Speech Presentation: Seven Ways to Tailor Your Speech to the Audience

Website design By BotEap.comEvery speech has an audience and every audience is different. Tailoring your next speech to your audience is just as important as the content of the speech. So how do you connect with an audience so your message matches their expectations, wants and needs and get your message across effectively?

Website design By BotEap.comThese are the seven strategies to target your business presentation message with laser precision.

Website design By BotEap.com1. Research your audience before the presentation.

Website design By BotEap.comThe more you know about your audience, the more likely you can connect with them. I’m often amazed at how many business people just don’t bother to find out anything about their audience. The more specific you can be, the better. For example, one of the best reports I received from a client was the following description of the audience:

Website design By BotEap.com“Most of the group is on a two-day, two-night, four-off roster. These are largely process technicians. The rest are on a five-day, two-day-off roster. Day shift folks include tradesmen (we call them maintenance technicians) and laboratory, administrative and professional employees The average tenure in the group is eight years, with a range of up to more than 30 years The average age in the group is 38 years Division of gender: women 6 percent, men 94 percent”

Website design By BotEap.comWhat a great start and fantastic audience research stats. From this I was able to calculate that almost half of the audience had not been with the company long, they were efficiently a younger audience and mostly male! This provided a solid foundation for tailoring my message to connect with this group. Note that this was an exceptionally good client briefing and most of the time you will have to do the legwork to find out who your audience is!

Website design By BotEap.com2. Find out what your audience wants.

Website design By BotEap.comReask key questions of the event organizer, such as “What are the key issues affecting your industry, business, or members?” I always try to meet with as large an audience as possible.
possible before a presentation such as asking “what is on your mind right now and what do you want to get out of this presentation?” Be specific.

Website design By BotEap.comHere’s an example I used for a recent presentation for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. I have found that most potential investors will want to know 3 things when trying to raise funds. What are the sales projections? Who are your target customers? What is the exit strategy? Provide this and you have conquered them.

Website design By BotEap.com3. Examples of use.

Website design By BotEap.comNothing builds empathy and rapport with your audience as powerfully as examples. Remember that you are selling intangible ideas and practical examples make these ideas more memorable, credible and tangible.

Website design By BotEap.com4. Use thumbnails.

Website design By BotEap.comNo, this is not a type of dressing that you put on your salad! It is a short story, example or incident. The key point is that they are easy to remember and say. But they should be brief and relevant.

Website design By BotEap.com5. Use metaphors.

Website design By BotEap.comThese are powerful words that conjure up vivid images in the minds of your audience. They are a proven speech writing technique. I recently heard former US President Bill Clinton speak. Clinton used the metaphor of the gap between the invention of the club and the shield to describe the current situation in the war on terror. He said,
“This gap needs to be closed.” This makes intangible concepts have more impact with an audience.

Website design By BotEap.com6. Be specific.

Website design By BotEap.comThe more specific you can be with real examples, case studies, and results, the more precise you can be in targeting your message. Know your content and don’t be afraid to reveal personal stories as examples in your speech, this will strengthen your relationship with your audience.

Website design By BotEap.com7. Use Incident/Point/Benefit Technique.

Website design By BotEap.comThis one is really powerful. Tell the story, make the point, and then most importantly, reinforce how this will benefit the audience. It took me ages to figure this out, but it will
a big difference in the impact of your presentations.