Create An Audience Profile
Create An Audience Profile
To succeed in business it is necessary to make others see things as you see them.
– John H. Patterson
Introduction
Preparation is essential for good public speaking. The better prepared you are, the more assured you will be. Identifying your audience is the first step in preparation. What do you know about your target demographic? What is it that they are concerned about? What’s the most essential thing to them? Do they have any misunderstandings regarding what you’re talking about? These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself as part of your research. Sitting down and writing down the questions and your responses will provide you with a basic structure for your speech, around which you can add and remove elements as needed.
The most crucial aspect of every public speech is to keep the audience’s attention and address to their concerns. It’s not only about what you say, but how you say it as well. If you want to get a point across, consider how that message will be best communicated to the audience you’re speaking to.
Warm Up Exercise
This warm-up exercise is designed to get you thinking about the subject of public speaking. Consider the most powerful presentation or speech you’ve ever witnessed. What made it so successful? How did the speaker get and keep the audience’s attention? Why did you have such a favorable opinion of the speaker? Take a few moments to jot down your thoughts. Keep this in mind when you try to come up with practical applications for the tools and approaches we’ve spoken about.
Conducting a Needs Assessment
Thinking about the audience’s interests and needs should be the first step in speech preparation. What are their interests? What is it that they are concerned about? People will not give you their complete attention unless you are speaking about something that is relevant to them, no matter how engaging you are as a speaker.
Early in your speech, you should strive to let the audience know that you will try to answer their issues. A speaker’s introduction to a topic is frequently accompanied by a lengthy description of the topic’s history or background. Usually, that isn’t what the audience is interested in! They’re curious about how this issue will affect their life.
A needs analysis determines what the audience requires based on their understanding of the topic. It explains how to offer the appropriate training or talk at the appropriate moment. The findings provide answers to the following questions:
(1) Who is the target audience for the issue or need for change?
(2)What tasks and subtasks does an expert perform to complete a work process?
(3) What are the differences in performance between experts, average, and poor workers in a work process?
(4) How do we translate needs into objectives in order to achieve a successful learning outcome?
The method can be simple observation, careful note taking, and asking questions.
| Question | Methods |
| Audience? | Interview important stakeholders and listen to their issues and concerns. Determine who requires assistance to solve the situation. Determine and characterize the target audience as well as the work. |
| Tasks? | Examine the work of seasoned professionals.
Take detailed notes and, if necessary, ask questions. Keep track of how well the work duties were completed. |
| Gaps? | Observe how other employees complete the jobs. Compare your results to those of professionals. Make a list of the skills gaps you’ve discovered. |
| Outcome? | Make a detailed list of all the tasks that must be completed in order to accomplish the job entirely and appropriately. |
Creating a Profile of Your Audience
Education: You can employ a very sophisticated vocabulary if your audience is well informed. You should keep things simple if they aren't.
Topic Familiarity: What do people already know about the topic, and what do you need to explain?
Jargon knowledge: Don't use specialized jargon unless you're confident that everyone in the audience will comprehend it. If you must use a technical term, be sure you explain it.
Topic Interest: What do people care about? What's the most essential thing to them?
Jargon knowledge: Don't use specialized jargon unless you're confident that everyone in the audience will comprehend it. If you must use a technical term, be sure you explain it.
Topic Interest: What do people care about? What's the most essential thing to them?
Potential Misconceptions: What misconceptions do you need to correct?
People's attitudes: Are they antagonistic, supportive, interested, or concerned? The tone of your speech will be influenced by the audience's attitude.
The register in which written or spoken language is given is one of the most essential aspects of it. According to experts, there are three types of language registers: R1, R2, and R3.
R1 is the most prevalent level of language used by politicians and attorneys, as well as the upper-market range of publications.
R2 is the most usually utilized by individuals in regular communication with strangers and acquaintances (outside a framework of formality).
R3 is a register that is primarily rooted upon slang and may be used amongst close friends.
The register you choose will be determined by how educated your audience is and how formal you want the speech to sound. The audience's knowledge with the issue, as well as their interest in it, will be important. You may be attempting to educate your audience on the subject at hand, or you may be attempting to express your own views to an audience that is already knowledgeable about the subject. Deciding between these can help shape your speech - if they are acquainted with the issue, it doesn't harm to add some jargon, as this may make your speech a little more lively – if you don't have to explain things over and over, you can transmit concepts more effectively. It's also crucial to consider your audience's attitude and viewpoint. It will affect the tone and substance of your speech, as a fearful or concerned audience will need some reassurance, whilst a joyous audience would want to enjoy a good, energizing mood and maybe hear some compliments. When one person speaks to a big group of people, they are in a unique position: they have the attention of many people and the ability to communicate ideas that will affect people's thoughts and behaviors on a broad scale. As a result, it's important to think about how you say things and to rectify any repeated misunderstandings you're aware of.
Identifying the Most Important Questions and Concerns
You can usually foresee the primary questions and concerns that your audience will have if you have a decent grasp of them. You may not be able to offer the audience the answers they want, but at the very least, you should be prepared to cover the topics that are most important to them. Many speeches nowadays are followed by a question and answer session in which the audience can raise any issues they don’t feel have been adequately addressed by the original speech – but it’s better for the audience if those concerns are addressed in the original speech, as it shows that they’ve been thought through rather than addressed “on the fly.” It should be simple to anticipate inquiries and concerns. If you are in a position to speak to a wider number of individuals, you are likely to be familiar with the challenges that they face and how to address them. It is also feasible to get a sense of what people “on the ground” are concerned about. It’s possible that you share those worries and have considered how to solve them. If you can talk intellectually and passionately about the topics that affect your audience, they will have a lot more faith in your ability to assist them solve problems and that their viewpoint is acknowledged and valued. Make a list of the five most inquisitive questions you anticipate people to ask before giving a speech or presentation. Your presentation should next focus on both addressing those concerns and presenting your own point of view. When giving the speech, it’s a good idea to acknowledge that these issues exist by stating something like, “And before I go any further, I’d want to mention one subject that I know has been forefront on many people’s minds…” Given that the audience is paying attention to you, it is only fair that you acknowledge that they are paying attention to you as well.
Practical Application
Brian went to meet with Frank at lunch, and Brian asked him. “How’s speech writing going?”
Frank said, “To be honest? I have no idea how to even get started.”
Brian nodded, understanding. “Have you performed a needs analysis?”
Frank asked, “What’s a needs analysis?”
Brian said, “You ask yourself questions, like, ‘Where is the audience with the need for change?’ and ‘How do we translate those needs into objectives to promote a strong learning outcome?’ It’s about asking yourself what your audience is looking for, and starting from there.”
Frank said, “That might be just the jumpstart I need to get this speech started.”
Brian emailed Frank a document outlining the steps of a needs analysis, and Frank used the points to help write the outline of his speech.
