We adjust our message based on our audience. We do this every day when talking to friends, co-workers or family. If I am at a networking event talking about my job the jargon that I use will be vastly different than if I’m talking to my Grandma. If I am talking to someone that has never cooked more than mac and cheese out of a box my description of how I made this soup will be vastly different than if I am talking to a foodie friend. Don’t forget these principles when working on a project. Sometimes we get so deep into something that we can no longer see it at a top line level and lose who our true audience is.
I was working on a project I learned quickly that things that made complete sense to me were not user friendly for the intended audience- I forgot to adjust my message. It’s because I was in too deep. Realizing my error, I started my own mini focus groups – a small sample of my target audience and polled them. Can you use this? Do you understand this? Is there a better way? In the end the outcome I intended was less painful for all involved as my audience was less frustrated and more apt to return clean results.
Just remember who you are targeting and ask them “Does this make sense?”
