One of the basic tenants of speaking that is screwed up repeatedly is not knowing your audience. It’s common enough of a mistake that I’ll be returning to it again and again I’m sure. I’ll use as my case study today an episode of the so-so 1980’s sitcom “Who’s the Boss.” “Who’s the Boss” was about a woman advertizing executive, Angela, and her jock turned house-keeper, Tony.

Angela once taught a class on marketing for night school. Tony took it, though as much to be the class clown and annoy Angela as to learn. For the final project Tony had to produce a mock TV commercial. He videotaped some local mud wrestling women - completely covered in mud and in the ring - say how great a certain brand of detergent was. It was clever and very well produced.

Tony got an F. Why? Not because Angela was uptight and trying to get him, as Tony thought. He failed because he broke the first rule of marketing. Know your audience. Who bought detergent in 1980’s America? Married women, tending to be more conservative and wanting nothing to do with mud wrestlers.

No amount of being clever, cool production values, whatever are going to work if you turn your audience off. If you don’t know who you’re targeting or forget, you’re playing with fire. I’ve seen a lot of people get so excited with their own creativity that they make stupid mistakes like Tony. If you find yourself laughing too hard at your own material or envisioning your listeners falling off their chairs worshipping you, be careful. Are you imagining the real audience or your fantasy one?

Notice that I (hopefully!) show I know my audience as I provided the background on “Who’s the Boss” above. I don’t assume you’ve ever heard of the show, nor do I assume you want to know every last detail about it. I tried to just give enough background and then get to the point.

When I started this blog I had visions of it being very high brow. My first post was about that great American, Ben Franklin. Then my references turned to Kojak and then Seinfeld, both great shows. “Who’s the Boss” had its moments, but was not a great show. At this rate I’ll be making “Heehaw” references next week. If, dear reader, you’re not American or too young to know what “Heehaw” is, count yourself blessed!