In our Developing Presentation Content blog post, we mentioned how important it is to know your audience and how it’s crucial to create a clear profile of the crowd you’ll be addressing. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the idea of tailoring your message to your audience.
Understanding who you are speaking to will help you to modify your presentation in the following ways:
Tone of voice
Do you want to be formal, or relaxed? A younger audience might appreciate a more casual, conversational tone, whereas an older or more professionally oriented audience might expect you to be more conservative.
Prior knowledge
Is your audience going to know a little about your subject already, or are they totally new to your material? You don’t want to risk boring your audience with things they already know, or alienating them by speaking over their heads.
Hostility
Does your audience have negative feelings towards you, your organisation, or your stance? If so, you’ll need to think very carefully about how neutralise their hostility and win them over to your way of thinking.
Segmentation
You might have a range of different types of people in your audience. In this case, you’ll need to segment your audience into logical groups, and tailor different parts of your message to each one.
Decision makers
If your goal is to have your audience buy something or adopt an idea, make sure you’re tailoring your content to the people who have the power to enact the changes you’re proposing, or buy the products that you’re selling.
Once you understand who you’re speaking to, you’ll be able to create a presentation which really connects with your audience and inspires them to act.