We place a great deal of importance on the performance of the person speaking: their confidence, posture, pace, vocabulary, and ability to manage stress. All of these elements matter. But in a professional context, speaking is rarely just about speaking well. The goal is generally to make people understand something, convince them, or prompt them to take action. In other words, a presentation can be flawlessly delivered and still miss its mark.
The question to ask is therefore: “What will my audience remember, and what will my message make them want to do?” This question takes on its full meaning when we consider that, in Quebec, approximately 53% of people aged 16 to 65 fall below Level 3 in literacy, according to 2012 PIAAC data. This does not mean that they cannot read, but rather that they may have greater difficulty processing long or complex texts and integrating multiple pieces of information. For anyone speaking to an audience, the takeaway is important: making a message accessible, prioritizing information, and getting to the point does not mean oversimplifying what you have to say. It is essential to increasing the likelihood that you will be understood.
In short:
- Even a flawlessly delivered presentation can miss its mark if the audience does not know what to do with the message they received.
- In Quebec, approximately 53% of people aged 16 to 65 fall below Level 3 in literacy (2012 PIAAC), making clarity and message prioritization essential.
- Informing, convincing, and mobilizing are three different objectives: mobilizing requires going beyond simply conveying information.
- Clarifying your core message before speaking means identifying one main idea, two or three arguments, and a simple summary sentence.
- Adapting your message to your audience—what they already know, what interests them, and what they stand to gain—increases the likelihood that they will take action.
In this article:
- Informing, convincing, and mobilizing: three different objectives
- What do I really want my audience to remember?
- Why should your audience care?
- Mobilization begins before you speak
- Frequently asked questions
Informing, Convincing, and Mobilizing: three different objectives
Speaking to mobilize people requires going beyond simply conveying information. An audience may fully understand the facts presented without necessarily understanding what they mean for them.
To build support and encourage people to take action, a message must therefore answer three essential questions: What does my audience need to remember? Why should they care? What do I expect from them now? And was my initial objective clear? These four questions can serve as a guiding thread for any presentation designed to mobilize people.
What do I really want my Audience to remember?
Before building a presentation, we often instinctively ask ourselves: “What do I need to say?” Try asking instead: “If my audience could remember only one thing, what would it be?”
The exercise can be surprisingly difficult. When we know a subject well, everything seems important. The context deserves to be explained. The figures need to be presented. The nuances matter. So do the exceptions. We add one slide, then another, until we have turned a relatively simple message into an accumulation of information. Yet clarity requires making choices.
A presentation designed to mobilize people involves prioritizing information so that what truly matters stands out.
Before your next presentation, try completing this sentence: “By the end of my presentation, I want the people in the room to understand that…” If you need a paragraph to finish the sentence, your core message probably still needs some work.
To clarify your message before you speak, try defining:
- one main idea that your audience absolutely must remember;
- two or three arguments that help explain or support it;
- one simple sentence that can summarize your message to someone who was not in the room.
Without oversimplifying a complex subject, you need to give your audience a guiding thread to which they can connect the various pieces of information you present.
Why should your Audience care?
Quite simply because the way your message becomes meaningful varies depending on who hears it. Before your presentation, ask yourself three questions about your audience:
- What do they already know about the subject?
- What might interest, worry, or prompt a reaction from them?
- What concrete benefit or change will they see in their own reality?
These few questions force us to step outside our own perspective. Above all, they help us avoid a common mistake: preparing a presentation based on what we want to say rather than on what others need to hear.
Mobilization begins before you speak
Let’s return to the meeting from the beginning. Your presentation is over, but this time, no one leaves the room wondering: “Okay, but what exactly are we supposed to do now?” Learning how to structure your message, capture attention, convey your ideas with conviction, and adapt your communication to your audience is precisely what makes it possible to turn a presentation into a genuine lever for mobilization.
That is what Technologia’s Communication: The Art of Public Speaking course offers: developing the reflexes needed to ensure that your message is not only heard, but also understood, remembered, and followed by action.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a well-delivered presentation enough to be effective?
No. A presentation can be flawlessly delivered in terms of its form—confidence, pace, and posture—and still miss its mark if the audience does not understand what they are supposed to remember or do with it.
Why is it important to consider the audience’s literacy level?
Because a significant proportion of the population—approximately 53% of people aged 16 to 65 in Quebec, according to 2012 PIAAC data—may have greater difficulty processing long or complex texts. Making a message accessible and well structured increases the likelihood that it will be understood.
What is the difference between informing, convincing, and mobilizing?
Informing means conveying facts; convincing aims to gain acceptance for an idea; mobilizing goes further by helping the audience understand what the message means for them and prompting them to take action.
How do you define the core message of a presentation?
By identifying one main idea to remember, two or three arguments that support it, and a simple sentence that can summarize the message for someone who was not present.
Sources
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 2012.
