For audiences that do know the things called out as assumptions, this has worked really well. What hasn't worked so well is when the audience doesn't really have a good understanding of a body of knowledge that I reference rather than cover.
In retrospect, this is obvious but I certainly failed to predict it.
I'm grappling with a number of possible solutions. I'll probably think of more later but here is what I can think of now:
- Keep materials on hand that address assumed knowledge and adapt a talk to the audience's needs.
- Do a better job of determining an audience's needs in advance and screen out ones that don't have the prerequisites.
- Do a better job of determining an audience's needs in advance and pre-adapt a talk before showing up at the venue, setting expectations appropriately in the process.
I don't know where I'm going with this but any suggestions would be welcome.
