Tailoring Your Message: Know Your Audience’s Knowledge Level

Note to self.
When the audience is large, be careful not to over-estimate its knowledge (on average).
When the audience is small, be careful not to underestimate its knowledge.
In late June 2020, in the midst of Covid lockdown, my daughter asked me to tell her a bedtime story (not one of my recognised talents).
She was seven at the time so I thought to keep it simple.
“There once was a little girl who had a froggy friend. When the frog went missing, she was very sad. She went to the pond and called for him to come back and when she arrived home, she opened the door and there was … nothing. Then she went to her room, grabbed a bunch of bugs that the frog loved to eat, went to sleep and when she opened her eyes, there was … nothing.”
“Ok, Ok”, Eva interrupted, “That’s the complication. When is the resolution?”
When you have an audience of one, it pays to ask a few questions before you pitch. 😊