How can you learn more about an unfamiliar audience before creating your presentation?

An international update to my public speaking tips

Photo by Teemu Paananen on Unsplash

I just finished a trip to Melbourne, where I spoke at Design Leadership 2019. It’s an excellent conference, by the way. It’s run very well, and the organizers and attendees were terrific people to spend a couple of days with.

From the course: Creating and Giving Business Presentations

Identify your audience's knowledge level

- Have you ever sat in an audience too embarrassed to admit that you have no clue what the speaker is talking about? Or the opposite which makes it painfully difficult to stay focused when the speaker is covering the very basic concepts which you learned ages ago. This happens often when speakers don't really consider the fundamental question about their audiences. What do they know, and what do they not know about the topic? If your group knows very little about your topic or if your topic is technical or unfamiliar process, you want to simplify the explanation to the most common denominator. If your audience is unfamiliar with your topic, relate it to something they do know, and help them connect the dots. Avoid acronyms or terms the group may be unfamiliar with. For example, when Katie first starts talking about KinetEco creating business relationships in Brazil and she knows that someone in her office is unfamiliar with where Brazil is, she may say Brazil is the largest country in the Latin American region bordering both the North and South Atlantic Ocean while she shows a familiar world map and zooms in on the region. When your audience is familiar with your topic, then it's safe to use insider language and make comparisons that are common to the group. Even if you're coming into this group to make a presentation, take the time to find out what that insider language is. Consider using the experts in the room. There are times when you will be presenting a topic in front of a group that maybe knows more about it than you do. What do you do with those folks? Recognize them, and use them as part of your presentation. In Katie's case, we know that the audience is familiar with entering Canada and Mexico. Because of that content knowledge, Katie can reference transit time being longer with Brazil compared to Mexico. She also knows that one of the managers in the office is married to a Brazilian. If he's in the meeting, she can ask him to share a story or anecdote on cultural differences between the two countries. The more time you spend researching your audience's knowledge level, the smoother your presentation will be. If it's not possible for you to get this information beforehand, be prepared for a mixed audience, and get there early to ask clarifying questions. When you present to a mixed audience, refer to both high and low content knowledge audience members. For example, you can say for the ones of you who are hearing about this for the first time, and then explain a little bit about the term. Or you can say for some of you, this is new, and reference the connection to what they do know. Take time and think through who will be in the room in your next presentation. Be sure you stay in sync with everyone there, and be prepared to juggle their level of knowledge.

Contents

Verified Answer and Explanation

Explanation

itur laoreet. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Fusce dui lectus, congue vel laoreet ac, dictum vitae odio. Donec aliquet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam lacinia pulvinar tortor nec facilisis. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Fusce dui lectus, congue vel laoreet ac, dictum vitae odio. Donec aliquet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit

Sample Response

facilisis. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Fusce dui lectus, congue vel laoreet ac, dictum vitae odio. Donec aliquet. Lorem ipsum

Design an effective introduction

Engage the audience — get them interested, give them a reason to listen. How?
  • Describe a scene or a character.
  • Tell a story.
  • Share a personal experience.
  • Relate to a recent event.
  • Piggyback on a previous speaker’s remark or theme.
  • Point out something important about the audience or the current setting.
  • Show a compelling visual image.
  • Ask a provocative question.
  • State a fact that is troubling, amusing, or remarkable.
  • Spell out what's at stake for your listeners.
  • Offer a humorous observation or anecdote.
  • Explain your own interest in the topic.
  • Tell listeners what the topic has to do with them.
Focus the presentation—tell listeners what it’s about. State the presentation’s goal or your thesis or research question. Tell listeners what they’ll learn.
Preview what’s to follow—your points, your approach, or the type of content.

Gear your content to your listeners’ knowledge, experience, and interests

  1. Define unfamiliar terms.
  2. Use concrete, specific examples to illustrate points. Tell stories.
  3. Make statistics meaningful: Use graphics to help clarify numerical data. Round off big numbers. Interpret stats, translate them into human terms. Make comparisons.
  4. Use analogies to relate the unknown to the known. (“It’s kind of like...”)
  5. Build audience involvementby making your subject immediate, personal, and local.
    • Connect to the here-and-now.
    • Refer to your listeners’ experience. Mention your own experience.  Personalize the subject when that’s appropriate.
    • Highlight the local angle—a person, a place, an event. Bring it home.
       

Guide your listeners

  1. Use previews and summaries.
    • Previews tell listeners what's coming next or how you're going to develop a point. For instance, in a discussion of why discrepancies exist between cars’ EPA gas mileage ratings and actual gas mileage, you might say “First I’m going to explain how the EPA arrives at its numbers. Then I’ll explain how the Consumers Union conducts its tests.”
    • Summaries remind listeners of what's important in what was just covered. A summary is especially useful in reframing or refocusing the discussion after a string of supporting details or after any fairly lengthy discussion of a point.
  2. Use signposts and transitions.
    • Signposts are words or phrases such as “In the first place...,” “The second issue is...,” “The key argument is...,” etc. They tell the audience where they are in the presentation and flag what’s important to note or remember.
    • Transitions make sure no one gets left behind when you move from one point to the next. They show how pieces of content relate to one another and to your thesis; they tie things together and improve “flow.” Transitions in oral presentations often must be more obvious than those used in writing. They tell listeners not only that you’re moving on but also where you’re going next. Changes in body position, gestures, and voice can help listeners recognize a transition.

Use language that is clear to the ear

  1. Avoid vague pronoun references. These are bad in writing but terrible in speech.  Listeners don't have the option of looking back over the text to figure them out.
  2. Similarly, avoid words like “respectively” (as in “John, Ashley, and Tamika represented the Departments of Economics, Biology, and English, respectively.”) and “the former...the latter” (as in “You can purchase beef that is either dry-aged or wet-aged. Professional chefs know that, for the best steaks, you want the latter.”)  Like pronouns, both of these constructions require the audience to remember certain details in order to understand a later reference to them. The problem is that listeners may not have paid close enough attention to the earlier details; they didn't realize they'd be “tested” on them later. Whenever you’re tempted to use this type of verbal device, ask yourself, “If I had only my ear to depend on and heard it only once, would I get it?”

Design an effective conclusion

  1. Summarize and refocus. Recap the main points or arguments you’ve covered.  Reiterate your purpose, thesis, or research question. Reinforce what’s important for the audience to take away from your presentation.
  2. Close. Create closure, a sense of finality. Here you can use many of the same kinds of devices suggested for openings. You can even return to exactly the same anecdote, quotation, or remark you used at the beginning—and give it a twist. Other approaches are to lay down a challenge, look to the future, or simply to firmly restate your basic conclusion or recommendation. Avoid introducing new evidence or opening a new line of argument.

How will you deliver a presentation when you encounter unfamiliar audience?

5 Ways to Woo an Unfamiliar Audience.
1) Contact the Person Who Hired You. When you don't know your audience, your first step should be to speak with someone who does. ... .
2) Conduct Preliminary Research on the Attendee List. ... .
3) Remember Your Own Message. ... .
4) Remember Those Benefits. ... .
5) Use Stories..

How do you analyze an unfamiliar audience?

One of the main goals of presenting is to know your audience so that you can establish a connection with them. We call this audience analysis..
What is the overall mood/culture? ... .
What are they most proud of? ... .
What language do they use?.

What should you do if your audience is not knowledgeable about your topic?

If your audience is unfamiliar with your topic, relate it to something they do know, and help them connect the dots. Avoid acronyms or terms the group may be unfamiliar with.

Which delivery method is best for persuasive business presentations?

The best delivery method for persuasive business presentations is the speak extemporaneously. This means without notes and generally speaking freely. The reason for this is due to the fact that it establishes credibility within the creator of the presentation.