When giving presentations, people focus on the substance and delivery, while ignoring what may be the most important part of the presentation: Knowing your audience and preparing accordingly.

There are two types of audiences, voluntary and captive. Voluntary audiences want to listen to you, while captive audiences are mandated to be there.

Why are voluntary audiences easier? They want you to succeed! They have an interest in what you have to say and they want you to do well. They are typically more attentive and will often positively reinforce you. Knowing that the audience is on your side helps ease your presentation anxiety.

What do you need to know about your audience?

Age: Tailoring your examples makes impactful connections. Making a reference to the 1970s to 50-year-olds is relevant. Using the same reference with 20-year-olds may not be.

Education and Background: Your message needs to be clear for your audience. Knowing their education and background helps you use the proper materials and vocabulary to get the message across. Don’t use fancy terms when simple ones will do!

Use idioms, acronyms and/or abbreviations sparingly. If your audience does not know what these initials or words mean, they will miss important points.

Where are they from? If English is a second language for your audience, and you tend to talk rapidly, purposely talk slower so that they can make the language transition easier. Also, people from different regions of the United States may have a different meaning for the same phrase. In the South, “waiting on someone” means the same as “waiting for them.” In the North, “waiting on” means “to serve.”

Values: Learn about your audience so you don’t accidentally offend or insult them. Always err on the side of caution. Avoid cuss words. Be careful using humor. If you are going to poke fun at someone, make sure that you are the brunt of the joke and not someone in the audience, as that can be a turn-off.

Researching your audience is as important as researching your topic. Do it and your presentation will be even better!