Public Speaking & Interviews: Understanding Your Audience
Speaking to groups and participating in interviews or presentations is not just a task, but a joyous opportunity to connect with new people, share my passion, and increase individual awareness in the community. If you're not yet involved in public speaking, I highly encourage you to do so. The satisfaction of helping others and the joy of connecting with them goes beyond the thrill of writing and publishing.
The first and foremost thing to know, and the core of this article, is the significance of understanding your audience. This understanding is not just a tool but a key to delivering presentations that are useful, memorable, and entertaining and also deeply considerate of the audience's needs.
When I first get a speaking job, the first thing I do is begin to thoroughly research who I am going to be speaking with. I want to know as much as I can about them. I talk mostly about writing, filmmaking, productivity, the publishing and entertainment businesses, and self-improvement, and to do that, it is helpful to me to understand their age, gender, professional level, cultural background, values, interests, what I think they might want to walk away from the presentation knowing, needs, motivations, familiarity with the topic, their ultimate goals, and how my presentation can solve those problems as universally as possible for that group of listeners or participants.
For instance, if I speak to a group of professionals, I'll use industry-specific jargon and case studies. On the other hand, if I'm addressing a writer's group, I'll use more casual language and personal anecdotes. I do the above by asking the event’s organizer very pointed questions. What are your group's expectations for this discussion or presentation? Who have you had to appear before your group before? What specific problems or challenges are members of your group or audience facing? What sort of tone and format is the group most familiar with? It makes a difference as to whether I am speaking to a group of professionals wearing business attire and expecting formality or a writer’s group that is meeting in someone’s living room on a Saturday all casually dressed. You may have your speech, but its delivery is never a one-size-fits-all. You must know your audience so they can connect with you in the way most beneficial to them.
Sometimes, if the podcaster or group has a website or a social media presence, I’ll look at those to determine the group's “feel.” How they present themselves to the community tells me a lot about how I need to present myself to them for them to be comfortable and receptive. I wear a jacket at work almost every day, but based on what I see about their group or organization, you may also see me showing up with a tie.
Once I have performed my discovery work, which includes researching the audience demographics, understanding their needs and challenges, and familiarizing myself with their industry or interests, I’ll begin work on my presentation tailored just to their group. I might use the foundations of presentations I’ve given before, but I’ll tweak those to align perfectly with the group. I’ll do this by using industry anecdotes or case studies related to their industry or interests to connect with them where they are. My goal is to solve their problems, not promote myself, so I’ll look at issues that affect them and work those into the presentation to hit their pain points and offer practical solutions. Identifying the problem is never enough. For an effective presentation or interview, you need to come bearing solutions.
Audiences of interviews or presentations love personal stories that you’ve had that relate to what is being discussed. I think about my life and experiences and find narrations of my own experiences, either in the problem my audience has or how I solved an ongoing problem that the audience and I must deal with. These things give me the foundation for the presentation. Sometimes, I’ll prepare a PowerPoint presentation if that is usually expected of their group. Otherwise, I’ll simply appear and talk or present.
I’m always willing to veer off script, and you must be comfortable as a speaker to do this. If you haven’t spoken much, I’d stick with the script, but as your comfort level increases and you start enjoying presenting or talking to a great extent, you’ll feel relaxed enough to take side roads if the occasion offers it. I’ve been speaking publicly for decades (I’ve tallied and talked to over one million people live in person in my career, which is just crazy but true). I feel comfortable on stage. I feel comfortable doing impromptu presentations, even. When you get to that point, watch your audience. As you speak, there are things they will do that will help you understand them and gauge whether you are on target.
One of the things I look for is nonverbal feedback. I can tell when they are scribbling notes or leaning forward that I’m on the right track. If they look like they are getting drowsy, then I need to change course, which I do. Sometimes, I will involve them to get them to interact and participate in the unfolding of the presentation by asking questions specifically of some of the audience members or asking for a show of hands. I’m always ready to shift my presentation if the nonverbal cues coming to me are not what I expect them to be.
I’ve found the two main things audiences want are information and hope. I constantly try to uplift them while being honest about the subject we’re speaking about. I give them validation by reiterating their struggles and repeating their aspirations to show them that I truly understand them and their needs. I offer them solutions to empower them to make changes or grasp whatever opportunities present in their lives. Many times, I’m able to do this during the presentation by simply asking questions. Answers give me a framework, one of those side roads, that I can go off impromptu and address what is truly on my listener’s mind, further cementing my relationship with the group. I invite the audience to participate in the presentation. If I know of an audience member’s successes before or during the presentation, I will incorporate their success into my discussion.
Throughout the presentation, I always stay genuine. People love it when you speak frankly and transparently. I show by my insecurities, struggles, and problems that I understand theirs. They feel confident they can trust me because I’m showing my vulnerability and speaking their language. My job is to communicate. By presenting myself without pretension and with total honesty and clarity, I connect with them in the way they expect, not how I might want it or predetermine it to be.
After the presentation, I always send the event organizer or interviewer a thank you note or email. It lets them know I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to be a part of their audience, which I always do. I understand how privileged I am to speak to their group, considering all the other speaker options they have. I’m genuinely grateful. If they don’t supply the comments to me first, I'll ask the organizer how the presentation went and how I can do better. It’s delightful that most organizers will contact me first and let me know what a fantastic job I did and the kinds of positive comments the organizer received from my presentation. Every speaker loves that kind of feedback! What always delights me, and it happens about 90% of the time, is the request that I maybe speak to their group again next year. That tells me I hit the audience's bullseye and helped solve the audience’s problem. By discussing this after the event with the organizer, I can make notes for my future presentation next year, so I know how to nail it with their group even more than in this initial interview or presentation.
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into how to understand your audience. If you are not incorporating speaking or interviews into your career, I highly recommend you consider it. They say public speaking is the number one fear of people, but I want to assure you that sharing your story and hearing others’ stories is one of the best things you can do, not just for your career, but for your edification. Giving to others and speaking to their groups or allowing yourself to be interviewed for their audience is a wonderful way to give of yourself in a way that changes other’s lives. There are very few better things. Before you can do that, though, you must know and understand who your audience is. Do your homework, and you’ll hit it out of the park.
