Selecting the right message for a given audience can save much discomfort for a speaker. There is a scene in The Wolf of Wall Street that illustrates this well.
The Book and Movie
A few months ago, I was walking through my library and
saw a display of books. Prominently displayed was The Wolf of Wall Street,
which is a memoir from Jordan Belfort, a former stockbroker, a convicted financial
criminal, and now speaker and author. I checked the book out from the library,
read it, and later watched the movie.
Both the book and movie are too long in my opinion, and there are some significant differences between the movie and book. Both are entertaining, but at times credibility is stretched significantly. To test if my skepticism was reasonable, I searched other reviews and opinions and many support my disbelief of some details.
For
example, in the book, there is a scene where Belfort’s rented yacht is sinking in
Italy, and as he, his wife and others are about to be rescued by helicopter,
he and his wife lightheartedly joke about needing to shop for clothes later. It’s
hard to imagine that dialogue, and any levity, taking place in such a moment.
There are many more examples of exaggeration and embellishment.
Further Details
Belfort’s story is amazing for many reasons. More
detail is available here if you have more interest.
Public Speaking Examples
I was entertained and very interested in the public
speaking scenes. Belfort was, and I’m sure remains, a very persuasive speaker. His
style isn’t my style, but his approach is undoubtedly effective with his audiences.
In one scene entrepreneur Steve Madden addresses Belfort’s
brokers, Belfort’s sales staff, and the scene is fascinating in its
illustration of audience analysis and engagement. It’s a great example of poor
audience analysis and lack of readiness.
In the scene, Belfort’s firm is about to take Madden’s
self-named shoe company public, in an IPO offering, selling Madden shares to
their clients. Belfort brings Madden to the office to pump up the sales team and
get them ready to promote and sell the shares that are about to be released to
the public. Big money is at stake.
Madden begins meekly with a self-introduction, but the
audience already knew his name and that he was the founder of the company.
Somebody in the impatient audience shouts “we already know your name!” Not a
strong start.
Madden then delves into trivialities of shoe design
and manufacture. The audience starts throwing wads of paper at him. Belfort steps forward, gracefully moves
Madden aside, acknowledges his comments and his work, and then takes over the
presentation building the sales team into a greed-inspired frenzy. He
understands his audience and speaks about how much money the members of the sales
team are about to earn.
We might not agree on the motivations, but this
remains a great example of understanding an audience, meeting their energy
level, and delivering an appropriate message.
Three Questions For Audience Analysis
Here are some questions for any speaker to consider
before any engagement;
1. Why
am I invited to address this group?
2. What
is my sponsor’s desired outcome with this specific audience?
3. How
do I assess the audience energy level and meet them where they’re at?
Immediately before speaking, assess the energy level of the audience and work
to be compatible. You can then take the energy level elsewhere, but try to
avoid a mismatch of energy.
More On Audience Analysis
I wrote previously about audience analysis here https://gycz.blogspot.com/2023/11/short-cut-to-audience-analysis.html
Conclusion
Choosing the appropriate message for a specific audience
will save a speaker from an uncomfortable interaction. This requires some time before finalizing any
remarks, but is well worth this effort.
