Discussion Question: When preparing an oral presentation, why is it important to analyze the audience?
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disc_5.docxPOST FROM BEN:
Discussion Question 5 Post: When preparing an oral presentation, why is it important to analyze the audience?
When preparing an oral presentation it is easy to get distracted by the process; you are unable to see the forest for the trees. In this case, the forest represents the audience. No matter how detailed and entertaining the presentation may be, if you have not taken the audience into account it will be a wasted effort. One question to ask when structuring the presentation is: what is the audience expecting to hear? “Off-topic presentations are usually boring and will not endear you to the audience (Bourne, 2007, p.1)”. Getting sidetracked into stories that may be entertaining will cause the audience to tune you out.
Some information can be beneficial to some audiences, and superfluous to others. “Your audience members will pay attention to some things because they belong to a specific department or class” (Rice University, n.d., p. 1). If the meeting you are speaking at is attended by management with full backgrounds in the subject being presented, a comprehensive background of the topic is pointless, and the audience will be lost. However, if this same topic is to be rolled out to a group of uninformed employees, these details are necessary to make the listeners feel included.
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POST FROM DEB;
Preparing for an oral presentation one should not just know the audience but to know the situation, knowing why your presentation is being required is also important in the preparation of what you will be speaking about, so, that you can address what the main issues and concerns are of your audience, then, analyzed who is the audience, their culture, their ethnic background, what type of attitude you might encounter, what age group. Do your research on the situation so that you will be prepared to answer questions on the issues and concerns your audience might have. Working your presentation around those concerns will also capture the interest of your audience for a more attentive listening audience, this also gives a more personal approach to their concerns and a feeling that the presenter is knowledgeable on the situation at hand. This type of preparation will enhance the audience to listen more attentively and the outcome will be a successful and valuable presentation. (Designing Effective Oral Presentations." Rice OWL:. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2013)
Also, what is important for a captive audience is to consider the age group, educational backgrounds and their occupation knowing what type of audience you will be speaking to is extremely important. Telling a short experience also is a good way to get the audiences perspective of a negative or positive atmosphere, so that you know how to address your introduction of the presentation. (Bowman. "Presentation Skills." N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2013)
