Presentation Skills: 4 Tips to Handle Mixed Audiences Part 2 of 2 by Dianna Booher

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Executive Communication Expert Dianna Booher

Mixed Audiences—Technical & Nontechnical, Beginners & Advanced, Amateurs and Professionals

2. Provide shortcuts. When you need to deliver complex information that will only confuse and lose the less experienced in a group, consider providing that more technical content in a truncated fashion: Can you provide it on a handout? Mobile download? Reference to a website link? Does the technical process, specification, or explanation really need "air" time?

3. Prefer clarity to brevity. Brevity is good; clarity is better. Never sacrifice a few words or sentences in order to be brief. Slide screen space, paper, and air are cheap. Misunderstandings that lead to errors can be expensive. If you need to define a term, do so. If you need to add a detail, add it. If you need to use the whole phrase rather than the acronym, use it.

4. Use—don't abuse—their experience. Forcing advanced learners to sit through an elementary explanation wastes their time and causes them to disengage quickly. Instead, acknowledge and engage the more seasoned people in your group by giving them opportunity to share their expertise with the less experienced. When you make a point, call on them to share a case study or ask them to elaborate on how they've applied this principle, strategy, or truth in their own work. In a teaching session, pair the advanced with the less skilled learners to pass on additional teaching points and tips to extend the learning.

Handling a widely diverse audience can be a challenge. But with forethought and creativity, the outcome can be stimulating for all.