Developing Audience Benefits

Developing Audience Benefits is what's going to keep the audience engaged in what you are communicating.  When having an audience it is important to:

• Not have an "I/we" focus and turning it into more of a  "you view" this will help in creating value in their thoughts and opinions. 
• Being professional in your conversations - Use more conversational/formal diction to come across more educated and mature.
• Be positive - no ones wants to get behind a Negative Nancy, if that's the direction your going, it's a one way ticket to no where. Although you are not going to be able to only communicate positive messages all the time, try putting a positive spin on a negative message.
• Be courteous, not everyone is going to share your opinion all the time so even if you are being challenged make sure you are handling it class and use courteous language.
• Use bias-free language that is appropriate for everyone, ensure that it is not biased  so that you are not stereotyping, excluding or offending people.  I think the best way of doing this is to not use biases when referring to things such as: gender, race, age or disability.
• Use plain language, although you may think it makes you sound more intelligent your message may get lost in translation.  Use familiar vocabulary that appeals to all audiences.
• Using strong verbs and nouns provides more information and keeps people tuned in, use your thesaurus if you get stuck.

What are some of your suggests to capture an audience, please let us know your "tricks of the trade" when it comes to addressing your colleagues and peers?