Level 1: Know Your Audience
Audience may be one person or one thousand. Audiences expect respect, and a respectful relationship leads to authentic communication. When you care enough to probe, even gently, you have authentic communication.
Level 1 of the Platinum Communications pyramid has only one component.
1. Know your audience.
The intensity of the challenge of discovering the values, beliefs, cultural backgrounds, and feelings increases with audience size. Failing to know your audience limits and inhibits interaction. Knowing your audience enhances engagement.
How do we get to know the audience? Listen more, talk less. Ask, then tell. The purpose of listening is not agreement but understanding. Active listeners concentrate, understand, respond and remember what is said.
Your audience, regardless of size, needs understanding. To understand them, listen to what they say. Ask them what they expect to learn. Rephrasing and restating the audience expectations demonstrates listening. When the audience knows you listened, they begin to trust you and strive to understand your message.
Interpret body language to develop an accurate understanding of the message and then paraphrase the speaker’s words. You are not necessarily agreeing with the speaker—simply stating what was said. When one finds you understand, cooperation results.
