How to Know Your Audience
“Knowing your audience means to communicate the way they communicate”
You’ve heard the phrase “know your audience” but do you know how to do that? Of course it means to know who is in your audience, what their general preferences are, to know different ways to relate to them, etc. Assuming you know who you’re talking to, how do you communicate in a way that allows them to easily understand your points?
A perfect example of how NOT to know your audience is to speak in acronyms and technical jargon that others don’t know or care about. Or to leave gaps in your presentation that should give enough information to follow your lead. We’re all guilty of it at some point and there are ways you can improve your communication without a lot of effort.
1. Use words and phrases your audience understands without thinking.
Instead of using an acronym or technical jargon, use a relevant word or phrase that provides the same meaning. For example, business people like to use SME’s (pronounced like “smees”) to describe a person who is a Subject Matter Expert. The time you save by saying “SMEES” is lost when it causes an unfamiliar listener to try and figure out what you mean. Just say “Subject Matter Expert” or “Expert” or “Business Owner” or something to describe the same thing. If you cause your audience to have to think about your last words then they will stop listening until they figure out what you meant.
2. Be concise and talk about what’s important to your audience.
If you have the opportunity to discuss a topic that you know a lot about, it is easy to talk at a level of detail that nobody can follow (or care about) except you. People typically only care that the overall process works, not how it works. In sales you talk about benefits with the assurance that the product works, not the features or how it works. Eventually the question will come up where you can bring up the details but that should be based on knowing that your audience wants those details.
