by Gilda Bonanno www.gildabonanno.com
When you give a presentation, it is important to “know your
audience” – but what does that mean?
In order to tailor your presentation to the audience and
make it easier for them to follow, you have to understand as much as you can
about their background, how they like to receive information and what questions
they might have.
If you know the people you’re presenting to and have
presented to them before, that can make
it easier because you know what they’re interested in and what questions they
might ask.
But if you’re presenting to a group of people that you don’t
know, such as colleagues from different parts of the business or remote
customers, you may not have a lot of specific information about them.
Do what you can to research and gather data about them. Talk
to people who have presented to this audience before. For example, talk to your
customer service staff and ask about some of the issues that come up. Talk the sales people to get an insight into
what’s important to these customers.
Talk to a few of the audience members yourself. Explain that you are preparing your
presentation and ask what questions they have or what they’d like to know about
your topic.
If you research your audience, to the extent possible, you
will be in a better position to customize your presentation so they remain
interested and engaged.
Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com