The audience

When you want to send a letter, you have to be clear in indicating the address of the receiver. This is extremely important, otherwise your receiver won't never be able to get it and, maybe, your letter will reach a wrong house and another person that will find the information not relevant.

"What's in it for me?"

"Nothing? Ok, no time to waste"

This happens for example when you deliver a presentation focusing on the style, the words you say, the product..... and not on the audience. They are not able to see the value, the relevance for them, so you lost them. Time is the most valuable currency. Time is not only money, time is also quality of life. Why should your audience spend it just looking at you presenting another ppt around the features of your new product. There are plenty of products just like your outside there... make yours unique! And make it unique, not for everybody, but just for the people that are investing their time attending your presentation! 

"Don't assume"

Think for a second. You are excited to demonstrate the innovation your product is introducing in the market: it is faster, it is more beautiful, it is cheaper, it is cool! Your audience will love it......... or not? Are you sure they really have the basis to understand why you are that better? And, are you really sure they will appreciate all these innovative features?? I found myself a lot of times in front of customers that really were trying not to change that much their "way-to-do-things", for them was ok that way. You can try as hard as you want to make them change their mind, but most of the times there are other reasons behind their position and you should simply listen to what they want, understand their needs and highlight only the benefits for them. You will meet their expectations. They will find themselves in your solution, because you truly got what they needed. Never assume you know. Remember: True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing

"So What?"

You created the perfect speech. You prepared everything and now it is Your moment. You start the presentation. "Ahh great, they are all listening to me, I didn't do any mistake.....I can make it right!" You arrive at the end of Your perfect moment but nobody seems so interested, nobody asks questions, nobody is that impressed by such an "Epic Win" of Yours. But the problem is not the audience, but the focus on You. Keep in mind the question and tell yourself your audience is asking "So What?" every time that:

- it is not clear your target 

- it is not clear how this can be relevant to them

How to avoid it? There are many different techniques. The "Tell-Show-Tell", for example, allows to explain why you are doing something before and after you actually go through you fragment of presentation/demo. Another way is avoiding to be the only one speaking. Interaction means:

- more control over the presentation (are they still interested? is this important to them? do they understand what I am referring to? do we start from the same basics? etc.)

- a relaxed atmosphere and better understanding 

- checking if the chosen communication style is the right one for the public

- test if the main concepts are clear

- creation of trust. 

Learning to deliver value in your presentations means that your audience will be more open to receive your message. Doesn't really matter if you make mistakes, the key is to stay real, focus on customer/audience needs and build you message on what they tell you, not on what you think they want.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I have still not clear in my mind who can be the right audience for this blog and I am still thinking and working on it. If you don't know the audience, you cannot be relevant for anybody. Let me think about it....