Know Your Target Audience

cropped-cwamca-logoFeatured coffee –Iced Vietnamese Coffee

A colleague and I had a discussion about negative reviews that she received for a webinar that she hosted.

According to reviewers, the webinar was “basic.”  Well, what’s basic to some is new information for others.

When I prepare material for a broad audience, I always try to anticipate the participants’ questions, and my responsibility is to breakdown the information to the nth degree to ensure that everyone leaves with a complete understanding of the subject.

However, when I’m presenting to subject-matter experts or an audience with an advanced level of experience, my goal is to challenge the participants’ knowledge and not waste their time on “the basics.”

Our rule of thumb should be to identify our target audience and to present our material according to their skills level.

When we advertise a webinar to the global coding community, perhaps we should identify the target audience.  Identify the training objectives and the targeted experience level – introductory, beginner, intermediate, or advanced in the advertisement.