Audience Analysis
Know to whom you're speaking!
Know to whom you're speaking!
As speakers we all know the importance of properly preparing our material far enough in advance so we may have sufficient time to rehearse and "fine-tune" our speeches. Unfortunately, this is not enough to assure that your speech or presentation is well received. Your speech preparation must also include gathering information about your audience and their needs. A well prepared speech given to the wrong audience can have the same effect as a poorly prepared speech given to the correct audience. They both can fail terribly.
It is critical that your preparation efforts include some amount of audience analysis. The more you know and understand about your audience and their needs, the better you can prepare your speech to assure that you meet their needs.
Using the word "A-U-D-I-E-N-C-E" as an acronym, here are some general audience analysis categories to consider:
A nalysis - Who are they? How many will be there?
U nderstanding - What is their knowledge/experience of/with the subject?
D emographics - What is their age, sex, educational, cultural, political, socio-economic, religious (etc.) background?
I nterest - Why are they there? Who asked them to be there?
E nvironment - Where will I stand? Can they all see & hear me? Is it too hot/cold/noisy, crowded, etc.?
N eeds - What are their needs? What are your needs as the speaker?
C ustomized - What specific needs do you need to address?
E xpectations - What do they expect to learn or hear from you?
(* Lenny Laskowski, President - LJL Seminars)
It is critical that your preparation efforts include some amount of audience analysis. The more you know and understand about your audience and their needs, the better you can prepare your speech to assure that you meet their needs.
Using the word "A-U-D-I-E-N-C-E" as an acronym, here are some general audience analysis categories to consider:
A nalysis - Who are they? How many will be there?
U nderstanding - What is their knowledge/experience of/with the subject?
D emographics - What is their age, sex, educational, cultural, political, socio-economic, religious (etc.) background?
I nterest - Why are they there? Who asked them to be there?
E nvironment - Where will I stand? Can they all see & hear me? Is it too hot/cold/noisy, crowded, etc.?
N eeds - What are their needs? What are your needs as the speaker?
C ustomized - What specific needs do you need to address?
E xpectations - What do they expect to learn or hear from you?
(* Lenny Laskowski, President - LJL Seminars)