 Eugene Deimler

 Your boss has asked your work group to report on corporate child-care facilities.

Two things to know prior to starting:  the situation  the audience

 Why is there a need to research corporate child-care?  Is the report to persuade or inform the audience?  Is there support for a child-care program?  Is the report to focus on the negative or positive aspects of corporate child-care?

 Has there been a increase in pregnancies?  Has there been an increase in new hires with children?  Is the child-care to become an employee benefit?  Understanding the need for the research provides focus and direction.

 By understanding the need for research, individuals within the team can establish goals. Once goals are established, this can provide focus and direction for the team throughout their research.  Understanding the need for the research will also help with establishing the needs of the audience, which will be discussed in later slides.

 Persuasion may be necessary if there is not enough support for corporate child-care.  If support is shown, the report will take an informative approach, since persuading the audience will not be necessary.

 Persuasion is necessary when addressing an audience that disagrees with the opinion of an individual or a company on a subject. If this is the case, the child-care report will need to be presented in a way that highlights the benefits; however, avoiding negative points altogether may lead an audience to feel the presenter is completely bias and/or an advocate for what is being presented.  Persuasion can be a presenter’s ally, if used correctly.

 If the audience supports corporate child-care then an informative approach would be used to present the research.  When an audience is expecting to be informed, there usually is some agreement on the subject.  A presenter can leave out any persuasive material; only the facts need highlighted throughout the presentation.  A direct approach is more suitable for informing an audience that has a basic understanding and agreement on the subject being presented.

 Support can have a positive effect, making it easy to deliver a favorable report.  Individual’s support for a subject can have a negative effect when attempting to deliver unfavorable findings.

 It is important to recognize any support given to corporate child-care. Support or the lack of support will determine how the research will be presented.  Support is a deciding factor on whether research will need to be focused on gathering information to persuade and inform or to simply inform.  If the message is to have a negative connotation, support would take the form of resistance.

 Is the report to present negative aspects of corporate child-care?  Is the report to provide positive findings to support initiating a child-care program?

 If the report is to discredit a child-care program, then spending time searching for material not supporting the tone of the message would be a waste of time.  A negative message may still be positive. A negative message would be one that a particular group would not want to hear.  Example: As a leader of a union, when addressing an employer about raises or a desire for improved conditions, it would come across as a negative message to the employer, while a positive one for union members.

 What are the ages of the audience?  What is the size of the audience?  What are the needs of the audience?  What is the income level of the audience in need of the corporate child-care program?

 An older audience would have no real use for a corporate child-care facility; a persuasive approach would need to be taken to address an older audience on the subject.  A younger group would most likely have no immediate use for a child-care facility, but would most likely be open to the idea, since they may plan to have children later in life.

 Those most interested in child-care would be those with children.  Single moms and dads and families, where both parents, work would be the target audience.

 Is the audience less than 10 individuals?  Is the audience unable to be numbered, perhaps crossing international boundaries?

 A smaller audience would perhaps be individuals who are knowledgeable about why corporate child-care is being researched. This will allow more time for presenting findings instead of explaining local concerns, customs, and professional terms.  If an audience is small, there is a greater chance of interaction; therefore, time would need to be allotted for a question and answer session.

 The importance of knowing if there is a large audience is: there will be more factors to consider prior to starting research for a assigned report.  The larger the audience, the greater the chance the audience will not be familiar with common issues facing those who are assembling the report. Thus leading to the need for explaining local concerns, as well as explaining any technical or job specific terms.

 break down any communication barriers.  keep your audience interested.  add value to the information being presented.

 Focusing on the needs of the audience will allow a connection to be established between the presenter and the audience. This is important, regardless, whether the report is to be persuasive or informative.  When individuals are interested in what is being presented, there is a greater chance the message will reach them.  Focusing on the audience’s needs will add value to the information presented, allowing communication barriers to be removed and interest to be aroused.

 By recognizing the ages and the size of the audience, focusing on their needs will be made easier.  If the audience is large, a lot of background information on the local situation may need to be given. This would include why there is a need or a desire for corporate child-care.  If delivering an unfavorable message, knowledge of the audience’s needs will allow the presenter to show empathy for the situation many may find themselves in, that of needing child-care.

 Will those utilizing the child-care program be expected to pay for the services?  Will those individuals utilizing the child-care program be able to afford to pay for the child-care service?

 Prior to starting research on corporate child-care, knowing whether employees will be responsible for paying and whether they can afford to do so is of vital importance.  These two questions will be used to base the cost to the company and employees.  Foreknowledge of income levels will allow research to be done on corporate programs that may be developed to assist in paying for child-care for those at the lower end of the pay scale.

By taking the time to develop questions on the needs of the situation and the needs of the audience will provide direction and purpose to the assigned project. As in the case of child- care, there are general to specific questions that need to be answered in order to benefit the audience. By utilizing time to develop appropriate questions about the situation and the audience, the presentation given will certainly prove a success.

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