Creating and Using Overheads

Back to Educate Your Audience

Ask yourself the following questions to analyze your audience:

1. Does your audience know the jargon and/or technical terms of your topic?
   This will help you decide how intricate your visuals can be. A figure versus a picture can make a big difference in audience comprehension.
2. What does your audience know about your topic?
   You may have to provide some background information about your topic, or perhaps you can assume a certain knowledge level.
3. What are your audience's attitudes toward your topic?
   You may need to "captivate" them into your topic with simple visuals to make your presentation appealing, or perhaps you need to use more technical visuals for credibility.
4. How will the information from your presentation be used?
   Your information may be used to make a decision, or the audience may be tested on the material.