PRESENTATION SKILLS TIP know your audience

Knowing and understanding your audience before you deliver a presentation – whether a trade show or a corporate presentation – is a critical presentation skill.

When you plan your presentation your last consideration might be your audience. And that would be a mistake.

It is in fact the starting point for an effective presentation. You might know your content inside out, but it is only going to be relevant to an audience if you have invested some time to establish relevancy. And that begins with knowing your audience.

Know your presentation audience

Your presentation venue, presentation subject or geographic location will all help in your understanding of an audience. But, much better would be a request for an attendee or delegate list from the organisers.

This should include delegate names, job titles and organisations. If this is your own event, then you are half-way there already.

You can analyse this data to establish an audience profile.

For example: 40% of the audience might have a marketing role, 50% have a general management role and 10% have a finance-related role.

Or, 20% might work in telecoms, 50% work in IT, 30% work in software and 10% are journalists.

Meet your presentation audience's needs

This insight will lead to a better constructed and more effective presentation. You have the opportunity to target your business presentation to the likely needs of an IT/ telecoms audience predominantly working in marketing and general management jobs.

Try to develop profile specific scenarios within your presentation to meet the anticipated needs of the audience. These might be used in the main body of the presentation or perhaps, when you take questions.

This should not be too onerous but it might take some time before you start to commit serious effort to preparing the core of your presentation.

You can pick up more presentation skills tips on a PresentPerfect^TM skills training course.

"All the world is a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and entrances;
Each man in his time plays many parts."

William Shakespeare