Using the Question Quadrant to understand what your audience wants and what you want the audience to receive is simple. List the type of audience members who will be present in the upper left quadrant (company VP, peers, direct reports, etc.)
In the upper right quadrant—across from each audience member you listed—indicate what you think they want from your presentation (assurance that I know my stuff, conciseness, full explanation of process, the ROI on my project, etc.)
The lower left quadrant is used for listing your goals for the presentation or the information that you are sharing (for the listener to replicate the process, buy-in for my proposal, change their mind, motivated to buy my product, etc.)
The final quadrant helps the speaker clarify his desired outcome for the time he’ll spend with this audience (purchase my product, hire me, provide job security, fund the project, etc.).
Once this information is written down, you’ll have a better look at what kind of information—and what level of detail—needs to be in your speech or presentation.
Let me know how you’ve used this system. Spending some time thinking through who your audience is—and what they want—is vital to you getting what YOU want.