Grow your Business by Speaking to the Needs of your Audience

Kathie is a financial planner. She consulted with Allan Kaufman on how she could stand out from all other financial planners.

Allan suggested that she identify a niche audience and customize her subject matter into a presentation that would meet the needs of this niche market. She chose speaking and consulting to women as her niche.

Why is this strategy a good idea for Kathie?

Not only does it separate her from others in her field, but it also establishes her as the expert in her field when it comes to delivering presentations to women's groups.

So if you want to be unique, and to grow your business, consider customizing your presentation to meet the needs of your audience. Follow this three-step approach.

Step 1 -- Analyze your audience.

Step 2 -- Identify your audience's needs.

Step 3 -- Adapt your subject to meet the specific needs of your audience.

Getting back to Kathie, her subject is financial planning. She could give the same canned presentation to every audience. Many financial planners do. But to stand out, she is creating subset presentations geared specifically for different audiences.

Here's how she could customize her talk to better meet the needs of all-women audiences:

*Step 1 -- Analyze her audience.*

First, she knows that the audience consists of women. What ages of women are expected to be there? Younger women have different needs than older women.

What is the income level of the expected audience? Women with greater incomes and assets have different needs than women with lower incomes.

What is the average educational level of the audience? Kathie can ask the group president or program chairperson for answers to these questions.

*Step 2 - Identify her audience's needs.*

Now that she has analyzed her audience, she can better identify their needs.

For example, older women may be newly divorced or widowed. They may have depended on their husbands to handle all or most of the financial aspects of their lives such as investments, insurance, wills, etc. These women will greatly appreciate the advice of a friendly, supportive, informative financial advisor.

Single women in their twenties may now find themselves suddenly on their own with their own incomes and have no clue how to invest for the future, how to save to buy a house, the importance of having a will, etc.

Then there are married women who would like to learn how to be more informed and educated about financial matters so that they are not so dependent on their husbands.

Another way for Kathie to identify the needs of her audience is to prepare a short questionnaire, get a list of all or a sample of some of the expected audience members, and survey them to find out what their needs are.

*Step 3 -- Adapt her subject to meet the specific needs of her audience.*

Finally, Kathie can pick and choose those subtopics of her expertise to meet the specific needs of her audience. When speaking to older women, Kathie might focus on how to budget, how to determine cash flow, how to make investments for now and the future, and the need for different types of insurance.

If these women have children, then some discussion about college costs may be appropriate.

In summary, Kathie will be speaking to the needs of her audience. By analyzing her audience, identifying their needs, and adapting her expertise to meet these needs, she will have a presentation that will be much more meaningful and valuable.

Kathie will establish herself as an expert in the field of financial matters. Once she demonstrates to her audience the importance of having a financial planner in their corner, she will pick up a lot more clients every time she gives her presentation.

You can do the same thing that Kathie is doing. First, analyze your audience. Second, identify your audience's needs. And third, adapt your subject to meet the specific needs of your audience. Take these three steps, and watch your business grow.

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Allan and Allan are public speaking coaches and trainers, specializing in helping professionals get rid of their speaking fears rapidly and develop effective speaking skills. Be the confident, engaging speaker you were meant to be. You can contact them at nosweatspeaking.com