Ready to knock’ em dead? Make sure you know who the “em” is!
To make sure you really know your audience, effective presenters spend a good deal of time learning about their audience. To do this, they ask themselves questions until they have a clear idea of who they are communicating with and what’s important to them. These questions include:
- How well do they know English (assuming this is the preferred language)?
- What are my audience’s main business issues and concerns?
- Why should listeners/the audience hear my message?
- What does my audience already know about the topic? What don’t they know?
- What is my audience’s perception of me and my topic? Do audience members agree with my viewpoint, or do they need to be persuaded?
- How technically knowledgeable are they?
- What does my audience want from me and what do I want from them as a result of giving my message?
Once you know the audience, select the communication method and format and tailor the language, tone, and style that is most appropriate for the audience you are trying to reach.
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