Customize Your Presentation for Any Audience (Pt 1 of 3), by Myra Corrello, PhD
September 18, 2008
You’re sorting through the mail and you spot an envelope containing a hand-written address — yours. That envelope immediately moves to the top of the stack. Inside, a hand-written note. Someone who has taken the time to create a message just for you. It’s a special but rare occurrence in this day of mass communication. So much of the communication we receive is “one size fits all”. But customizing your communication does not have to be difficult. With the widespread availability of the internet, customized information abounds that can be added to your message to make it very special to its recipient. Even though you may be called upon to deliver the same general presentation to many audiences, you can create truly meaningful messages for each audience by incorporating some easy customizing tips.
- Conduct pre-presentation informational interviews to identify your audience’s hot issues. Any great presentation starts with a thorough needs assessment. What must be covered? What do they care about? What’s worrying them? What do they already know? Talk to people who offer different perspectives on the topic. If your audience is diverse, talk to a sampling of individuals that represent those diverse perspectives. Audience members from different organizational levels and different departments will have different views. To help you make the final choices in content, remember to place a high priority on the needs and desires of the decision maker who is ultimately responsible for your presence. Make sure your content choices will satisfy the boss. When choosing content for any presentation, always ask yourself: 1. Is this content new to this audience or is it something I can present in a new way? 2. Is this content relevant and interesting to this audience or can I find a way to make it relevant or interesting to this audience? These two questions should be your litmus test. If you can’t answer both questions affirmatively, look for different content.
- Use their images in your materials. We all know the powerful impact of visuals. Pictures, as the old saying goes, can save us thousands of words. Audiences are delighted when they see themselves on the “big screen.” Adding their candid staff photographs, their products, and their logos to your electronic visuals and handouts is a thoughtful way to demonstrate this is their program. With the wide availability of digital graphics and photographs, it has never been easier to import these custom touches into your presentation. Definitely check the organization’s website as a starting point but also befriend the organization’s internal communications representative. If you do conduct a pre-presentation visit to the organization, take your camera and gather images as well as information.
Playing detective before your presentation can produce all kinds of unexpected treasures. It just takes an effort to ask the right questions of the right people. Taking the extra time to also add thoughtful, entertaining, and engaging visuals can really add polish to your program. What are some creative ways you’ve customized your presentations for a new audience?
Myra
Helping Individuals and Organizations Increase Their Image, Influence, and Impact
MyraCorrello.com
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Great piece. Thanks for adding me to your mailing list.
Linda