What are the best ways to research your audience before a motivational speech?

2 Do some social listening

Another way to research your audience is to do some social listening. This means monitoring and analyzing what your audience is saying and doing on social media platforms, blogs, forums, podcasts, and other online sources. You can use tools such as Google Alerts, BuzzSumo, Hootsuite, and Mention to track relevant keywords, hashtags, topics, and influencers related to your speech. You can also join online communities and groups where your audience hangs out and engages with each other. This can help you understand their needs, wants, problems, questions, and trends.

4 Observe the environment

A fourth way to research your audience is to observe the environment where you will deliver your speech. You can visit the venue beforehand or arrive early on the day of your speech. You can check the size, layout, lighting, and acoustics of the room. You can also observe the mood, energy, and diversity of the audience. You can talk to some of the organizers, sponsors, or other speakers. You can also watch some of the previous or concurrent sessions. This can help you adapt your speech delivery, pace, volume, and gestures.

5 Ask for referrals

A fifth way to research your audience is to ask for referrals from people who know them well. You can reach out to your existing or past clients, colleagues, friends, or family who have connections or experience with your target audience. You can ask them for insights, tips, advice, or recommendations on how to best communicate with your audience. You can also ask them for introductions or testimonials that can help you establish your authority and credibility.

6 Test your assumptions

A sixth way to research your audience is to test your assumptions. You may have some ideas or hypotheses about what your audience wants, needs, or thinks based on your own experience, knowledge, or intuition. However, these may not always be accurate or valid. Therefore, you should always verify your assumptions by using the other methods mentioned above or by conducting some experiments or trials. You can test your speech content, format, style, or delivery on a small sample of your audience or on a similar group and see how they react. You can then adjust or improve your speech accordingly.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?