The Importance Of Knowing Your Audience (How You Communicate With Others).

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During my time growing up as a youth in the 80's and 90's, there was something that I feel has somewhat become irrelevant in today's society. What I am referring to was deemed as a big deal to have, and if you didn't exhibit the characteristics that coincide with what I'm referencing, you probably had a harder time growing up compared to those that had these. I'm sure by now that you're anxious to know what I am referring to right? I am talking about "manners". I personally feel that the importance of having manners and courtesy towards others is something that has dwindled as I've gotten older. Now I'm in no way saying that people today do not have manners. It just seems to me that small things such as saying "ma'am" and "sir" don't have the level of importance that they once did. Maybe I'm old fashioned or whatever the case may be, but I'm still a believer manners and courtesy matter and are of importance in this world. From my own personal perspective, I believe manners and communication are interconnected. I bring all of this up to say that every single one of us has an audience at various points throughout our lives. By audience, I don't necessarily mean that we're filling up a packed arena of screaming fans. Though that may be the reality of some, the type of audience that I'm referencing doesn't have anything to do with a particular number of people. For me, it means having a person or group of people that are listening to what you're saying. We may not have the type of audience that a celebrity may have, but when you're in situations where you have to communicate with another person, you have to be aware of who is listening, as well how you communicate with them.

Yo, what is going on people? This is your boy Brad H. back once again, and I'd like to once again welcome you all to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I am back for a fresh perspective on a topic that can hopefully inspire us to keep on moving forward. Thanks to everyone that stopped by once again. Well for the soapbox section this week, I'm going to talk more NBA playoff talk. Boy I tell ya, the Houston Rockets were a huge disappointment last night. Most of you know that I'm a San Antonio Spurs fan first, but I got love for the Rockets. It was disappointing to see them go down last night and lose the series in six games to the Golden State Warriors. It's just hard to believe that they lost to a Warriors team that didn't have Kevin Durant. Furthermore, they were at home and Stephen Curry didn't even score a point in the first half of the game. I know there were many that believed that had Chris Paul not gotten injured last season that the Rockets would have went to the NBA Finals. Well they had a healthy Chris Paul this season and still managed to not get it done. I believe that the Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni's system can't beat this Warriors team. I'm not a Warriors fan at all, but you have to admit that the way they move and share the basketball is a thing of beauty. That isolation and three point shooting system by D'Antoni isn't a match for that. Maybe now the Rockets front office will see that by now and make some changes. As for the Warriors, there isn't a timetable on when Kevin Durant may be back. Even without him, I still would take the Warriors to win against any team that is left. Now we just have to wait and see who will be the other two teams that join the Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks in the conference championships. For those of you that have been keeping up with the NBA playoffs, what has been your opinion of them so far? Would love to see your comments on that. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, lets transition into this week's topic of knowing who your audience is.

In order to set up the point that I'm going to attempt to get across in this week's topic, I have to first get into what I'm referring to in the context of what I mean when talking about having an audience. As I brought up earlier, an audience doesn't necessarily have to be limited to a specific number of people. You don't only need a group of people to have an audience. The type of audience that I'm talking about for this week's topic is the people that we interact with on a pretty normal basis. These are the people that are our family, friends, and business related associates. Basically any person that you have any sort of relationship with can be classified as part of your audience. Why is this? Simply put, anyone that you have a relationship with is someone that is going to have to listen to what you have to say at some point or another. These are the people that you have to communicate with, which means that the things you say and the way that you interact with them matters. Now there are some people in this world that don't care much about the reactions that they get from others based on what they have said. Those aren't the type of individuals that this topic will resonate with. This particular topic more or less is for people that actually care about what they say and the ways in which they express themselves. Now that we've talked over the type of audience that we're addressing with this topic, I'm going to get into why I believe it is important to know who your audience is.

Knowing who your audience is depends a lot on the circumstances in which you're having to communicate with someone else. A singer has to know who their audience is based on how well that audience will respond to the songs that they choose to perform. A comedian has to know their audience when it comes to the jokes that they are planning on telling. Whether you're an entertainer or not in this life, the same logic applies when it comes to knowing how you communicate with others. Since we as people have to deal with various types of people and personalities, it is important to be able to recognize those individual personalities. You can't talk to two different people the same exact way and expect to be able to communicate in a healthy manner. For example, imagine that you have two friends that have different personalities. Lets say that one of these friends is more sensitive, and the other is not. Now depending on how close you are with these two individuals, you likely won't talk to them in the same manner. You may show a little more compassion with the friend that is sensitive. You may cater more to their feelings than you normally would with people. With the other friend that may not be as sensitive, you can probably be more transparent with them when you communicate with them. It's the same logic as why we reveal certain things to some people, and we withhold those things from others. You know how certain people will react, and you govern what you say accordingly.

The final point I want to make is what I brought up in the first paragraph about courtesy and manners. As I stated already, these are traits that I feel do not hold the same level of credence as they once did in our society. Now some of you may wonder what exactly does this have to do with anything right? Well from my perspective, having manners and courtesy towards the people that could be considered our audiences is the catalyst for proper communication. I personally believe that the reason that so many people lack the proper knowledge of their audiences is due to the fact that manners and courtesy are missing. Think about it for a second. Would you be more willing to respond to or do something for someone who comes at you respectfully, or all buck wild and rude? The average person would probably say that they would respond more to the person that approaches them in a more respectful manner. I believe that this should also be applied when it comes to the people that we're close to. Don't always assume that because you have a friendship or relationship with someone else that they're always going to tolerate you if you're not approaching them in the correct way. Always know and be aware of who you are interacting with, and be willing to take their thoughts and considerations into account. Everything that I've brought up here is just a suggestion. Everyone is free to do whatever they please, but I believe that knowing your audience is the way to proper communication.

I think that pretty much wraps up this week's topic. I'm going to go ahead and sign off for now, but you all know that I'll be back again in couple of weeks as always. Thank you once again for those of you that checked out another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I hope that this topic was able to serve as a source of inspiration for some of you out there. If anyone wants to leave any feedback or comments, please feel free to do so. You can also connect with me on Twitter @BradrickH. It's been a super wet and rainy weekend here in southeast Texas. I probably won't be able to go outside and enjoy Mothers Day, but I hope that everyone else has a great one. Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there, and I hope you all enjoy your weekend. Take care everyone, and I'll see you all in the next one!

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