Bright Consultancy

Communication Skills Tip #1: Meet the Needs of Your Audience

Have you ever been to a presentation that was disappointing?  In what way did it disappoint you?

Most of us, when we think about presentations, put performance pressure on ourselves.  Actually, giving the right talk for the audience is more important.

I remember, years ago, booking a day out of the office to travel to attend a trade show relevant to my work.  My entire decision to attend was based on an enticing presentation.  The blurb suggested that the speaker would be sharing critical information that would fill a major knowledge gap that I had at the time.  Well, you can guess what happened.  The presentation was a waste of time.  The speaker seemed to be talking about something completely different from what I’d been expecting.  More than that, the information he was sharing, although interesting, wasn’t meeting my needs.  Most of us have attended at least one presentation like this.  So what’s the solution?

It’s helpful to think about any documents and presentations you create from your audience’s perspective. Take time to think about what they will want to know about. If you don’t know what they want, find out.  What is the information they are interested in? What are they expecting to hear about from you?  Imagine two overlapping circles. One circle is you; everything that you want to communicate in your document or presentation. The other circle is your audience, whether an individual or a group; everything they want to know about after listening to you or reading your writing. Concentrate your presentation or document in the area where the two circles overlap. This allows you to constructively meet the needs of your audience without introducing unnecessary and distracting information.

Tags: Communication skills, Preparing a great presentation, Presentation skills, Presentation structure, Presentation Tips, Presenting a workshop, Tips for Coaches, Tips for presenting