A while ago I had the opportunity to listen to a speech of the Bavarian prime minister. The occasion was the celebration of the 70th anniversary of JCI Germany. It is an organization I’ve been a member of for years allowing me to travel the world and find like-minded people across Germany and the world.

While the prime minister’s speech did engage people, reactions were varied. I’ve seen some trying to check the facts, others were enthusiastic or curious, and yet others rejected it.

When people rejected the speech, it was interesting to notice that they often also rejected him as a person explaining that his ideas had been disrespectful and didn’t address them.

Given the circumstances, many of the participants had expected that such a speech would give them all a sense of being appreciated as individuals as well as through their actions. They saw themselves as a member of his targeted audience.

But it’s an error to assume that a speaker will always tune in to what we’d like to hear from him. Depending on what it is, that the speaker seeks to achieve he’ll choose his words, his stories, and to whom he wants to speak.

Sitting in the audience doesn’t mean that one is the targeted audience.

It’s the audience’s job to discover what the speaker is trying to achieve or say. It’s the audience’s job to become aware of what it is that resonates with them.

It’s easy to reject a speech or the person holding it. The more interested approach is to consider what could have been meant and, in doubt, to assume that he was clear in his intention.