Most people, when asked to prepare a presentation, open PowerPoint. That’s the first mistake. Before writing a single slide, before thinking about anecdotes or data, you need to answer a fundamental question: who will be sitting on the other side?

Speaking without knowing your audience is like cooking without knowing whether your guests are vegan, have allergies, or just ate. You can prepare a technically perfect dish that works for nobody.

The origin error

The most common mistake when preparing a presentation is centring it on you: on what you know, on what you want to say, on your logical structure. But effective communication isn’t measured by what you say—it’s measured by what the other person understands and retains.

This egocentric bias is natural. You know your subject, you’re passionate about it, and you want to share everything. But the audience doesn’t need everything—they need what’s relevant to their context. Your job as a speaker isn’t to empty your knowledge; it’s to filter and serve exactly what that audience needs at that moment.

The difference between a competent speaker and an excellent one often sits here: the competent one masters the subject; the excellent one masters the intersection between the subject and the listener’s needs.

Questions before writing

Before planning content, answer these questions as precisely as possible:

About who they are:

  • What’s their knowledge level on my topic? Beginners, intermediate, experts?
  • What’s their role? Do they decide, execute, advise?
  • How many people will there be? 10, 50, 500?
  • What age range and professional background do they have?

About what they need:

  • What problem do they have that my presentation can help solve?
  • What do they expect to take away: inspiration, concrete tools, validation, a decision?
  • What do they already know that I don’t need to repeat?
  • What prior beliefs do they hold about my topic that I might need to challenge?

About the context:

  • Is their attendance voluntary or mandatory?
  • What time of day is it? After lunch? First thing in the morning?
  • What happened right before in the programme? Another talk? A break?
  • Are they physically or emotionally tired for any reason?

About the desired outcome:

  • What do I want them to think when they leave?
  • What do I want them to feel?
  • What do I want them to do?

These last three questions—think, feel, do—are the compass for all your preparation. If the destination is unclear, every path seems valid, and that produces scattered presentations.

Audience levels

Not every audience requires the same approach. Here’s a useful framework for calibration:

Level 1 — Curious novices. They don’t know your topic. They need: context, analogies, basic vocabulary explained, few clear ideas. The risk: overloading them with detail they can’t process.

Level 2 — Professionals with partial knowledge. They know something but have gaps or outdated ideas. They need: nuances, updates, connections they hadn’t seen. The risk: boring them by repeating the obvious or assuming more knowledge than they have.

Level 3 — Experts in your field. They command the subject as well as you or better. They need: fresh perspectives, recent data, debate, intellectual provocation. The risk: appearing to lecture them on something they already know.

Level 4 — Non-technical decision-makers. They don’t command the subject but hold decision-making power. They need: practical implications, clear risk/benefit, confidence that you control the detail. The risk: getting lost in technicalities they can’t evaluate.

Most real audiences are a mix of levels. When that happens, you have two options: design for the middle level and offer depth as an optional layer, or segment your presentation into blocks that speak to different levels sequentially.

Adapt without faking

Adapting your message to the audience doesn’t mean saying what they want to hear. It means communicating what they need to hear in the way they can receive it.

The difference is crucial:

  • Adapting vocabulary isn’t speaking below your level—it’s respecting that every community has its jargon and that using yours without translating is laziness, not rigour.
  • Adapting depth isn’t simplifying your message—it’s prioritising. You can go deep on fewer topics and be more surface-level on context.
  • Adapting examples isn’t manipulating—it’s connecting. A relevant example for the audience is worth more than ten generic ones.
  • Adapting tone isn’t being fake—it’s being smart. The same message can be delivered with humour or gravity depending on context.

The principle: change the form, keep the substance. Your core message isn’t negotiable. The way you package it is.

Research tools

How do you research your audience when you don’t know them personally?

If it’s an organised company or event:

  • Ask the organiser for an attendee profile: roles, experience, expectations.
  • Review previous editions of the event: topics, level, public feedback.
  • Look up confirmed attendees on LinkedIn if the list is published.
  • Ask directly: “What do you expect from this session?” Many organisers appreciate the question.

If it’s an internal meeting:

  • You already know your audience. Use that. Think about each key person’s specific concerns.
  • Identify who decides and who influences. They’re not always the same person.
  • Remember previous conversations: what objections do they typically raise? What matters to them?

If it’s a large or unknown audience:

  • Study the event context: technical conference? Generalist forum? Open webinar?
  • Use pre-event forms if you have the opportunity: a single question about expectations is gold.
  • Assume a common denominator: the topic that brings them together tells you something about their interests.

In the moment:

  • In the first 30 seconds you can ask a quick show-of-hands question that calibrates level: “How many of you have worked with X before?”
  • Read the room: ages, dress, open devices, energy level.
  • Adjust in real time if you notice your initial calibration was off.

Knowing your audience isn’t an optional step or an advanced refinement. It’s the foundation on which everything else is built. Structure, tone, examples, depth—it all depends on knowing who you’re talking to.

In the next chapter we’ll take that information and turn it into structure: how to open with impact, develop with clarity, and close leaving a mark that lasts longer than polite applause.