We’ve just been made aware of a fun metaphor for thinking about your audience and wanted to share:

Your audience is a container to pour liquid in.  Your content is the liquid.

So what does that mean for you, as a presentation deliverer?

  • Like you prefer to drink clean healthy water, your audience wants clean healthy content.  Make your points clear and concise. Your visuals legible.
  • No one wants to overfill a water glass.  So, don’t flood your audience with too much information.  They can get overwhelmed.  Pare down your content to the essentials.
  • There are different containers for different types of liquid.  You wouldn’t put motor oil in a drinking glass or tequila in a gas tank.  Tailor your content for your audience:  use their language, don’t talk down to them.