At the heart of great public speaking is understanding your audience.  If you don’t know who you’re talking to, you’re not ready to talk to them. 

What does that mean in practice?  It means that you need to research your audience well in advance of your presentation, in order to make sure that you’re solving problems they actually have, rather than just preaching your particular expertise at them.

This research should go well beyond the standard questions of how many, their demographics, and the time of day.  Of course, you do want to know whether they’ve been fed recently, or whether they’re looking forward to a meal.  You want to know if you’re after-dinner entertainment or a keynoter first thing in the morning.  And you want to know if there are going to be 100 people or a thousand.  You need to know all the practical issues associated with the audience, the venue, and the occasion.   

But the most important questions to ask are, what do they want — what are their hopes and dreams — and what are they afraid of.  Your speech should be about helping them realize their dreams and triumph over their fears. 

The kinesthetic connection a speaker has with her audience is profound and emotional, when it works.  When it doesn’t, everyone’s time has been wasted. 

Understanding your audience means being able to go on a significant emotional journey with them.  That’s the only journey worth taking in public speaking.