When you know, you knew

 

Audience analysis is relatively new term for me, but a very old practice. We learned it in 4-H as we prepared speeches and demonstrations. In high-school I encountered it in my studies of rhetoric. In college it was covered in introduction to communication, and practiced in every class that required a paper or presentation. In seminary it was part of preaching class, and an important part of every writing assignment.

When I went into ministry, I had to do audience analysis every single week as I prepared to speak, or teach, or write. I had to research audiences in churches I had never been to before, in states I have never set foot in. It was not easy to find what I need for small congregations in little places that barely featured on the map.

Still, it had to be done. True, I was typically presenting a message I had mastered, and the content didn’t really change; but the way I presented it did. I had to use references they were relevant, and language that would connect. I had to get the tone right.  When I wrote I had to format correctly so that my words came across the way I intended. I practiced researching, and analyzing for a decade without ever having a name for what it.

Having the name is helpful, it changes the way you think about the task from informal to formal. That shifts allows you to see more clearly what you are doing well and where you could improve. I believe my process of audience analysis is the first area that can be improved. I have had a set of basic questions I tried to answer, but I haven’t had a set practice for taking that information and using it to determine my audience readiness.

Spending more time gauging readiness will not help me to craft my presentation to better meet an audience’s needs, it will also help me prepare for the most likely reception. The latter is important as disappointment is not helpful in any line of work. Disappointment slows us down, and takes our focus off of accomplishing our goal. Getting to any goal typically takes more than one or two speeches, this is something I have learned working with churches that I think applies everywhere humans are involved. Audience analysis is part of an ongoing process of communication. We do not do it once per audience and leave it alone, we have to go back and repeat our analysis after every communication. This helps us take the next step in just the right way, to adjust our direction as needed so as to arrive where we actually want to be.

I am glad to have the tools of analysis already in my toolbox. I am bent on improving them through study. I look forward to testing them again in the real world of the workplace.