Your Public Best by Lillian Brown

Author:Lillian Brown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Newmarket Press
Published: 2011-04-13T10:00:00+00:00

Your Audience

There is more to knowing your audience than you might expect. For example:

• If you have been asked to speak before a group of Veterans of Foreign Wars, did you bother to ask the organizers if it will be a mixed-sex or nearly all male audience?

• You have been told you will be speaking in a hall that you know holds 500 people. But did you ask before you wrote the final version of your speech how many people are actually expected to attend? A speech can be effectively adapted to a smaller audience, if you know you will have a smaller audience.

• Will you be expected to include a sprinkling of comments in your speech on local subjects? Many audiences warm up well to remarks or humorous references to the community where the speech is being given.

• Have you found out if there will be any VIPs in the audience you should mention?

• Are there any special, possibly disruptive, circumstances having to do with the audience that you should know about in advance? For example, might there be hecklers in the audience or will people be milling around in the back of the hall buying alcoholic beverages during your speech?

In short, you should identify your audience and adapt your performance to its expectations. Learn as much as you can about your audience before you come face to face.

Inquire about the age level, degree of education and experience, and any social, religious, or political affiliations that members of the audience may have in common. Is this a hostile or friendly group? What do you have in common with your audience?

Your listeners have come to hear you for a specific purpose: possibly to increase their own knowledge, to become more professional on their jobs, to decide how to vote, to celebrate an occasion, or for their annual convention or meeting. You owe your audience careful consideration, and as you prepare your speech, make sure to present something meaningful for everyone.

Keep in mind that some of your listeners may have traveled a great distance or rearranged a busy schedule just to hear your speech. Some may be people in your field who admire you greatly and will be listening with keen interest. If you remind yourself of these facts, you will become enthusiastic about your speech, and this enthusiasm will be transmitted to your audience.

Know what you want to accomplish with this group. Put yourself in your audience’s place. Understand its expectations of you, and let it know where you are coming from. Early in your speech, you’ll need to convince your listeners that you are an expert in your field, that you speak with authority, that you are pleased to have the opportunity to address them, and that you won’t be “boring them to death.”

When you go before an audience, it will be aware of your intellectual prowess, your face, your appearance, your manner, your voice, and your message. These are all-powerful tools for you to use effectively. Blend them all together into one smooth performance.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.