Who are you talking to? Analysing your audience’s perspective

The biggest thing I tell anyone who asks is that good communication is about what someone needs to hear, rather than what you need to say.  What I mean by that is because everyone perceives messages through their own prism of interpretation, or using their own unique viewpoint, what your audience hears may not be what you are sending out to them.  If you can tune into your audience and what they need to hear, then you stand a much better chance of getting your message sent in the way you intend.  Also, you will be in a better position to receive what comes back after – the feedback you will receive.

“..everyone perceives messages through their own prism of interpretation..”

Our natural instincts lead us to speak to others from our own perspective – it’s part of human nature.  We also naturally listen using our own personal filters.  Our brains naturally filter out ‘noise’ to help us focus on what’s important.  The issue is that what’s important to you may not be important to your audience, so focussing on what’s important to you, will make it harder to convince them of your point of view.

Under pressure, we can often take a ‘fight or flight’ approach without realising – you will either panic and avoid the hard stuff or become aggressive.  Even if you have carefully planned your message, and practiced what you want to say, nerves might cause you to retreat to your comfort zone, so you stop paying attention to the audience in front of you and your message gets lost.

At work, we often need to show our credibility.  How many times have you felt like you have to show your credentials or competence in the area you are talking about, so that people will listen to you?  This can mean we focus on talking about ourselves, a subject we know lots about and switch off from what the audience needs to hear. Sometimes we need to show our credibility but in a way that is tuned in to the audience.

If you want to inspire and motivate people, or simply to get your message heard; if you want to increase your influence, then reflect on how much you analyse your audience and tailor to their needs in your communication.  People are more likely to follow suggestions if we give them more relevant information, to the right level of detail.

So how do we do this? What do we look for in our audience so that we can plan our communication?  We need to look at different layers, so that we get the full picture of our audience’s perspective.

Attributes: The first layer doesn’t really change, so it’s easier to think about.  These are what we call attributes.  You can start with the fundamentals like the gender and level of management you are talking to: maybe an executive? Or a machine operator.  Where are they based? Are you familiar with their local culture?  Maybe you can do some research on that.  What is their job function?  Is it engineering? Finance? Marketing? Can you think about how that impacts their thinking style?  On top of their function, other things can influence their thinking style. Maybe you know a little about how they like to make decisions – using lots of data or just through instinct.  If you do, then that will help you a lot to reach them.  If you are not familiar with their thinking style, then how about their interests?  Maybe you heard something about what they like to do at work or outside, and that might help you.  Where have they worked before?  You can think about the effect that career history has had on them?  What is their expertise and body of knowledge?  It’s important to think about that, so that you don’t tell them something they already know, or assume they know about something, when they don’t.  The good news is once this thinking and research is done, it shouldn’t have to be repeated for this audience.  The other layers, however, should be looked at regularly.

Situation: Next, look at the current situation of the audience.  What are their current needs?  If you can have some idea of this, then you can better imagine their motivation.  What are their current concerns? Or goals or expectations?  Do you think they will be resistant to what you’re about to say?  Do you think they would be enthusiastic?  This layer is going to change as the audience’s situation will always change.  You may need to update your thinking on this layer regularly.

Knowledge: If you have regular communications with the same audience, for instance: a VP to whom you have to report, or a team you need to update, the situation may not change that much between communications.  However, for each communication, you need to think about the current knowledge of your audience.  So, ask yourself: What do they know?  What do they not know, that you can tell them?  Also, think about what they think they know, which is wrong. You can aim to correct this knowledge.  How are they likely to use the information you give them? They might need to pass it on to someone else.  This means you should also consider the knowledge of the next audience.  Initially, it seems like a lot of work for each communication, so make it a habit.  When you do it often, it will become like second nature and you won’t have to work so hard later.

© 2020 Aun Communication Ltd.

One way to remember these layers is to imagine you are planning to cross the sea.  First, you look at the seabed – this doesn’t really change.  You can look at the depth, the terrain, the material.  This will all affect your crossing.  This is the Attributes layer.

Then, look at the waves and the current.  How strong and in which direction is it?  It will push you off course, if you don’t plan for it.  This is your Situation layer.  This changes seasonally, so you should check regularly.

Finally, on the day before you start your journey, you will check the weather and the shipping traffic.  These are always changing, so you must check back often.  This is your Knowledge layer. 

So, each time you have a communication, make sure you look at these three layers, to gather your audience’s perspective and plan your communication to ensure your message reaches through.