Making a Presentation: Analyzing Your Audience

Before selecting a topic, try to find out what kind of information your listeners might find interesting, useful, or necessary. To analyze your audience, consider the following points:

1. background information: What characteristics do your listeners share: nationality, field of study, occupation, age, sex, etc.? As much as possible, try to relate your message directly to their common characteristics.

2. current situation: What goals, experiences, or problems do your listeners share? People are usually interested in topics that affect them directly: their work, school, hobbies, interests, health, family, friends, community, city, and so forth.

3. wants and needs: What are your listeners' wants and needs? According to psychologists, many people want or need:

to have friends, family, romance, and companionship

to enjoy success -- personally, professionally, emotionally

to be valued and appreciated by others

to have self-respect and self-confidence

to earn or save money

to be safe and secure

to save time and/or effort

to be happy

Of course, these wants and needs vary from person to person, group to group, and culture to culture, so you should try to decide which of these apply to your listeners.

4. level of English: If your listeners are mainly nonnative speakers of English, are they all at the same level of ability or of mixed abilities? To make your message clear, you need to use language that everyone can understand.

5. knowledge of the subject: How much do your listeners already know about your proposed subject? What new information or insights can you provide? Clearly, you do not want to waste your listeners' time by repeating information they already know. Furthermore, you do not want to present a topic that is too technical or too specialized for them.

from Speaking Solutions, Candace Matthews, p. 122