Speaking to your specific audience

I've been reading Helen Thomas's Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President. Ms. Thomas was a White House press correspondent for many years, and this book is anecdotes from that time. There is a great story from the time when Ronald Reagan was President. Reagan was given the nickname The Great Communicator because he spoke so effectively to all sorts of people. According to Ms. Thomas, here he is speaking in front of the National Conference of Building and Construction Trades:

"Here is a story about some of the basic rules of communication. It was told to me for the first time by Danny Villanueva, who used to placekick for the Los Angeles Rams and then became a sports announcer. Danny told me that one night he was having dinner witha young ballplayer with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the young wife was bustling about getting the dinner ready while he and the ballplayer were talking sports. And the baby started to cry, and over her shoulder the wife said to her husband, 'Change the baby.' This young ballplayer was embarrassed in front of Danny and said, 'What do you mean, change the baby? I'm a ballplayer. That's not my line of work.' And she turned around, put her hands on her hips, and she communicated: 'Look, buster, you lay the diaper out like a diamond, you put second base on home plate, put the baby's bottom on the pitcher's mound, hook up first and third, slide home underneath, and if it starts to rain, the game ain't called - you start all over again.'"

Now that's a speaker who understands the audience.

Why don't we understand each other?

Great article on why the communications are so often misunderstood. Two key points: first, your ownership of a communication will affect how you understand it, and second, you have to use the language of your intended audience if you want to be understood. What is meant by ownership? Well, what stake do you have in the message? For example, if you are in the market for a new cell phone, you will be more interested in cell phone advertisements and reviews. And what about "language"? This is not just English versus French or Italian. Think about how clear your meaning would be to your intended audience. Just because a concept is blindingly obvious to you, don't assume your audience will see it so clearly. If your message is technical, this is especially important.