Know Your Audience

Do you know who your listeners or viewers are? Do you have a target for the programming you produce or carry on your media outlet? In the United States we have broadcast consultants who encourage most radio broadcasters to narrow their focus, to find a niche and super serve that audience. There is some wisdom in that, especially in a major market of millions of people with 50 or more radio stations. If you are going to sell products or grow an audience, you have to stand out and connect with a particular group.

By the way, this is nothing new. All the way back in ancient history, Aristotle understood the need to know your audience and to tailor your message for the audience if you were going to be effective in persuading them to action.

What about Christian broadcasters? Do we need to know our audience? Absolutely. It is not enough to have a message to deliver. We need to deliver it in a way that our particular audience can receive it and act upon it. In simple terms, we need to speak their language. In fact, Aristotle spoke about this, too.

[blockquote author=”Aristotle, 384-322 BC” link=”” target=”_blank”]To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.[/blockquote]

We need to remember, however, that our understanding of the audience isn’t simply for selling a product or building an audience, it is for proclaiming truth…God’s Truth. There is a point where we, as Christian communicators, need to broadly and boldly broadcast the truth of salvation…of sin…of being lost if we are without Christ as Lord…to our audience. In that case, we may need to define our audience differently.

My recent Bible reading took me through 1 Kings and 2 Kings. In these portions of God’s Word, the kings of Israel and of Juda are defined in the broadest of terms. Either they did right in the sight of the Lord, or they did evil in the sight of the Lord. They either followed God’s ways or they followed the ways of idol worship. While there were other things written about the various kings of Israel and Judah, this is what stands out most.

Sometimes we need to recognize that our audience falls into one of two categories. Saved or lost. Followers of Christ or followers of the world. On the narrow path to heaven or on the wide road to hell. And there are times we need to make programming decisions that address this audience. My friend, Dr. O. S. Hawkins says that many people don’t know they need to be saved because they don’t know they are lost. We need to be sure that the lost in our audience…and they are there…understand their lost condition. And they need to know how to get on that narrow path that leads to eternal joy.

Do you know your audience? Will they understand and act upon your message?