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Adapting to your audience and situation

Published by The Nation on Sat, 25 Oct 2014


Since we began our discussions on public speaking and communication generally, we have tried to avoid unforeseen circumstances. We have even tried to plan for situations that are unexpected. For instance, we agreed that impromptu speeches are speeches that you are given little or no time to prepare for, yet, we still came up with a strategy to beat that. However, can we beat every single situation' Can we come up with strategies for everything' Im sure you will agree with me that the answer is no! We cant always predict or anticipate what we may encounter. So, what do we do' We must learn to adapt.Sometime in 2011, I joined a team to organize a vocational training for members of a church in Lagos. Of course, I was to train on public speaking. As should be expected, I wanted to know ahead of time the kind of audience I would be encountering; so, I inquired from the leader of our team. He assured me that the programme was organized by the Youths Association. So, I used the information to prepare for the training.When we arrived at the venue, I noticed something strange- there were several elderly people there too! Nevertheless, I consoled myself that they probably came to see what the youths were up to and give them moral support. At the opening ceremony, we, the facilitators, were introduced to the participants and vice versa. Guess what I discovered' The Retiree Group decided to collaborate with the youths! In case you dont understand my dilemma at that time, I will tell you. The age difference was too much! On one hand, I had people who were just starting their lives, with lots of dreams and aspirations, and on the other hand, I had people who had seen it all and just needed something to occupy their time.As I sat there, unconsciously, my mind raced through all the illustrations I intended to use during the training and I discovered that they would not appeal to the older participants. Quickly, I started to think of new ones. The new challenge I was faced with was finding illustrations and a teaching approach that would be effective for both groups. To make matters worse, an old professor walked up to me and greeted me cordially, saying that he taught communication for over fifty years. And he was supposed to attend my training' God help! Thankfully, he didnt stay the entire period.If a public speaker is too regimented, he or she may find it difficult to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. As much as it is good to plan your presentation to the minutest detail, it is still very important to be flexible both mentally and stylistically. So, what did I do to my mixed class' I did the following: Asked them for their past experiences: the first thing I needed to do was to find out how much they already knew about the subject. It particularly helped me to find an average of their knowledge so that I could present a balanced training. Once I was able to establish that they all had elementary knowledge of the subject matter, I knew that they could all be taught from the same curriculum. Asked them for their expectations: I had attended several trainings myself, so, I knew that participants werent always satisfied with what they got from trainings. Hence, by finding out what exactly they expected to gain and what they intended to do with the knowledge, I was able to discover that within the same training session, I could accommodate the two groups. Knowing what they wanted also helped me to tailor the training along their requirements so that it met their individual needs. Having discovered their expectations, it wasnt too difficult for me to surpass it; I would have run into trouble if I didnt have that information. It also took off me the pressure of trying to read their expressions to determine if I was reaching them or not. Used balanced illustrations: the illustrations used during the training were balanced. Some of them were quite contemporary and applicable to the youths while the others were applicable to the older ones. The main challenge I encountered was building expectations for the course. While the youths could think of several things they could do with public speaking, it wasnt that easy for the older ones. However, by enlightening them on the positive impact they could have on the youths if they could communicate effectively, they too became motivated. Treated them all as students: I worked by a simple logic- the youths wanted to be treated as adults while the elders didnt want to feel old fashioned; so, I treated them all as equals. While I raised my level of respect for the youths to the level of the elders, I made sure that the elders had as much practical sessions as the youths. For as long as the class lasted, nobody really cared about age. The excitement of standing before the class to present took care of any reservation anyone of them might have had.]]>
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