Know Your Listeners

Know Your Listeners : questions to ask

One of the most important things you should do before giving a speech is to know your listeners. The professional term is audience analysis and it is highly recommended.

Why is it important.

Well there is nothing worse than spending a lot of time creating a perfect speech, working yourself into a panic and generally putting a lot of effort into your presentation only for it to fail because you haven't met the needs of your audience.

For example, there is little point giving a persuasive speech if you don't know what method will work the best with your audience.

Similarly other speeches all have a purpose, whether they are informative, commemorative or something else. Knowing and understanding your audience will make the process of writing your speech much easier, because you will be able to design a speech to match their needs.

So start finding out more about your audience. The simplest way is to ask some questions. Here are some suggestions for areas you might want to learn more about.

Demographics

• personal characteristics such as
• age and gender
• average age
• range of age
• do members of the similar age have similar interests
• is there a dominant gender in a particular age range
• what is the split between male and female

Level of education/income

• average level
• range
• do members of the similar education/income have similar interests

Race/Ethnicity

• is there a predominant race and culture
• what others exist

Psychographics

psychographics considers differences in beliefs, opinions, interests, tastes, perceptions, and motivation of members of an audience.

• are there groups in my audience they could be offended
• what do they already know about the topic
• how interested are they
• why did they come ( coerced, free will)
• preconceived ideas ( negative or positive)
• will they be responsive
• what sort of questions will they ask

Situation

• the time of day you are presenting,
• the location of the event,
• the size of the audience, and
• the occasion that has brought them and you together.
• What time will the presentation take place?
• How will they be feeling at this time ( hungry, tired)
• How many people should be there
• Will people arrive on time or will people be late
• Where do I want them to sit
• What the venue like
• Will there be noises and distractions?
• Will you be close to the audience?
• Will there be a microphone?
• Am I the only speaker
• If there are other speakers where do I come
• Will I be introduced?
• Should I do my introduction speech

Related Pages

Speak With Confidence

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