The importance of adapting the message
Professional communication is key and to be a good communicator you should also be able to adapt your presentation to the person or the audience you are talking to. This means that there is no one-size-fits-all presentation that suits every occasion. This article will be the first of a short series in which we’ll talk in detail about the importance of adapting your presentation to the audience and how you can learn to do this. We’ll do this according to the DISC model which categorizes communication styles.
But first, before talking in more detail about the DISC model, we’ll focus on audience analysis. This is a crucial step because even if you know the DISC model very well, if you don’t know which style your audience prefers, you won’t be able to adapt your presentation correctly. Of course, adapting the presentation will have more impact when you present to a small group of people or even one person. Another reason why this matters is increased engagement. You will be able to connect better with the people you talk to and this connection will have benefits, regardless of the purpose of your presentation. Your counterparts will feel more comfortable because they know you understand them and you give them the information in a way that they want to receive it. For example, detailed graphs with lots of figures will interest perfectionists and people that like data but it will annoy other who might just want to hear the conclusions without all the figures behind them.
To be able to understand the people you are communicating with, you need to be able to observe them and try to categorize their behaviors in order to respond effectively to them. Of course it is also recommended to do some research beforehand. Maybe you already know the people you are going to meet and can ask colleagues for some more information regarding how to handle things. Looking back at previous encounters or presentations is also a good source of additional information, definitely when you’ve received feedback on them. Next, try to master the understanding of body language and non-verbal cues. A loud sigh and crossed arms are easy to detect and it lets you know your counterpart might not be as interested as you hoped, but there are also more subtle cues you can pick up with a bit of training. Lastly, networking and a bit of small-talk before the actual presentation is valuable because it gives you the opportunity to connect with your counterparts before they feel like the audience. Try to get a grasp of the preferred communication style before you actually start the presentation and you’ll already have a strong start.
Hopefully this first article gave you some insight into the importance of adapting the message of a presentation to your target audience. In the next article we’ll start to explore the different communication styles of the DISC model in more detail so stay tuned!