Know your audience

一个很严酷的事实摆在眼前，要么了解你的听众， 要么你将没有听众。

观众用脚投票

如果你对你的观众一无所知，你将有效地传达信息呢？

答案显然是不可能。你必须运用你的所有工具去尽可能地了解是你的观众是谁。

在阅益沙龙，每次活动之前我们都会尽一切可能去帮助你收集信息，去了解你的观众，从而更好地来准备你的演讲。例如通过参加者的关键词，你或许可以看到他们的职业背景，看到他们的兴趣爱好，看到他们的性格特点，从这里出发，开始刻意练习你的“客户视角”。

想要感染你的观众，首先你需要一点自信，但一点点足够鼓励你走出自己的舒适区就就够了。其次你需要向观众传递一些有用的信息，然后你还需要去倾听你的观众。

那么问题来了，什么样的信息是有效的？如果在演讲中倾听观众？

接下来提供一些了解你的观众的五点具体小建议（原文链接）。

1. Do Your Homework

Obviously, knowing more about your audience is great. Knowing sooner, it better. Try to find out all you can about your audience before you start working on your presentation. A good journalist will understand the audience of a publication before he writes an article, and the same goes for presenting. How many people will be in the audience? Can you find any demographic information? How big is the room itself and how is it laid out? Everything you know in advance will help you to create a knockout presentation.

2. Get Personal

If you can, spend some time meeting and greeting with your audience before your presentation. Who organized this event? Who is the boss? Being able to connect to important audience members – who everyone knows by name – will give you legitimacy and create rapport with the group as a whole. Making a humorous, self-effacing remark that connects you to a familiar figure in your audience is always a great way to start a presentation.

3. Know What They Know

You – of course – are an expert on your subject. But how much does your audience know? This is a crucial question that can make or break a presentation. No matter how slick and together you are, if you talk over everyone’s head, they’ll be baffled, not enthralled. On the other hand, if the audience is up to speed, they may find that your presentation is less-than-engaging. Knowing how much your audience knows about your subject can make or break your time on the stage.

4. Don’t Be A Star

No one likes a self-centered speaker, and nothing derails a good presentation faster than a presenter who is more interested in presenting themselves than their subject. You must be authoritative and confident when you step in front of a group of peers, but you must never be cocky or over-confident. One sure fire way to walk this fine line is to keep the focus on the material. It’s not about you. It’s about the presentation.

5. The Old Milton Berle Technique

Milton Berle – the classic one-liner comedian – used to open up his public appearances with a handful of diverse material. In the first few minutes of a routine he could test the waters and know if his audience  wanted to hear silly plays on words, topical humor, political jabs or dark blue raunchiness. For presenters, a series of probing questions can be a great way to engage the audience right from the start. It can also give you all the insight you need to deliver a pitch-perfect presentation every time.