Preparing for a speech should begin with thinking about the wants and needs of the audience. What are they interested in? What do they care about? No matter how entertaining a speaker you are, people will not give you their full attention unless you are talking about something that is meaningful to them.
You should try to let the audience know early in your speech that you are going to try to address their concerns. Too often a speaker starts out with a lengthy discussion about the history or background of a topic. That is usually not what the audience cares about! They want to know how this topic will affect their lives.
A needs analysis measures what skills employees have — and what they need. It indicates how to deliver the right training at the right time. The results answer the following questions:
- Where is the audience with the problem or need for change?
- What tasks and subtasks does an expert perform to complete a work process?
- What gaps exist between experts, average, and poor performers of a work process?
- How do we translate the needs into objectives to promote a strong learning outcome?
The method can be simple observation, careful note taking, and asking questions.
