There’s a simple mistake that derails countless presentations, and most speakers don’t even realise they’re making it. They talk to an audience – as if communication flows one-to-many. But that’s not how audiences experience a presentation.

When I’m sitting in a room—whether it’s ten people or a thousand—I’m not thinking, “I am part of an audience.” I’m thinking as an individual, with my own priorities, questions, hopes and frustrations. The people around me are irrelevant to my needs in that moment.

For me, the communication is one-to-one.

So if the speaker isn’t saying something that matters to me, I switch off. I’m not engaged, and I’m certainly not influenced. Which is why every presenter needs to remember this:
An audience is not a crowd. It’s a collection of individuals—each with their own wants, needs, pressures and fears.

And they’re all asking the same silent question: “What am I getting out of this?”

To answer that question, you need to know them. Really know them. Who are they?
What do they do? What do they already understand? What are they struggling with? What are they hoping for—and what are they afraid of? And most importantly, what do you have that can help them?

If your goal is to influence thinking or drive action, the worst thing you can do is deliver the same presentation to every room without doing this work. Because if you speak to a faceless mass, you’re not speaking to people.And if I’m in that room, I will very quickly feel like you’re not talking to me.

And once I feel that—why should I keep listening?