Presenting to a diverse audience? Here are some valuable tips...

Imagine…

You are asked to deliver a presentation to an audience of people from different backgrounds. Are you nervous? Are you well prepared? Will you deliver your presentation as you normally would? Or will you adjust?

Presenting to a diverse audience, especially one of different cultural backgrounds, can be daunting. Limited knowledge about the audience and the high expectations can be nerve-wracking, leading to stress and poor performance. The best way to present to a diverse audience is to make ample preparations, be ready to adjust and improvise and reflect upon the experience for continuous learning and improvement.

What kind of information might help prepare for a presentation?

A Few Things To Consider

When preparing for a presentation, there are many things to consider, such as language, age, cultural background, and other vital factors. It's good to get as much information as possible about the audience and the presentation context. While not an exhaustive list, here are some places where you can start.

What is the audience size?

Determine the size of your audience, whether you are presenting to an audience of 5 or 1000. The audience size will help determine your presentation style and the kinds of activities to include. An ice breaker that requires everyone to introduce themselves one by one in an audience of 1000 is unrealistic, whereas the same exercise for an audience of 5 might seem too superficial. With this information in mind, you can adjust and balance the levels of engagement and interactivity in your presentation.

Where will the presentation be held?

Will the presentation be in an office, hall, cafe, living room, or video conference? The location influences the tone of the presentation. If it is held in a theatre or an office, you can anticipate that the audience requires a certain level of formality. Conversely, if the presentation is in a cafe, living room, or online, the audience might anticipate a casual and laid-back feeling.

What is the common purpose for the audience to be there?

Before putting together a presentation deck, it's beneficial to learn the audience's needs. Even if the audience might be from diverse backgrounds, they will share a common purpose for setting aside their time to listen to your presentation. Start by asking the event organiser, contact person, or trusted source these questions to find out.

• Why would the audience want to listen to your presentation?
• What do they wish to gain from it?

By understanding the common purpose, you can unite the audience rather than focus on their cultural difference in your presentation.

What is the psychographics of the audience?

Psychographics refers to the values, beliefs, interests, and lifestyles of the audience. It differs from demographics in that demographics focus solely on facts and statistics. Some examples are age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, and many others.

While your audience can be diverse in demographics, they may hold similar opinions and beliefs about your presentation topic. For example, suppose you're presenting on the science of climate change to university students. In that case, they may have a more progressive attitude towards climate action than conservative boomer-aged capitalists who are more concerned about economic growth.

To understand the psychographics of your audience, it is worth the time to interview the event organiser, contact person, or even some audience members to get a sense of their point of view on the topic. This is not to say that you must change your personal opinions, beliefs, or values to align with your audience. Instead, by understanding the psychographics of your audience, you can adjust how you convey your message. Make adjustments by being selective of words, anecdotes, or stories to deliver the same message that your audience can better understand.

Three Tips for Presenting to a Diverse Audience

While we can prepare as much as possible, certain things we are unaware of are beyond our control. Here are some tips to ensure a delightful presentation experience.

Tip 1: If you are not sure, don't use jokes

Jokes are highly contextual. If your diverse audience doesn't come from your background, including jokes in your presentation may elicit silence and blank stares. At the very least, you'll receive a few chuckles. At the very worst, your joke will confirm your ignorance and unintentionally offend the audience.

A leader from an American company hired an interpreter whenever he was in China. He enjoys starting his presentations with a joke, and the audience in China seemed to enjoy the joke as they responded with laughter.

The interpreter said the audience did not understand his jokes when seeking personal feedback about the leader's presentation style. To save face and minimise awkwardness, the interpreter would say to the audience: "The speaker is now telling a joke. Please laugh out of politeness."

Tip 2: Suspend Judgement

If you're presenting to a diverse audience for the first time, their reactions may puzzle you, as they can be very different from your usual audience. Your audience might be chattier or less responsive, more formal or laid-back.

When you receive different reactions from the audience, it is best to suspend your judgment and remove any assumptions. We need to suspend our judgment because our conclusion of the audience's reaction might be inaccurate. For example, based on your cultural lens, a silent audience might mean boredom or disinterest, while a vocal audience might mean engagement. Through the cultural lens of another, silence is a form of showing respect, while a chatty audience might be seen as arrogant.

Another example could be that a Japanese audience may respond differently from a French audience or an audience from New York. An audience's laughter may not mean happiness but nervousness in the presence of a foreigner. An audience's interjections may not mean engagement but avoiding awkward silence.

Before coming to any conclusion, check in with a trusted contact willing to provide you with constructive feedback. Ask them how you and your presentation are perceived, whether your speaking points are received and understood accurately, and how you can better connect with your diverse audience.

Tip 3: Be flexible and document

Even if you have ample preparation and rehearsal for your presentation, quite often, it may happen differently than planned. Some things might be out of our control. A sudden change in venue or audience size might increase or decrease.

Or we might discover that a planned presentation style does not work with your audience. For example, a Russian salesperson may use an interrogative sales presentation to pitch to his Thai clients. The Russian found out afterwards that the Thai clients were offended by the questioning style, which nearly ruined the relationship and potential sale.

Despite the unexpected, we must be open to adjusting, improvising and learning to manage these changes. After every presentation opportunity, be sure to take the time to reflect on your experience and document your lessons. Be as specific as possible so that you can refer to them for continuous personal development.

For example, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an anti-nazi dissident and Lutheran pastor, is known to have experimented with and adjusted his communication style every time the Gestapo interrogated him. After each interrogation, he made extensive notes about the way he sat, his tone of voice and the words he used. While such writings didn't help him escape his eventual demise, his writings continue to inspire many worldwide.

The Good News

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and globalised, there are plenty of opportunities to present to a diverse audience. The ability to present to a diverse audience will be a valuable and transferable skill in the future. 

This post is updated from the originally published post on Culture Spark Global on 23 November 2021 and written by the same author, Ling Ling Tai.