It is important to quickly figure out what the level of knowledge is of your audience. This will help you to lead them to the next level. If you overestimate their level of knowledge, they will not be able to follow you when you talk about the subject matter and you will be wasting their time. If you underestimate their level of knowledge your audience may get bored and you will also be wasting their time. Therefore it is important to get a quick understanding of their level of knowledge and get within reach of their level of knowledge so you can build on that.
You therefore should get as much information about the level of knowledge of your audience before you start your presentation. What to do in case this is not possible? When this is not possible you should get a sense of their level of knowledge during your introduction part of the presentation. There are various ways of doing that. You could use a very visual way of explaining the situation and that it is important to get a quick understanding of their level of knowledge.
Example: You could show a picture of a mountain on a slide and explain that it represents a mountain of knowledge and that you want to lead your audience to the summit of the mountain. As you don’t know what at what level your audience is on the mountain it is important to quickly find each other on the mountain, because when you are in reach you can guide the audience (team) to the summit. If you are too far away on the slope of the mountain, for example you are way ahead or behind, you won’t be able to hear each other and you may not get to the summit as intended.
Use a story like this to visualize where you are and what you intend to do, strengthen the importance that your audience provides you direct feedback and asks questions so it is easier to see where they are in terms of level of knowledge. When one member of your audience provides feedback, have a look at the body language of others and ask to make sure that this person can represent the rest of the group. You want to avoid that you cater towards one person that forms an exception compared to the majority of the group. Find your audience quickly on their path towards more knowledge. For more detailed and practical tips and tricks we invite you to have a look at the book that is part of the Public Speaking Kit.