No need to be worried.
Garrett had done this exact same speech before.
Even so, his heart was beating at a million miles an hour. Why did he feel weird this time? The audience was somewhat different to usual but Garrett knew exactly what he had to say. He knew exactly where he needed to pause, where to emphasize, where to speak softly, where to speak slowly. Give him 60 seconds and he’d have the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.
The MC said his name and Garrett Finch strode onto the stage to a round of applause.
He raised his arms, made his usual introductory comment. Garrett paused and waited for the expected audience response.
Nothing.
Slightly unnerved, he pushed on.
35 minutes later, 10 minutes longer than normal, Garrett finished his speech and left the stage. He needed a drink. He needed some time to think about what just happened. The audience had been unresponsive. They hadn’t reacted at any of the strategic points where audiences usually laugh. They’d given him no feedback at all.
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What happened?
Garrett’s speech was good, no question. He has delivered the speech many times in the past. Each time he has received positive audience feedback.
So, what was different this time?
Because Garrett has received only positive feedback on his speech to date he’s never stopped to consider his audience. He’s just been luck so far. He’s never had an audience that didn’t give him his expected reaction.
Here’s the thing:
No matter how well you deliver speeches, every audience is different. Unless you are tailoring your speech to the audience in question, nothing else matters.
We can talk about concepts such as self-confidence, vocal emphasis, pacing, visual communication, hooks, rhetorical questions, movement, the lot. But none of it makes a shred of difference unless we understand the audience and deliver our speech based on what they need and want to hear.
Before you prepare any part of your speech, think about the following things:
- Who is my audience?
- Are they native speakers?
- What is the general age of the audience?
- What is the audience’s position relative to mine?
- Is the audience under time pressure?
- What is my audience’s biggest frustration?
- What does my audience need to know about the topic?
- What action do I want the audience to take following my talk?
If you answer these questions upfront your speech will be better received. Even if you are delivering a speech you have done many times before it always pays to think about your audience and adjust if necessary.
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Jukka Suvitie says
I agree with Dave, great. Doing the homework with those topics means you are able to perform better. I remember painfully well my failures with some presentations. However, I think that there is always a need to act intuitively, too. Carpe diem is important. Having been training different groups more than 20 years I think one of the most important competence is the ability to see, hear and feel the atmosphere of the audience and act accordingly. Without that know-how you may not succeed even if you have done perfect home work.
dana says
I can relate. I was so excited when I received the speaking engagement. I failed to do my homework. I was consumed with my message, my delivery, and making sure I looked amazing, But when I arrived, the audience was much much older and all my references in my talk was geared for a different age bracket. But like a pro, I made the adjustments on the fly and the talk was a hit. My lesson learned, keep the audience the main thing and everything else will follow suit. (NEVER ASSUME)
Great article Dave.
Folasade shotomide says
Good one Dave. I have learnt.
Anthony DiMaio says
Who is my audience?
Are they native speakers?
What is the general age of the audience?
What is the audience’s position relative to mine?
Is the audience under time pressure?
What is my audience’s biggest frustration?
What does my audience need to know about the topic?
What action do I want the audience to take following my talk?
Repeat this prior to constructing any presentation, and then make sure there are no assumptions. Thanks Dave Mac. EXCELLENT!
Samir Roger Makarem says
Ohhh how I can relate to what you’re saying Dave. This is so typical in this part of the world, in the GCC region. Although it seldom happens in the public sector, but when
it comes to the private sector it’s a totally different story. Unfortunately, some foreign companies operating in this region hire mostly native trainers from their home countries to deliver trainings to an audience made up of mostly locals and other multi-cultural identities. What makes it even worse is when slang and idioms are heavily used in the presentations that just end up flying over most people’s heads, unfortunately.
Recently, I have been heavily involved with the public sector. Although they sometimes don’t mind presentations to be prepared in English as the majority of employees are bilingual, they however insist on hiring trainers who are also bilingual and can easily flip-flop between the 2 languages.