Communication Skills: When Public Speaking, K.N.O.W. Your Listeners!
Communication Skills: When Public Speaking, K.N.O.W. Your Listeners!
By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)
Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter. We make it easy!
You are an expert within your industry and feel confident with your level of knowledge. You are frequently invited to share your knowledge with small to large groups and have delivered the same message on numerous occasions. The night before a typical delivery you review your notes, make a few adjustments to the PowerPoint slides and voilà — you’re ready to rock ’n’ roll.
Who really has time to prepare for a presentation with the same level of focus and precision as an athlete uses to prepare for the U.S. Open, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl or World Cup? Well, I can’t imagine that professional golfer Phil Mickelson simply reviews his form and swing the night before a tournament, without having a deep understanding of his success strategy weeks prior to the event.
Just like an athlete, musician or actor, if you want to perform at the top of your game you need to think about how your communication impacts others.
Too often we arrive at a presentation, sales call, or meeting with an “A to Z” plan and are unwilling to veer from that plan. We fear we’ll lose our train of thought or be perceived as inadequate or lacking requisite knowledge. We talk too much, confuse our listeners and become a talking head.
An effective communicator is someone who can change her message on the fly to meet her listeners’ needs and expectations. Although this might seem obvious, most of us tend to be deficient in this skill. The message is not about you! It’s about putting your listeners into your story. When you tap into your listeners’ emotions and what’s important to them, you will influence them to take action.
Prior to a presentation, sales call, meeting, face-to-face conversation or even sending an email, take time to apply the acronym K.N.O.W.
K – What is the knowledge level of your listeners?
N – What do your listeners need to know to take action in the allotted time?
O – What are your listeners’ opinions on your subject?
W – Who are your listeners?
When identifying who your audience members are, ask yourself the following questions:
• What do they know about the topic being discussed?
• What do I want them to know about the topic?
• What are their expectations?
• How do I want them to feel about the topic?
• How will the action I want them to take benefit them?
• What behavior do I want them to change as a result of my message?
• What preconceived ideas do they have about my topic?
• What’s their past experience with this topic?
• What’s important to them?
• What impact will their decisions have on decision-makers, clients or peers?
• Why is this message being delivered now?
• What are my listeners’ goals?
• Will my message contain more information than my listeners need or want to hear? If so, how do I plan to prioritize the key points and concepts?
• Why should my listeners be interested in this particular topic?
• What are three challenging questions my listeners might ask?
When you take the focus off of yourself, you are able to put all of your energy into what matters most: influencing your listeners to take action. Isn’t that what communication is all about?
Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.
For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or StaceyHanke here.
Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter. We make it easy!
On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Women in Business: Stop, Look, Listen and Succeed
and you may enjoy this: 8 Great Strategies for Working Any Room
It may help to listen to:
Business Communication Skills: Less Is More, So Get to the Point!
or read the blog here.
Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter. We make it easy!