The message sent is not always the message received.

Have you ever been preparing to present to a large audience? Whether you are speaking on a Teams call or in front of an auditorium, you’ll prepare what you are going to say. You will think of all the things you want to talk about, compile some references and create a list of talking points. During this process, many people are anxious about making sure they cover every point. They want to seem prepared and knowledgable about the topic. Most importantly, they want it to be over.

But, if you think about the purpose of your material, you are looking for the audience to take something away. Do you want them to learn? Should they take action? Are you trying to persuade? It is important to remember that the message you send will not always be the message received by the audience. You should consider this while you prepare.

Here are some tips to make sure your message gets across:

1. Ensure audience is engaged.Getting your audience to listen is tablestakes for getting your message across. How can expect them to hear and action our message if they aren’t paying attention to what you are presenting? Our message needs to be wrapped in engagement to ensure it gets across.To get your audience engaged, think about where they are. Is this meeting the first thing in the morning or late afternoon? The timing will hint about how much energy the audience has. Have they lost track of the topic? If so, you can bet their attention can be grabbed by their devices.
2. Communicate in simple, succinct terms the audience understands.When you are listening to a speaker, its hard to understand if you aren’t familiar with the topic. The same challenge happens when you hear a lot of unfamiliar jargon. Think about this as the speaker. You audience will won’t receive your message if they don’t know what you are talking about.Make sure your message is at the level which your audience can understand. Use simple, concrete terms and imagery to ensure that most people could grasp what you are talking about. Refer to my post about making messages more memorable for more info about how to do this:Make your messages more memorable
3. Pay attention to non-verbal cuesWhen you look over the audience, are they leaning forward and nodding? Looking at their phones? Staring out the window? Literally sleeping? If they aren’t paying attention, they wont get the message.Use feedback from your audience to help you know when you need to change something up. Try throwing out a bad pirate joke. Or bring them back to the original point of the conversation. Let them know where they are in the agenda. Anything you can do to change the cadence of the conversation will help to get attention back.
4. Ask them confirming questionsCheck in with your audience to make sure you are on the same page. This will give you feedback about how you need to tailor what you are saying. It will become obvious where the lightbulb has gone on and where they are still in the dark.Ask smart questions. Any questions which can get a yes/no response will tell you less than ones where they need to explain something. You can also go for an application question. How could they apply what you are talking about immediately?

Think about these steps while you prepare to ensure your audience gets more of the message you want to deliver. Were you able to better get your message across?

Hopefully these tips will help make sure you can communicate effectively with your colleagues!