Four Vital Questions

“SOMETIMES QUESTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANSWERS.”
– Nancy Willard

If you read and put into practice the principles included here, you will definitely improve as a communicator.

There are many questions a presenter can ask before speaking, but the following four are vital.

Question One: To whom am I speaking?

The first question a presenter must answer involves the listening audience. The composition of a group influences what and how one prepares. Determining the makeup of an audience involves certain considerations that can be broken down into two categories: Demographics and Psychographics.
“Demographics” help us define “age cells,” while “Psychographics” inform us about “type cells.”

Demographics. Initially, it is helpful to determine the demographic composite of the audience. We start by determining the average age of the crowd. Are there children? If so, what age? If they are teenagers, are they young teens (13–16) or older teens (17–19)? If we find they are young adults, are they 18–24, 25–34, etc.? Now let me explain why this demographic analysis is so important.

The age of an audience influences the type of language, examples, and illustrations presenters use. For example, if I were talking to a group of young adults 18–24 years old about recent changes in the music industry, it would be more effective to drop names such as “Daughtry” and “Green Day” than “Chicago” and “The Beach Boys.” Talking about the former would help me sound relevant and credible, while using the latter would date me and make me sound out of touch.

The key is to know the demographic makeup of your listening audience. Some audiences are demographically narrow in scope, but most are not. Generally, you will find that audiences are comprised of mixed age groups, and knowing this will help you tailor your examples and illustrations to impact the larger segments within the group.

Psychographics. Determining the psychographic profile of the audience is imperative as well. As previously stated, psychographics refers to “type cells,” and all audiences are comprised of them. These cells inform us of the audience’s inclinations and preferences, which is helpful information when addressing a group. Below is a short list of potential “types” you might find in a particular audience:

Males or females
Blue-collar workers or professionals
Senior-level or junior-level managers
Managers or employees
Post-grad students or undergrad students
Wine drinkers or beer drinkers
Conservatives or Liberals
Religious or non-religious individuals
Doctors or lawyers
Teachers or students
Early adapters or late adopters
Animal lovers or hunters

Suffice it to say that the age and type of people in any given audience will greatly impact the way you prepare to speak to them. But while the audience’s profile will influence your method, it must never compromise or cause you to water-down your message. Instead, the core message simply needs to be packaged in terms relative to the audience at hand. Consequently, it is highly beneficial to know everything you can about the demographic and psychographic nature of the audience you will be addressing.

“A well prepared speech given to the wrong audience can have the same effect as a poorly prepared speech given to the correct audience. They both can fail terribly.”
— Lenny Laskowski

Question Two: How much time do I have to speak?

Suppose someone asked you to do a presentation on “The History of NASA’s Space Program.” Do you think the approach and content would be impacted by the length of time they gave you to speak? Of course it would. That is why knowing your allotted time upfront is so helpful. In many ways, the allotment time will inform you about how to approach your subject.

Coaching presenters involves helping them use their allotted time wisely. It is extremely difficult to prepare when the aforementioned question about time is unanswered.

Take Phil, as an example. For a presentation at work, he was supposed to talk about a budget proposal to twenty senior-level managers. When I asked how much time he had been given to speak, he said, “between ten and twenty minutes.” Obviously, there is a huge difference between talking for ten minutes and speaking for twenty. In the end, he realized he did not actually know how much time he had to talk. His assumption of ten to twenty minutes was based on prior years’ presentations. When he circled back and asked his boss, he was told that the meeting agenda was packed, and he had, in fact, only seven minutes. As a result, this new found information caused him to rethink the way he prepared his presentation.

Knowing the amount of time you have to speak is essential, but so is sticking to that time. Quite often presenters, to their own peril, violate the guidelines they are given. They decide that what they have to say is more important than the allotted time the host has given them.

Good presenters figure out how to say what they want to say in the time provided. Presenters must learn that twenty minutes means twenty minutes, not twenty-five or thirty minutes. With few exceptions, it is highly inappropriate to talk longer than the time allotted. Presenters who fail to heed this advice are not likely to be invited back.

Some speakers who use the manuscript method learn to measure their words in terms of time. For example, they read copy for five minutes, count the number of words they’ve read, and then divide by five to see how many words they normally speak in a minute. Once they have that number, they simply multiply the number of words they speak in a minute by the number of minutes they have been given to speak, and then write their speech accordingly.

Of course you may need to allow a little time for ad-libbing, dramatic pauses, and perhaps occasional clapping when you say something exciting, but this “formula” should help you craft a well-written talk that will fit neatly into the time frame you’ve been given. This is particularly important if you’re giving a keynote morning or luncheon talk that will be followed by scheduled workshops or seminars.

Perhaps you have heard about the little boy sitting next to his dad at a political rally. At the beginning of his speech, the candidate took off his watch and placed it on the lectern that held his notes. The little boy turned to his dad and asked, “Dad, what does it mean when the speaker takes off his watch and puts it on the stand?” Dad turned to his young son, shook his head, and said, “Son, it means nothing, absolutely nothing!” Let this never be said about you.

Question Three: What subject will I be addressing?

This may sound like an elementary question, but you would be surprised how many speakers try to prepare a talk before clearly defining their subject. Often, a presenter can give you a general idea of their topic, but not a specific one; it is this absence of a clearly defined subject that is the root cause of many subsequent problems. Here are just two. First, a fuzzy subject makes doing research difficult and, therefore, much more time consuming. Second, it creates confusion when you are trying to determine the goal of your presentation.

Developing a clearly defined subject is so important that Chapter 3 of my book “Purpose-Centered Public Speaking” is devoted entirely to this topic. For now, suffice it to say that the sooner you know the subject of your talk, the better.

Once you decide on a subject, make sure you can say it in simple terms. Speakers should be able to articulate clearly the reason for their talk in just a few words. Below are some pithy titles that leave little need for explanation. They pack a punch and make the subject matter clear to the casual observer:

How to Sell Sports Tickets on the Internet
Three Missteps that Will Get You Fired
Keys to Survival on the Battlefield
Why Forgiving Can Extend Your Life
What Not to Put in This Year’s Budget
The Top Four Reasons Businesses Fail
The Attitudes that Will Get You Promoted
The Best Way to Save Money on Hotels
Why Worrying is Dangerous
Three Vacation Destinations You Will Not Forget

Now suppose you got a bonus at work and decided to take a well-deserved vacation. While thumbing through the local newspaper, you notice an advertisement promoting a seminar titled “Three Vacation Destinations You Will Not Forget.” The day of the event you show up ready to hear about these must-see destinations, but at the end of the forty-minute talk, you realize the presenter has talked about everything except what you came to hear. You walk away feeling like the seminar’s advertised title was a gross misrepresentation.

This kind of thing happens more than you might think. Sadly, even when some presenters have a clear theme, they refuse to stick to it. They get sidetracked and lose focus on the subject at hand. Speakers who are guilty of this error damage their reputations and disappoint their audiences.

If you publicize that you will be speaking about “The Meaning of Easter,” don’t talk about Santa Claus.

It is essential that we know what we have come to say, and that we do our best to say it. The more we deviate from the central theme, the more we dilute the subject. Perhaps you have heard it said, “If there is a mist on the podium, there is fog in the seats.” In other words, a little ambiguity on the presenter’s part can grow into mass confusion by the time it reaches the audience.

Listening audiences depend on presenters to be true to the title and subject they advertise. Failure to do so violates the listener’s trust.

Question Four: What is my desired outcome?

This question will be fully addressed in Chapter 4, but it is useful to touch upon it here as well. If you are preparing to speak, you have to ask WHY. What do you hope to accomplish? What do you want your audience to do at the end of your talk? Is it your goal that they do a particular thing, change an attitude or behavior, make a decision, take a step, join a cause, etc.? At the outset, it is imperative to decide on the end goal of your talk because knowing your “desired outcome” will clarify what you are trying to achieve and make your talk “purpose-centered.” It will also ensure that all the elements of the talk dovetail together to support your intended outcome.

Without a clear destination, we are sure to get sidetracked or even lost somewhere on the journey from preparation to delivery.

Suppose I told you I was going on a trip. What’s the first question that comes to mind? For most it will be, “where are you going?” The same is true when it comes to preparing a talk. Once you evaluate your audience, understand how much time you have to speak, and determine your subject, then you are ready to start thinking about your desired outcome (goal). Again, what do you want your audience to do with what you are saying?

Establishing a desired outcome up front is much like choosing a target at the shooting range. You now have something to aim at. Without a clearly defined target, you are apt to waste your ammo.

During your time of preparation, ask yourself these questions: If I could wave a magic wand, what would I like to see happen at the end of my talk? How would I like my audience to respond? Specifically, what would I like them to do?

Those who read my book “Purpose-Centered Public Speaking” know I fought in the Viet Nam War. One of the first people I saw when I returned home from the war zone was my older brother. At that time, he was a peace activist who was adamantly against the war in which I had fought. The first words out of his mouth were, “How many babies did you kill?” Not, “Welcome home! I’m glad you survived,” but rather, “How many babies did you kill?”

His question wounded my war-weary soul. As hard as I tried, I could not totally forgive him. That is until I heard a stirring message on forgiveness. Believe me, I have heard plenty of talks on forgiveness, but not one like this. The speaker quoted Bible verses supporting his message, and he helped me understand the difference between forgetting and forgiving. Most importantly, he challenged us to pick a specific person and put into practice what we had learned (his desired outcome). Of course the first person that came to mind was my older brother.

It was not long after that we reconnected. We had not seen each other for quite some time, and now it was as if we had been providentially reunited. For some reason, we decided to go to the movies. I can count on one hand the number of times I have gone to the movies with my older brother. Of all the available movies, we went to see “Platoon,” a movie about the war in Viet Nam. During one of the film’s most intense battle scenes, I felt his hand gently touch mine. I do not recall him saying a word, but he didn’t need to. I saw the request reflected in his eyes; eyes that asked me to forgive him for what he had said. In that moment, I knew I had to make a choice, one I would live with for the rest of my life. I chose to forgive him.

I am convinced God played a big role in softening my wounded heart. And I also know He used the man who spoke on forgiveness. That speaker prodded me to act on what I had learned. His goal was to get his audience to choose a person they needed to forgive, a person they had resented. His ultimate purpose was to transform his audience by challenging them to embrace forgiveness instead of resentment. I am happy to say that his desired outcome was realized in me.