Know Your Audience-How EXACTLY Do You Do That?

Your host, Doug Staneart of Fearless Presentations explains what it means to Know Your Audience.Listen to any speaking coach, go to any Toastmasters, attend any presentation seminar, you will hear a single phrase over and over. “Know your audience.” Sounds really good too. When we hear the phrase, we think, “Well, of course. That makes sense.” But what exactly does “know your audience mean?” Is there a formula to help a speaker know his or her audience better?Well, yes, there is. In fact, every presenter should use this formula before creating any speech or any PowerPoint slide. Because the answers that you get from following the formula will greatly change what content you cover in your presentation. The answers will also allow you to change your delivery so that your audience is more likely to agree with you. (Buy what you are selling.)The concept of “know your audience” can be confusing. When a lot of presenters hear this, they think of it in the context of what not to say versus presentation design. For instance, I shouldn’t tell the off-color joke in church. Or, this is a very technical audience, so I need to cover lots of details. Or, this audience of executives just wants an overview.All of those alterations are superficial and miss the point of the concept. Basically, to really know your audience, there are four things that you want to uncover.First, Know the Primary Problem that Your Audience Is Trying to Solve.Next, Identify the Non-Negotiable Items that Your Audience (Buyer) Requires.Then, Try to Identify Any Additional Items the Audience May Want, But Won’t Make or Break the Agreement.Finally, Find Out the Emotional Motive that Would Cause the Audience to Take Action.When we start designing a presentation, we often don’t have thorough answers to all of these questions. So often, we have to alter and adjust on the fly as we discover more about our audience. However, if you ask the right questions to the right people ahead of time, you will have fewer of these adjustments.For full show notes, visit Know Your Audience before Designing Your Presentationhttps://www.fearlesspresentations.com/know-your-audience-before-designing-your-sales-presentation/