Audience Analysis
Jordan Pappas
COM/285
February 13th, 2011
Randi Plante
Audience Analysis
Giving a presentation in any situation is very intimidating, being properly prepared for the meeting can make all the difference in whether or not you get the proper information across to the audience, ask yourself who the audience is that will be attending the presentation? Is there going to be any sort of language barriers? And what information is the most appropriate to present? Something o consider about the audience is how much do they already know about what will be briefed in the presentation? By providing to much information you will find that the audience will start to get bored ...view middle of the document...
Learning how to change the way we communicate isn't easier said than done but in most cases the effort wont go unnoticed, in some cultures that can speak louder than the figures you presented. In the military if a higher ranking individual enters the room everyone stands until given order to sit down, we are taught as young men to open doors for women. Eye contact can mean so many different things to certain cultures. According to the text, in Japan it is impolite to maintain eye contact when speaking to someone superior. In the North America maintaining eye contact is a sign of attention and can be considered rude if you don't look someone in the eyes when talking to them. In Sweden a typical posture for a listener is to fold the arms in front of the torso and to hold the back erect. This position is a sign of respectful attention. An American speaker might interpret such body language as signaling boredom. (Page 9). Subtle things like eye contact and body language are just a few things that can help with a successful presentation.
A lot of time you are going to be asked to provide a brochure or some information that each individual can have in hand and use as a reference as they follow along with the presentation. Providing information can also take some of the load off of you you as the presenter and its good way to make sure that the majority of the information you are providing is getting across. Stakeholders really like to see numbers so that they can physically see what their investment is getting them. When putting together packets or brochures consider putting that information in i since that is the most critical information for the investors and stakeholders to know. By providing information that relates to the audience you give them a sense of belonging and importance. Know what information the customer wants to hear and what they don't want to hear. Asking questions is another way to keep the audience actively listening. Active listeners tend to retain more of the information incase they are called on they want to be able to answer correctly. This is a great method but should be used carefully, have a good feel of who it would be appropriate to call on, some people might find it offensive and as a sign of...
