The Audience in Presentations

What is the most important part of any presentation?

When asking this question in my corporate training I would get answers like: the subject, the structure, the PowerPoint.

Rarely if ever did I get the real answer.

The audience in presentations is the most important part of any presentation.

Not you, not your PowerPoint skills and not how great you are as a presenter but the audience.

Why are they the most important?

Because that is who the presentation is for.

It may be the case that you want that audience to do something for you after the presentation but if you do not give them due diligence , you won’t be getting them to do anything !

So who are your audience?

This is the second question you should be asking yourself. Are they future employers? Are they colleagues.? Are they future customers?

Who are they in the organisation? What mix of female and male? How many people?

Do whatever you can to find out these answers and to know your audience.

What do your audience want?

The third question you should ask yourself.

First things first…….. what would you want from a presentation? Think of the worst presentation you have ever attended.

You probably were shoved in a room that was too full and wondered why you needed to be there and how long it was going to take. You probably were bored and unfocused.

The answers are quite simple to what an audience wants.

They want to be acknowledged, to feel important…. Make sure to shake their hand and thank them for coming and taking their time to attend. Use their name if you can when acknowledging them.

They want to be comfortable…. make sure they all have a seat. Ensure they can see either you or you and the screen, if using PowerPoint. Make sure the room is not too hot or cold. Make sure to tell them how long they are going to be there and what to expect during the presentation.

There is nothing worse than an uncomfortable audience when you want them to do something for you.

Every presentation and every audience is different. If you have any specific questions regarding your audience, please feel free to comment below and I will help the best I can.

With Grace and Gratitude

Karen