Mike DomitrzPresident, Author, and Speaker on Respect, The Center for Respect, Inc. · Author & Speaker on Respect for Schools, Corporations, & the Military since 1990 (has reached

You must know your audience #centerforrespect #mikedomitrz #speakercoaching #barriers #teaching

16 Jan 2025 · 0 min

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In this brief coaching monologue, the speaker stresses that effective instruction—especially on topics like weight loss—must begin by uncovering the audience’s existing barriers. He illustrates the point with a weight‑loss example: telling people to run ten miles a week is futile if they can’t even run one mile, because the underlying obstacle isn’t addressed. The core message is that speakers need to identify why the audience isn’t already taking the desired action and explicitly address those obstacles in their teaching. This principle is presented as essential for any speaker aiming to drive real behavior change.

If you walked in the room and you say, I'm doing weight loss, and you're just gonna teach the new ways to lose weight, but you don't address the reason the audience isn't doing those things now, ain't nothing gonna change in that room, right? If you say, look, running 10 miles 3 days a week will help you lose weight, but you don't overcome the barrier to why they don't run 1 mile, they're not running 10. Their barrier's too high. You must know your audience's barriers to why they are not taking the action you are teaching them to take, and you must address them.