Running Head: AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

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Audience Analysis

Running head: AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

Audience Analysis

Patricia Bernard

University of Phoenix

COM/285

Doris Savron

Audience Analysis

Effective communication in the business world must be mastered in order to strive in a competitive market. XYZ Companies has called an in-person meeting with a group of stakeholders including managers, salespeople, and customers to address quarterly sales. In order to communicate effectively with the group, an audience analysis must be done to capture the audience’s attention. This paper is intended to analyze the audience’s characteristics, communication channels and various ways to deliver an effective message. The speaker must be able to realize the quarterly sales report may mean different things to different groups in the audience.A speaker must make preparations when dealing with a diversity filled audience (Locker, Kienzler, 2008).

When dealing with a vast number of people a speaker must be willing to do his or her research to better understand the audience and the needs to the group. The speaker must also be able to maintain control of the audience. By allowing questions and feedback at certain times in the meeting process can avoid the speaker from losing total control of the meeting. Knowledge of where the company is and where the company needs to be will play a part in whether or not the meeting is a success. For example, if the quarterly sales show the XYZ Company is failing to meet expected goals, if the speaker is prepared, he or she may be able to satisfy the audience with preparations for the future. Knowing what each member of the audience is expecting and knowing how to make their positive goal a reality may be the key ingredient to saving the meeting. One must be prepared for the worst. The speaker must be willing be able to look at the audience’s point of view to gain a better understanding of how to approach a diverse group.

Managers in the audience are more concerned with effects on other people and profits of the organization. Managers will be looking for the speaker to deliver a professional response of the quarterly sales. As managers of XYZ Companies look on, the salespeople are concerned with the quarterly sales results to help improve their sales. Having an idea of how the company is doing can give a salesperson a vision of what direction the company is going and knowledgeable ideas of where the company should be. As both managers and salespeople sit analyzing these important facts customers will be concerned with the product and service and how they are doing in the market.

Customers may also be more interested in sales and how the product in doing in the market. One must realize that these customers will be interested in both the disadvantages and the advantages of the product and quarterly sales. The speaker must be prepared to give feedback on both. All audience members will be looking to pull something from the quarterly sales meeting, so preparation is the key to addressing all members of the audience (Cranford, 2004).

Within the quarterly sales meeting various business communication channels can be used. Face to face communication can be used to speak to members of the audience. The speaker will have a face to face communication allowing the audience members to feel comfortable when discussing the sales of the products and how the company is doing. Although the speaker is speaking face to face with the audience, members may tend to miss an important point. Another channel that can be used to address the audience would be by a PowerPoint presentation. This channel is very effective when dealing with

large audiences.. By using PowerPoint presentations, important points can be pointed out in the presentation as the speaker addresses each issue. This type of channel helps the audience to gain a visual feel of the meeting and can be helpful in retaining important information.

Another type of channel that the speaker can use is face to face and written communication such as a print out of the quarter sales. Along with the presentation this can give the audience various ways to view the quarterly sales meeting. The print out will include the quarterly sales along with positive and negative numbers and a way to improve the sales. As the speaker talks face to face to the audience, customers, managers and salespeople can follow along either on the printout or the presentation while applying feedback as needed.

When dealing with a diverse audience such as the quarterly meeting audience, the speaker must be aware that all members are different. Managers, salespeople, and customers will all have their own issues and feedback. The speaker must be able to have eye to eye contact when possible and to always give straight-forward answers. The speaker must be prepared to speak to everyone in the meeting, not just to a certain group.

Preparation for speaking to a diverse audience is not an easy task and must be taken seriously. If the speaker does not address all members of the group, the meeting will be a disaster. One must realize that although the quarterly sales may be positive, preparation for the unforeseen must be practiced. The speaker must always be prepared for questions that he or she may not have the answer. In this case, a general knowledge preparation before the meeting may be needed to address those concerns. If the question can not be answered, the speaker must have a plan to assist those unanswered questions.

To assist the speaker in preparing to speak to a diverse audience, one should first analyze who the audience is. By determining what groups will be attending is a start. For example, managers, salespeople and customers. The next step is to understand the audience. Knowing what each audience member will want to take from the meeting is helpful in the preparation process. Knowing what the audience’s needs are and how they will use the information they are given in the meeting can help prepare the speaker.

The speaker should always be comfortable and knowledgeable at all times. With preparation and critical analysis of all group members the speaker can address all issues and concerns of all audience members while maintaining control of the meeting. Members of the audience will leave the quarterly meeting feeling their goals have been met, and hope for a successful future will be felt by all involved. In the end, a successful meeting will be a reality and the future of XYZ Company will be revealed.

References

Locker, K., & Kienzler, D. (2008). Business and Administrative Communication (8th edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Cranford, C. (2004). Multidimensional Audience Analysis for Dynamic Information. Retrieved June 4 from: