Hey, Reader!

A friend of mine often says: "don't prove to the audience that you are someone, prove to the audience that they are someone."

My guess is that most of us get this wrong. It's pretty obvious when we approach big moments thinking "I hope I don't screw this up," rather than, "I hope someone takes something away from this."

For Part 2 of 'Pitch, Please,' I'm walking you through how to analyze an audience. I use a four-step process, acronym being READ (Roles, Expectations, Aversions, and Desires), to guide me through big moments:

Watch on YouTube here:

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Listen on Spotify here:

Roles - who are the decision makers in the room? Everyone in the crowd may have influence, but not everyone makes decisions. And how do these people make their decisions?

Expectations - what's the audience's exposure to this message and format? Are they a hot commodity and they're being pitched to often? Are they high knowledge of the topic? Or are they low knowledge?

Aversions - not just objections, but also what are your audience's fears? Are they worried about getting burnt, missing out, or going to outside of the box? Are there personality traits that are more risk-averse or risk-tolerant?

Desires - what do they want out of the pitch? Do they want a safe bet, security, a big risk? Do they want to stand out in their field?

In the full episode, I walk through all four with my own answers — including a couple that you could steal and use yourself.

This is the second of 10. Over the next few weeks, I'll walk through the whole process, combining communication research with business best practices.

If you've ever wanted to get better at sales or communication, this series is for you.

And if today's episode gets you thinking about an upcoming pitch - reply and tell me. I read every response. Promise!

Chris