The Real Question: What's In It For Your Audience?

WIIFM?

What's In It For Me?

That's what you're audience is asking.  That's (for the most part) all they care about.  It doesn't matter what you're presenting.  Could be a presentation about your company.  Could be a new product release to your sales team.  Could be a new initiative you're starting.  It doesn't matter.  Your audience only cares about one thing - what's in it for them?

Does that sound selfish?  Yes.  Is it true?  Yes.  Is it selfish?  No.

Quite often when we sit down and start sketching out our presentation, we rarely think of it in terms of what we're offering the audience.  We think about what product features to mention, or which client logos to show, or how worthwhile our cause is.  But you're presenting to reach a certain goal, and if you want to reach that goal, your audience is going to have to take you there.

I just finished a presentation for a great client who is launching a revolutionary type of software.  It has awesome features.  It blows away the competition.  It looks slick.  Really, it's the cat's meow.

My client is presenting this to his national sales team - that's his audience.  So when we started the design process, one of my first questions was, "What's in it for them?"  How is this product going to change their lives?  The goal of his presentation wasn't to unveil this new software, though at first glance you may think it was.  There's nothing in that for them.

What we needed to do was craft the message in a way that gets the sales team excited about selling the software.  How will this software ignite their sales figures? How will this software help them solve the problems of their customers and make them look good?  How is this going to change their lives?  We had to connect the software with the things that matter to the sales team in order to empower them.

Think about your presentation and your audience.  Is your presentaiton about you or is it about them?  Is it about features or is it about how those features will help a business make more money?  Is it about your charity or how helping your charity will enrich your audience's lives?

I'd love to hear your approach to WIIFM in the comments.  How do you make sure it's all about your audience?

Image courtesy of Thomas Hawk

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Comments

[benjamin]

To be frank, I'm still exploring all the different ways to set up WIIFM at the onset of my speech. Approaches that I've used,

1) Ask questions that link their pain/pleasure to my subject matter - and watch their reactions, and mirror them

2) Shock them with what happens if they do not know (pain)

3) Entice them into listening if they do know (pleasure)

4) Share a story of what happened in me taking a path relating to the subject matter that I like my audience to take

5) Plain delivery - why this is important for you to know ... is 1,2,3 etc.

Anyone else?

[Steve Cherches]

Excellent post...!

I'll be working with a new client (PR firm) on improving their pitch (story, visuals, etc.), and the big thing they seem to be overlooking is the profile of their client/audience. Shocking for a PR firm. It's gotta be their starting point.

This will be a great post for me to forward to them...!

Thanks, Jon.... Steve

[Jonathan Thomas]

Benjamin,

Great info! Super helpful approaches. In Nancy Duarte's recent book, Resonate (I highly recommend), she refers to the pain/pleasure in a different way, as "Where we are" and "Where we could be." I love that way of thinking because we're always trying to convince/persuade in some fashion. So we're trying to get the audience unstuck from the status quo and empower them to want to make that change, whether it's hiring your company or implementing a new technique.

That contrast is very important, so the audience knows the difference between where they are now and where you can bring them. But that's all in-line with what you say.

Appreciate the comment!

Jon

[Jonathan Thomas]

Steve,

Thanks for stopping by! You definitely need to know (profile) your audience before you can develop your presentation so you can know exactly WHAT they are all about. What is their current situation? How can you (the presenter) help? What do they care about? What don't they care about? What are their fears, concerns?

Thanks Steve.

Jon

[benjamin]

Jon,

Thanks for sharing. I really need to get a copy of Duarte's Resonance. I've been noticing references to it almost everywhere!

Well, I have two questions for you about WIIFM.

1) How do you actually deliver WIIFM and what is the method that has worked best for you?

2) How do you know your audience has gotten it and you can go on with your other content?

Thanks Jon

[Jonathan Thomas]

Great comment Benjamin.

I make sure my presentations address WIIFM by challenging the presenter (or myself, if I'm creating a presentation for myself) to truly figure out why the audience should care. What are they going to get out of it? You deliver it by making what's in it for them your main theme and work from there.

I like to make sure my audience has "gotten it" by engaging them often. I try to ask the audience specific questions instead of just asking if they have any questions.

Hope this helps.

Jon

[London Wedding Photographer RAMYAD]

I've been trying to "polish", if that is the right word, my written presentation as well as the verbal. One of the things I've found is that my audience lose interest when all it is about is my and my business. They don't need to know that right? They want to know what I will give them, what they will get in return for their investment in me, whether that is time or money.

I really need to think more about what is in it for them and extenuate the positives. Thanks for posting this. really made me think.

[Jonathan Thomas]

Of course they'll lose interest if it's just about you. It's all about them!