“When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason: They’re moved by a desire to touch the audience,” writes Robert McKee in his definitive screenwriting book Story. A great presentation should always include a compelling story that speaks to the audience. But it’s possible to create an exceptional presentation that fails to resonate with the audience because the story didn’t captivate them. So before you begin crafting your presentation’s narrative, be sure that you know your audience.
If you were presenting at a Republican Party convention and you opened your presentation with a story about a family living in Portland, OR, who recycles, composts, drives a Prius, eats only vegetarian and has a gay son, you would leave your audience blank faced with their mouths hanging open. You can tell the most enthralling, significant, moving story ever told and receive a negative, even hostile reaction if it’s told to the wrong audience.
Know your audience’s attitudes, concerns and interests. Do they care about what you are presenting, or must you convince them to care? How much do they already know about your topic? Should you include basic information or skip to more expert information? Are you persuading your audience to take action or are you informing them? Consider all these factors before even beginning to craft your presentation. Address your audience at their level of knowledge, at their level of interest and at their level of familiarity with the topic. Know what they will like and what is likely to keep them interested. Respond and adapt to their reactions. Tell stories specifically tailored to them.
McKee writes that you should never underestimate the smartness of your audience. People generally believe that they’re smarter than what they’re listening to, watching or reading. This is especially true in presentations. Your audience is skeptical and judgmental. They want to hear what you have to say, but they expect it to be something important and influential. A “good story means something worth telling that the world wants to hear,” says McKee. Tell your audience a story that you know they’re going to resonate with. Tell them something you know they’re going to care about.
An article from September 2006 in the New York Times titled “Listen Up. Know Your Audience.” highlights an interesting idea proposed by Thomas P. Mullen and Mala Narain of Park Li Group, a strategy consulting group. They believe that in addition to knowing who your audience is, you need to know how your audience listens. They argue that each audience member emphasizes one of four primary focuses during a presentation: data, structure, vision or the human element. To give a truly effective presentation, you should integrate all four aspects.
Those four focuses can be a good rule of thumb to follow, especially when constructing the overall arc of the entire presentation. Ideally, the story you tell will present the human element of your presentation. It will show the audience why they should care about what you are talking about. The more you know about your audience, the easier you can tailor your story to their heartstrings and the more effective your presentation will become.
What else can you do to know your audience?
