Consider Your Audience

Why is considering your audience important?

• Your audience informs how you convey your message.
• Your talk can cater to a variety of audiences. 
• Your talk is framed by intentional decisions you make to form a mutual exchange.

How can you consider your audience?

ASSESS | Reflection

There is no way to truly 'know' your audience. However, it is possible to reflect on how you can tailor your talk to consider them. 

Check Assumptions

Check assumptions and reframe them as considerations. How might your assumptions manifest in your talk? What questions are your assumptions getting at?

What does this look like in practice?

• "I assume that my audience consists of only clinicians, so all of my examples are clinican focused."

Instead, try:

• "I recognize that my audience may consist of clinicians, but that does not mean that it is the only dicipline in my audience. How can I use examples that capture this variety?"

Build Trust

Establishing trust early and often is critical. How can you begin to build trust? You can build trust by being:

• Honest
  • For example, discuss what questions persist and acknowledge that you don't know everything.
• Relatable
  • For example, consider areas of concern or skepticism and address them where you can. Incorporating interactive elements during the talk to engage audience members. 
• Accessible
  • For example, make decisions in your talk that show you recognize your audience is not a monolith. 

What does this look like in practice?

In the video below, Dr. Junaid Nabi asks Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS  how people can establish trust when communicating science. Jessica talks about trust as a social determinant of health. Trust or lack of trust has real-world impacts on how people make informed decisions about their health and well-being.

Set Goals

Another way to consider your audience when preparing for a talk is by setting goals that center them. Centering your audience can help you prioritize being understood. Rather than simply sharing as much information as you can fit into a talk, focus on the mutual exchange between you and your audience. 

What does this look like in practice?

• Information-Centered Goal: I want to get as much information into this talk within my given timeframe.
• Outcome: You may have reached your goal of sharing tons of information, but at what cost?

Reframe

• Audience-Centered Goal: I want to have a conversation with my audience: stay attuned to cues and questions that arise.
• Outcome: Now you are recognizing that giving you talk is an exchange, and you can begin to consider how to put this realization into practice.

Your turn: What is an audience-centered goal you can make to prepare for your talk?

How does considering your audience inform your talk?

PREPARE | Be Intentional

Considering your audience promotes intentionality. When you consider your audience, there is a "why" behind the decisions that you make when preparing your talk. 

Remember your goal (s)

• What are they?
• Are they audience or information centered?

Ask Questions

• What examples are you using? Do they capture a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and preferences?
• How can you engage with your audience accross formats? (Ex. conducting polls, asking your audience questions, etc.)
• What questions can you ask to tailor your topic based on considerations for your audience? Explore Know Your Topic for topic identifying related resources. 

Make an effort to apply lessons from your reflections

• In practice, this may look like including examples in your talk that capture a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and preferences.
• Research areas of skepticism around your topic and see if you can address some concerns in your talk.
• You can reflect on how to consider you audience before, during, and after your talk. 
  • Before: Reflect on your assumptions about who may be in the audience.
  • During: How are you feeling (ex. rushed)? What adjustments can you make mid-talk to recenter (ex. take a pause) or continue maintaining a level of comfort? How is audience engagement?
  • After: Take some time to reflect on how your talk went. You can gather feedback from your audience or those who invited you. For example, you can do this through post-session evaluations or by speaking with the audience members.

Anything else I need to consider?

DELIVER | Checkpoint