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Audience Analysis Paper

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Audience Analysis Paper
In the world of business one of the most essential roles is effective communication. During your journey to the top you will have to give presentations, training, and meeting to others. These individuals could include other entry level employees, assistant managers, managers, or even owners of the business. The more you know about the individuals attending the presentation, the better you can prepare the presentation to meet everyone needs and expectations. (Laskowski, 1996) The way you effectively present yourself along with the deliverance of the information will have a direct reflection on your success. In this paper we will talk about characteristics to consider of the audience, the appropriate communication channels, and how to deliver your information effectively.
When you consider the characteristics of the audience you look for the personality types, their gender, family background, education, religion, age, and economic status. These characteristics are called demographic characteristics. (Pearson Education, 1995-2010) Psychological profiles of your audience may come to some importance as you shape your message. These characteristics include opinions held by many are beliefs, sense of right or wrong or views of the goodness/badness are values. Inclination to vote is predispositions to behavior, we call attitude. Actions taken are behaviors. They are not often consistent with attitudes, beliefs and values. There are also situational characteristics that may come in effect as well. Time, audience size, location, and occasion may affect the deliverance and effectiveness of the information exchange ability. (Pearson Education, 1995-2010) When preparing your presentation to a diverse group of managers and sales associates, the amount of technical information and understanding among the group varies. (Associated Content, Inc. , 2010)
When you present your presentation keep in mind as to who each section has the most correspondence to. We all learn in various ways so it may be easier learn each others style and apply those to the presentation. For example some individuals like to see PowerPoint presentations with pictures and words. Others may like for you to pass out sheets of information for them to review. Another favorite is graphs and diagrams that show the company’s progress and growth information. With all this in mind it may be necessary to add all of these together to make sure that your presentation gets out to the entire room all in one shot. Be sure to evaluate how everyone thinks and absorbs information so that you can answer any questions that you think may follow your presentation. Even though you have these charts and diagrams for every you it is very important that you maintain eye contact and speak clearly so that everyone hears you and know if you are speaking to them or that department. This face to face communication channel is very important in the business world. You will constantly be evaluated and will have to present numerous amounts of information to your superiors and sales team. The way that this information is presented and received will have a major effect on the company’s outcome.
Diversity in the work place goes beyond gender and race. As many companies seek to compete successfully in a global economy and maintain a competitive edge, managing diversity has become a human resources mandate. (Dobbs, 2010) Diversity may refer to any difference among people: profession, sexual preference, age, functional specialty, geographic origin, tenure with the organization, life style, or position. Some examples you should try to avoid heterosexism, racism and sexism are instead of saying Jew (male) or Jewess (female) use Jewish people, and instead of girl or lady use woman or young woman. According to Joseph DeVito from Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses “most African Americans prefer African American to Black and White is used to refer to European Americans.” (Pearson Education, 1995-2010) But not all people agree on how to address or handle the complications of cultural differences. A manager had to complete 8 hours of diversity training after a formal complaint was filed against her for making insensitive comments about Mexican co-workers. She was repeating what she had previously heard them say about each other. Even when you feel your message is harmless in someone else ears it may be very offensive.
To ensure that you deliver your message effectively you should explore the various characteristics and demographic make-up. This requires the ability to create or develop a presentation that finds a way to communicate the information to each individual that is easily understandable and entertaining. It would benefit greatly to use illustrations to help customers understand what the information being passed is covering. Customers are usually the least knowledgeable on the material being discussed. According to Associated Content Inc. “customer understanding of the material is a must considering that it can be argued that they are one of a company’s greatest assets.” Be mindful that other social groups of equal importance have requirements of their own that must be reached. (Associated Content, Inc. , 2010) Ensure that you provide adequate eye contact during your presentation. For some people eye contact shows caring, honesty, and confidence. Eye contact is also good for you as an individual so that you can read the emotions through your audience facial expressions. This will provide you with a jump on confusion or if your message is making a positive effect on them. Even a very good audience will provide you with feedback during and after the presentation have been completed. So ensure that you have assessed your material and can answer some complicated questions. When you are in front of the audience be sure to speak clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear you. Don’t be afraid to pause during to gather you thoughts or take a breath. It is best to speak from memory though it is helpful to have a few note cards to help aid you throughout the presentation.
Now that this information has been passed along it should help you get better prepared for those tough presentations at work. We have found a few characteristics to look for about the audience. Talked a little about the audience diversity that should be considered when giving an important presentation. You now know a few communication channels to use and how to make you presentation as effective as possible. Always remember the way you dress, speak, and carry yourself can take you to high places.

References
Pearson Education. (1995-2010). Public speaking website. Retrieved from http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_public_speaking_2/24/6223/1593257.cw/index.html
Associated Content, Inc. . (2010). Business and finance. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2165739/audience_analysis_speaking_in_front.html?cat=35
Laskowski, L. (1996). Audience analysis - it's your key to success. National Speakers Association. Retrieved from http://www.ljlseminars.com/audience.htm
Dobbs, M. F. (2010). Questia. Questia Media America, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=MsWPWL2nyWJznLLG7QGMynvMJxqfG9pjb75LpSTCLrnysxmzxN5d!-242723580!1248292794?docId=5000441587

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