You Talking to Me?

If you have ever taken a public speaking course, you’ll know the first thing they tell you is “know your audience.”  Good advice!  You would not want to give a dissertation on the complexity of the brain to a group of kindergartners.  Nor would you want to give a presentation on how to operate a chemical plant to an assembly of surgeons.

This may sound obvious.  But have you ever been in a meeting and you have no idea what the speaker is saying?  It could be the overuse of acronyms, jargon or the assumption that you know more than you do. It can be off-putting. And that’s when the audience starts checking their phones. 

Don’t think for a minute that this applies only to public speaking engagements -- it’s relevant for meetings with elected officials, new clients, the community, any publication you distribute, fact sheets, interviews and more. Your messaging needs to be on-target.

If you are talking with a reporter who covers your industry, chances are good, they will understand your lingo.  “This new WGS will bring our NOx emissions below 10ppm.” But if you are speaking with a community activist, a city councilperson or a classroom of students, you might need to say, “We are adding a really expensive piece of equipment that will allow us to cut pollution by 95%.”  Same message; different words.

Don’t know who will be in the audience?  Ask the organizer.  Not sure who reads the magazine to which you’re submitting an article?  Do a little research – ask the editor, read through a past issue – and get a feel for the tone.  You can quickly lose an entire audience by speaking in acronyms since most people are too hesitant to raise their hand and admit they don’t know. 

Everything you do and say publicly plays a part in building your reputation.  Know your stakeholders.  Know your audience.   Know what “language” they speak.  If you don’t, you may just end up saying “Can you hear me now?”