For the first time in your career, you’ve been asked to give a speech on a topic you have mastered at an upcoming conference. The idea is both exciting and terrifying. You can envision some of the best speakers you have seen and immediately want to be successful like them. Then, as you think about it a little longer, you start to remember some of the horrible presentations you have endured and start to wonder how you avoid being one of “those” speakers.
Now the reality sets in. To achieve success, you are going to have to prepare. As a first step, it’s time to grab the keyboard and start writing the speech — or is it? Based on years of experience as a corporate event producer, we know that every successful presentation — whether it’s a speech, video, interactive project or exhibit — starts with defining the audience and objective. The objective is usually the easy part, depending on what you were asked to speak about. It’s likely defined in the assignment or request and is something you are considered to have expertise in.
Now, defining the audience — that sounds like somebody else’s job. But wait! Remember that thought process about being one of the best presenters your audience has seen and not one of “those” speakers? Understanding your audience is the key to succeeding in that measure. If the people sitting in the audience can relate to you, they are much more likely to receive (or accept) your message supporting the presentation objective. For them to relate to you, you must relate to them.
So, how do you do that? Remember that thing mom and dad always said when you were a kid: “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason; listen twice as much as you speak.” But you can’t really do that on stage. For this to work, you have to do the listening before you ever get to the venue.
We have worked with a lot of speakers through the years and inevitably, the most successful — the ones who get the highest survey ratings — are the ones who invest the most energy in learning about the audience prior to their presentation. Frequently, even before the contracts are signed, the presenter starts asking us, as well as the executive sponsors of the presentation, lots of questions about current audience composition and perceptions on the topic to be addressed. Many of the best speakers want to explore those questions at several levels. After all, the executive or leader who is asking for the presentation is often several layers removed from the audience members who are expected to receive the message and act on it.
Therefore, interviewing a sampling of the audience members and/or their immediate supervisors inevitably brings a new perspective to the presentation. If you are being contracted as a speaker from outside the organization you are addressing, your point of contact will likely be able to help arrange a conference call or similar function to provide you with access to the appropriate people.
Before that event, draft questions to better understand the work people do, the terminology they use, the challenges they face day to day, the things they find most helpful and the things they would like to see change. For instance, you might ask “What are the biggest challenges that hinder you from getting your job done?” or “What would you change about the process in your work area that would lead to more efficiency?” Of course, the questions should be specific and relate to the subject to be addressed.
Then, as you have the conversation, listen carefully to the responses you get and ask follow-up questions to assure that you have gained a clear understanding. If note-taking isn’t your forte, you may even ask to record the conversation so you have all of this information as reference while you’re preparing your presentation.
Armed with this insider perspective, you can start to envision yourself as a presenter in the audience’s shoes and consider, if you were listening to this presentation, what preconceived notions might you have? What are the touchpoints that will indicate you have taken the audience’s day-to-day experiences into consideration? What objections might audience members have to accepting the objective you are presenting?
Most audiences will also share a familiar language based on common experiences that they share. In the presentation business, for example, the appropriate term for “audience” varies depending on the situation. A conference or corporate meeting has attendees, a museum has guests and a political event includes voters. As you can see, there are many ways to identify the same constituents depending on the circumstance. Taking this example into account in developing your presentation, you need to understand the unique lingo that the audience takes for granted and use it appropriately.
Customizing the presentation to help the audience feel that you, as a speaker, “get” them is a major key to success. This process certainly adds work to the job of putting the presentation together, but the outcome is that you are perceived as credible and not coming from the “ivory tower.” That perception goes a long way toward achieving the desired objective for the sponsor and earning you the reputation of being a great presenter.