{"id":184,"date":"2019-12-13T16:58:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T22:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/?p=184"},"modified":"2019-12-13T17:00:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T23:00:44","slug":"audience-is-always-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/?p=184","title":{"rendered":"Audience Is Always Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Always right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The audience always knows more than the facilitator.&nbsp; If you, the facilitator, think you are\nsmarter than the audience, leave the room.&nbsp;\nYou are not smarter, just more arrogant.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The beginning of your work as a facilitator is to survey the\naudience before you are introduced:&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do a quick audit as the participants enter the\nroom.&nbsp; <\/li><li>Say your name, ask for their name and what they\nhope will happen during the allotted time.&nbsp;\n<\/li><li>Take mental notes. <\/li><li>Scribble their responses on a pad if\npossible.&nbsp; <\/li><li>If you have a co-worker, have that person record\nthe audits.<\/li><li>Begin your presentation with a summary of what\nyou heard.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure the audit is as large as possible.&nbsp; The beginning and the end of the session will\nbe the most memorable and important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Begin your session with what you heard without any\nediting.&nbsp; Announce everything, the\nprofound, the silly, the frivolous, the giddy, and the flippant.&nbsp; Leave nothing out.&nbsp; When finished, ask the group if they have\nanything to add.&nbsp; Repeat what the\nparticipants say.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep asking for more input until there is silence, then say,\n\u201cI want you to know that I flunked mind-reading in the first grade.&nbsp; In the second grade, I learned to wait.&nbsp; So, I\u2019m waiting.&nbsp; This is still your chance to add to the\nbrilliance of this audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Put yourself in the chair of the audience, and emotionally\nbecome a member of the audience.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The skilled facilitator may even do as some politicians do:\nhave an audience member planted to react with you.&nbsp; Example, an extraverted audience member named\nLIZ, agrees to work with you.&nbsp; During the\nbeginning of the session, you might end the introduction by saying, SOMEONE\nSUGGESTED THAT I SHOULD NOT ASK LIZ any questions.&nbsp; Is there someone here named LIZ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LIZ stands and waves her hands.&nbsp; \u201cHere I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018What am I not supposed to ask you, Liz?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat I did last night.&nbsp;\nDon\u2019t ask that.\u201d&nbsp; Liz sits down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wait for the laughter to subside and then proceed with the\nagenda which hopefully emerges from the audit.&nbsp;\nHave your colleague or co-worker record the audit on a white board, and\neach time you address an item, cross it off and move to the next item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you reach an item foreign to your knowledge or\nexperience, ask the audience for help.&nbsp;\n\u201cI don\u2019t have any idea what this item is or means.&nbsp; Can anyone help?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are unable to cover all the audited items, name them\nand ask the audience to do the same.&nbsp; If\nthere is to be a next session, promise that they will be addressed.&nbsp; If this is a standalone session, apologize\nfor not being able to cover all items and end the session with your summary of\nwhat happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Complimenting the audience for specific things will enhance\nyour credibility and their gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If all goes well, sing the Alleluia Chorus to yourself while\nsmiling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Always right? Always. The audience always knows more than the facilitator.&nbsp; If you, the facilitator, think you are smarter than the audience, leave the room.&nbsp; You are not smarter, just more arrogant.&nbsp; The beginning of your work as a facilitator is to survey the audience before you are introduced:&nbsp; Do a quick audit as the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-know_your_audience","tag-platinum-communications"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185,"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions\/185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowyouraudience.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}