4 CATEGORIES OF AUDIENCES
According
to most professional communicators, audiences fall into four categories.
1) PRIMARY (the one you directly communicate
with verbally or in writing)
2)
SECONDARY (which you indirectly communicate with through people in the Pri
3)
(KDM) Key Decision Makers (who is/are the most powerful members of the audience
– the boss, for example, or the important customer, who makes the
decisions. The KDM will take up most of
your eye contact in an oral presentation or in a meeting, and the one to whom a
letter/report would be addressed.
[Communication Tip: If
you are writing a memo or report and you know that the KDM likes neatness and
brevity or he likes lots of visuals, then it would be wise to cater to his
preferences. Orally, the advice is the
same: if the KDM likes short meetings in the afternoon, then keep the meeting
short and schedule it after lunch.]
4)
GATEKEEPER, which can sometimes be the person who must review your message
BEFORE it reaches your intended audience – for example, a secretary who accepts
a call from you and you must speak with the secretary first.
FOCUS
ON THE AUDIENCE
After he knows his purpose, an effective communicator must center on the
Audience element of the communication model to assist an individual or a group
to understand information, motivate them to decide about some proposal or
persuade them to take some action, for example.
These
communication objectives can only be reached when you
(a)
recognize the type of audience your are addressing;
(b)
analyze the psychological, social and intellectual
factors that motivate them; and
(c)
know how to use the different methods of reaching an
audience that agrees or disagrees with your message.
Now,
let us examine how these three elements can be used to communicate more
effectively to groups.
ANALYZE THE AUDIENCE.
First,
after knowing your purpose, it is vital to analyze the audience you are
communicating with. If you know each member of the group
individually, your job of communicating
with them becomes easier because you are familiar with their backgrounds and
can tailor your message according to the following criteria:
Age
Rank (in company or business)
Education
Interests
Likes/Dislikes
Personalities/Weaknesses
Work style
Needs/Desires
For
example, you would have a different approach to the senior sales executive who
has worked for the company 20 years, than you would to the new university
graduate who joined the company five weeks ago; or when you speak with the
professional who has a Ph.D. in computer engineering, and the secretary who merely uses a
computer . . . would you speak to both using the same language and information
content? Of course you would be polite
and respectful with everyone, but the elements of the conversation and the
objectives of the communication would be entirely different.
The
point is, the more you know about the person, the better chance you have to
reach him when he is a member of the group audience.
This
situation, though, is the ideal one. In the real business world, however, you
mostly communicate with people you do not know personally – even in your own
company! As a result, you must analyze the audience as
a group. Remember as
you conduct your analysis to include the same criteria in the list above plus
the following which are used especially for groups:
Norms and Values
Rules of conduct
Traditions
Standards of evaluation
Specialized knowledge or terms
Religious influences
Cultural values
Emotional/psychological elements
The Process in Brief:
1.
First,
as you can see, the group analysis is related to social, psychological and
intellectual areas of the person. You
can ask yourself “What do they know about my subject, and how do they feel
about it?” In other words, different groups
of people are persuaded or motivated by different communication tactics and
approaches.
2.
Then,
your task is to analyze the group according to the above list and determine the
best strategy to effectively communicate your message to the audience.
3.
For
example, accountants would be familiar with a specialized language, a set of
similar standards and so on. A group
made up a diverse individuals from different professions (business, academic,
scientific, sports people) would make your task more difficult. However, the same principles should be
applied.
4.
Next,
you will have to think about the audience’s opinion about you and your oral
presentation or written report.
5.
Lastly,
remember that 
your Credibility will govern the group’s reaction to you and create a
positive or negative attitude toward you and your message. link to credibility here
3 METHODS OF MESSAGE
In
the situation, there are three possibilities: (1) the audience will agree with
you (FRIENDLY); (2) the audience will disagree with you (HOSTILE);
or (3) the audience will neither agree nor disagree (INDIFFERENT). We will discuss the first two
here, in terms of the oral report only, but this step by step method can
be used for any channel of communication.
v See the detaile
1. WHEN THE AUDIENCE AGREES WITH YOU ( FRIENDLY)
Structure
your oral presentation by using a Direct Approach – Deductive Method of Development..
Communicate
your top
level idea/recommendation or conclusion first.
Then, present the supporting evidence and facts. Supplement this with visuals or
examples. Finally, repeat your opening
statement and conclude.
2. WHEN THE AUDIENCE DISAGREES WITH YOU (HOSTILE)
Structure
your oral presentation using an Indirect Approach – Inductive Method of Development. Present your least disagreeable, non-controversial
point first. Another excellent method of
beginning is to state a fact that you and your audience can easily agree upon
(which is called a “buffer”).
3. WHEN THE AUDIENCE NEITHER AGREES NOR
DISAGREES (INDIFFERENT)
One general tactic to adopt
for any group when you are trying to convince them about the validity of your
idea, for example, is to use the Cost-Benefit Analysis approach. That is, analyze for your audience the cost-benefit
(a) of the idea itself; and (b) for the audience to show the specific benefits
your audience will gain from your idea/proposal.
An Example In
Persuasion (Using
Indirect Method)
For example, you are trying to
get the group to purchase new sinks for the hospital, but the group is
hesitating to spend money now. So, you
could begin your presentation by saying “As we can all agree, and as scientific
research shows, it is wise for everyone to be clean and tidy at all times to
prevent disease. The best way here at
work is to use soap and water to clean our hands . . .” and then enter into
your persuasive presentation.
Next, it is effective to present rejected ideas that will not work
or are not acceptable or suitable to the group.
Continuing the example above, you would say “We talked with all the
available distributors of sinks in
At this point you should have their respect and attention (using
words like “spending our money for no good reason” and “our high standards”).
Following this, you can present your strongest evidence to support
your proposal and win the group’s approval.
Then, re-state your conclusions or recommendations to the group by
showing the benefits that will come from agreeing with your proposal.
CONCLUSION
In
conclusion, organizing the ideas you present will help you to be more effective
and successful with any type of group.
Depending on the group’s members, you should remember to analyze their
characteristics and know how to reach them so that your message is the one they
accept and agree with. In this way, you
will be a success in business communication and a success in business itself.