Customizing Your Presentation
What is the best way to customize a presentation to your audience?
Is to define your target audience and customize your presentation accordingly
Great start. What specifically would you be looking for to help you define your target audience & then how might you customize it?
Ryan
Research the audience and the possible questions and issues that may arise. Targeting a secific audience can be as simple as using current events/data. Issues that are relevant to them.
Great strategy. I've heard of some popular speakers who will get the local papers for the area they will speaking a couple of weeks ahead of time. Then they look for stories or illustrations at the local level that they can use in their presentations & then have a greater impact with their message.
Always good to research the audience ahead of time & know what you're getting into.
Ryan
Define your Audience - get to know them if you can before your presentation, understand their views, research and relate context to their daily lives and how this directly affects them. Also know before hand the setting of the presentation.
Excellent ideas. I personally never like it when the speaker is relatively unseen until they do their presentation. I like to get to know the audience & then when possible pull a conversation I just had into my presentation somehow.
Ryan
The best way to customize a presentation would be to anticipate the reaction to the topic, the pervasive concerns and impact of the topic on the attendees, and to then engage the intended audience in order to maintain their attention and hopefully persuade those resistant or hostile to the topic.
I find it very helpful to gather as much information about the audience as possible. In this way, I can more intelligently speak to their concerns, etc. Great points.
Ryan
Know who it is in your audience, who are they, why are they here, is attendance mandatory? I teach in a Jail and also in court mandated scenarios( Batterers Intervention Program and Anger Management) I usually speak initially to each of my students to gain an insight into their personality and find that when they believe I'm interested in them and their future their attitudes change and they are more open to listening (and even perhaps changing)
I think this is a great approach. Especially with a group who, I'm guessing, many of them are not there voluntarily.
Demonstrating that concern for them & also tailoring the message to meet their needs rather than a totally canned presentation is very effective. Great job.
Ryan
most of my presentations are given to design students. We share the same visual perspective (or we should) so I am familiar with my audience. Keeping visuals clean and graphic, and the use of pictures or images.
Using bullet points and not just reading them but also expanding on them is an important part to keep the audience engaged.
Again great ideas. Thank you so much for your comment regarding expanding on bullet points rather than just reading them. This is one of my personal pet peeves as too often I see instructors just reading what's on the screen. Thank you.
Ryan
Understand how familiar the audience is with the topic of the presentation. Determine why the audience should listen to the presentation. Identify what is in it for them. Use this knowledge to tailor the presentation.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I just assumed that my participants want to be present. In the future, I will not make this assumption and look harder for cues to ensure my audience is engaged.
Know your audience before the presentation. Gear the presentation to the needs of the audience.
In thinking a bit more about this question, I also think the size of the audience can influence how you customize your presentation. A smaller audience may warrant a presentation that is more informal and detailed. A larger audience may span a wider range of interests and background. You may determine a presentation that is very high-level in content and presented with more formality, is in order.
To customize a presentation for my audience, I focus on identifying the most important key messages in an outline to ensure that my audience can relate to the subject matter. Additionally, it is important for me to know my audience and anticipate obstacles, before the presentation, and provide possible solution or ask the audience for feedback to promote understanding and buy-in. Based on the needs of my audience, I decide on the type of visual aids to use colorful slides wherever possible. By understanding the unique needs of the audience, proper preparation, concise message, enthusiasm, and voice tone inflection, a presentation may be delivered to meet the presentation's objective.
Know your audience beforehand. Research, interview and BE your audience. Deliver your presentation through their eyes and knowledge base.
Amy,
I apologize for the delay, I'm in the process of moving.
Great ideas regarding understanding your audience. I believe if you follow your suggestions you will definitely demonstrate applicability to them.
Ryan
