Winning Your Audience

If you think back through history to some of the greatest speeches ever delivered--speeches by Patrick Henry, William Jennings Bryan, Abraham Lincoln--they all had something significant in common.

No, not politics!  Though, that was a common thread among the three listed.  What I'm talking about is audience analysis.  They knew to whom they were speaking and they knew with relative surety how that group would react to them.  Because of this seeming "insider knowledge," they were able to craft their words in such a way to develop three separate aspects: logos, ethos, and pathos.  We'll discuss those in a future entry (or entries!).  For now, let's focus on winning your audience.

In order to win your audience, you need to know to whom you're speaking.  Is your group a group of managers during a management meeting?  Is it your general staff?  Are they political figures you're trying to sway to your favor--or, are you trying to sway the populous to your way as a budding politician?  In any situation, before you even sit down to craft your three to five main points, introduction, conclusion and transitions, you must sit down and analyze your audience.

By way of example, I will use this blog.  My target audience is those folks who are in a cold sweat the day before (or day of) a major presentation at work.  So, business professionals who may not want to admit their scared or nervous (it's okay, I won't tell anyone).  But, also reading this blog are students who are looking for supplements to their speech classes for college, or ideas for how to create their oral book reports; speech-interested folks who have a basic knowledge and are looking for more; curious folks who happened by at random; and, of course, my loyal and supportive friends.  As you can see, there is a wide range to my audience.  But, knowing who is reading helps me to determine the language and tone I use.  I need to be professional and on-target for the business-minded folks, but laid back and relaxed for the casual readers.

If you are presenting a highly-technical presentation to a mixed group of engineers and public relations people, you need to keep the interest of both--you need to win your audience.  Perhaps open with humor; xkcd.com has a plethora of statistical humor that even those not entrenched in technical data for a living can appreciate.  Conversely, open with pure statistical data and lead into a comfortable conversation.  Whatever is natural for you--just make sure you're reaching 90% of your audience.

That's right.  Ninety percent.  There will always be those that, no matter how hard you try, cannot be won over.  Perhaps there is something about you that is distracting to them--that is fine and natural.  As the adage goes, "you can please some of the people some of the time, and most of the people most of the time; but you can't please all the people all of the time," so stop trying!

I added the last bit.  But, it is a good reminder to us.  Know your audience and get them engaged and involved.  Most people like stories, humor, quotes, and trivia.  Use these throughout your speech and employ the 3 Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright, and you will find that your audience warms to you rather quickly.