“They forget who they’re speaking to.”
This type of comment
(in one form or another)
has come up multiple times recently
in conversations I’ve had with leaders
who are bringing me on board to help
their team members be better presenters.
One of the core exercises in
MODULE 1 of Rock The Room®
is the WWWWW:
Who What Where When Why.
(Those of you with a journalism background
will be familiar with this overall concept.)
As you start to craft your presentation,
it’s essential to take
these Ws into consideration.
Let’s look at one of them
for the purposes of this post.
Who is your audience?
—whether that audience is
1, 10, 100 or 1000 or more people.
Consider their concerns, needs, pressures…
their psychographics, expertise, and
level of familiarity with your subject matter.
What drives them? What interests them?
I’m working with six different private
Rock The Room® client groups right now,
each on their own distinct project.
The audiences to whom they’re presenting
range from investors to entrepreneurs…
state officials to software engineers…
healthcare leaders to a C-suite team
evaluating a pitch worth
hundreds of millions of dollars.
In each scenario, I’ve spent time
helping my clients get VERY clear
on the Who
because that affects everything.
It seems so obvious and yet
it’s so often overlooked.
Below are paraphrased comments
of concerns I’ve heard over the years
before I’m hired to help:
“My direct report is great when
presenting to her peers, but when
she speaks to a different department,
they have no idea what she’s talking about.”
or…
“He’s using cultural references that
this other generation just doesn’t get.
As well, his presentations have no enthusiasm,
and yet it’s critical that he engage
and inspire this division.”
or…
“Our young exec is incredibly knowledgeable,
but he rambles so much and
is so disorganized in his thinking that
the C-suite leaders are reticent to hear from him.
His communication style is limiting his career path.”
When these kinds of missteps happen,
a given message can miss the mark
in a very big way.
And like it or not,
people are always evaluating
your ability to communicate in a clear, concise,
and compelling manner…
and in a way that is relevant to them.
So the next time you start to put
together your presentation or message,
remember the WWWWW.
Your success is directly tied to
your taking that into account.
Risk Forward & Rock On,
P.S. To be sure, there are a number of factors required to knock your presentations out of the park. Getting very clear on your “Who” is just one, but crystallizing that and filtering your content, structure & delivery through this lens will take you a long way.
Interested in upleveling your team’s talents? Learn more about Keynotes, Communications Workshops and Rock The Room® Presentation Skills Coaching.
