Audience Anaylis

Running head: Audience Analysis

Audience Analysis Paper

Michael Ritchey

COM 285

04/11/2010

Otha Starr

University of Phoenix

I, Mike Ritchey hold the position of Head Operations Assistant at CVS/Caremark, the GM has requested that I present our performance information and quarterly sales to the customers, salespeople, stakeholders, and managers. A group with such diversity requires very effective communication and too capture your audiences interest while delivering the actual sales analysis. To ensure effective delivery of the message, a thorough understanding of the audience’s characteristics should known.

“In an audience analysis, the situational and demographic information of the audience is analyzed to understand the audience’s specific interests and needs”(Samuel, 2008). One can identify the characteristics of the people who will attend the sales meeting by communicating with them ahead of time. Pre-meeting communications can help identify the background information on each individual; this information can include professional background, level of education, native language, and the knowledge the individual already has about the subject to be presented. The possibility that unexpected people, such as a member from the board of directors, may show up in the audience should be anticipated. In structuring the meeting it can be helpful to ask potential audience members for their ideas on points of interest prior to the meeting. Planning the meeting around the points they express may even be a good strategy to engage the audience’s maximum level of attention.

The presenter needs to imagine himself or herself in the place of the audience; looking at the meeting from this different point of view can be essential to ensuring that the audience reacts in the desired manner. “Part of this envisioning process is anticipating questions that the audience may raise and preparing correct answers so that the meeting’s communications can...