ll help you map out a familiarity runway in a special newsletter edition next week.

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