You may have heard my sermon on knowing your audience.
I preach it because I truly believe that the more you know about the audience and the more you focus on them the better your presentation will be.
There are lots of ways to do your audience research, particularly with the advent of the Internet.
A friend wrote me recently from British Columbia to tell me about some audience issues he had that he couldn't solve online.
He was doing a seven-day workshop with young aboriginals on the basics of starting and owning a business.
It seems he had to learn about his audience on the fly.
His first lesson was on session start time.
Apparently, the clock had little meaning to most of his native participants.
So, start time was fluid.
Next, he learned that as a white person in an aboriginal setting, he had to earn the right to speak.
He says female participants, in particular, would make no eye contact when he was "standing over" the class.
So, he got them involved in discussion and would sit with the audience to make them more comfortable.
After day two, my young friend was able to contact an aboriginal friend to learn more about the culture, so that he could better connect with his audience.
He received a quick overview of basic customs, and was able to use this to his advantage.
For future classes, he knows to seek out a tribal elder to open the event with a prayer and to bring a gift of tobacco as an offering of respect.
Now that was a tough audience.