Public SpeakingChapter FiveAnalyzing Your Audience

Gathering Information About Your Audience

O the simplest way to gather information about your audience informally is to just observe them and ask questions before you speakO try to get as much information as

possible about your audience before you speak

O demographics are statistical information about the age, race, gender, sexual orientation, educational level, and religious views of an audience.

Gathering Information About Your Audience

O you can also choose to gather information about your audience formallyO a survey allows you to gather both

demographic information and information about what audience members:O like or dislikeO believe to be true or falseO think is good or bad about the issues

that you are discussing

Gathering Information About Your Audience

O open-ended questions allow for unrestricted answers by not limiting answers to choices or alternatives

O closed-ended questions offer alternatives from which to choose, such a true / false, agree / disagree, or multiple-choice questions

Analyze Information About Your Audience

O audience analysis is the process of examining information about the listeners who will hear your speech

O when analyzing the information that you have gathered about your audience, consider:O How are audience members similar to one

another?O How are audience members different from

one another?O Based on these similarities or differences,

how can I establish common ground?

Analyze Information About Your Audience

O to establish common ground with your audience is to identify ways in which you and your listeners are alikeO although every person is unique, you

are looking for general ways that they are alike or different

O a relationship is an ongoing connection you have with another person

Adapt to Your AudienceO audience adaptation is the process

of ethically using information you’ve gathered when analyzing your audience to help your audience clearly understand your message and to achieve your speaking objective

Adapt to Your AudienceO These key questions can help you to

formulate an effective approach to your audience:O Consider Your Audience

O To whom am I speaking?O What topic would be most suitable for

my audience?O Consider Your Speech Goal

O What is my objective?

Adapt to Your AudienceO Consider Your Speech Content

O What kind of information should I share with my audience?

O How should I present the information to them?O How can I gain and hold their attention?O What kind of examples would work best?O What method of organizing information will be

most effective?O Consider Your Delivery

O What language differences and expectations do audience members have?

O What style of delivery will my audience members expect?

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O You can gather and analyze three primary types of information:O demographicO psychologicalO situational

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O demographic audience analysis is analyzing an audience by examining demographic information so as to develop a clear and effective messageO age

O age can suggest the kinds of examples, humor, illustrations, etc.

O genderO a person’s sex is his or her biological status

as male or female, based on anatomy and reproductive system

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O a person’s gender is the culturally constructed and psychologically based perception of one’s self as feminine or masculine

O sexual orientationO an audience-centered speaker is sensitive

to issues and attitudes about sexual orientation in contemporary society

O culture, ethnicity, and raceO culture is a learned system of knowledge,

behavior, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms shared by a group of people

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O ethnicity is that portion of a person’s cultural background that relates to a national or religious heritage

O a person’s race is his or her biological heritage (for example, Caucasian or Hispanic)

O ethnocentrism is an assumption that your own cultural approaches are superior to those of other cultures

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O individualistic and collectivistic culturesO individualistic cultures place more value on

individual achievement (ex. United States, Canada, Belgium)

O collectivistic cultures are more likely to value group or team rewards (Asian cultures)

O high-context and low-context culturesO high-context cultures place high importance on

factors such as tone of voice, gesture, facial expressions, other nonverbal aspects

O low-context cultures expect and need more detailed and explicit information

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O tolerance of uncertainty and need for certaintyO people from cultures from with a

greater tolerance of uncertainty are more comfortable with vagueness and are not upset when details are not spelled out

O an audience with people who have a need for certainty need concrete details and want to know what steps that can take

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O high-power and low-power culturesO people from high-power cultures are

more likely to perceive people in leadership roles – including public speakers – as credibleO they are also more comfortable with

differences in social classesO people from low-power cultures often

favor more shared approaches to leadership and governance

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O long-term and short-term orientation to timeO people with long-term orientation to

time often value patience, persistence, and deferred gratification

O cultures with short-term orientation to time value quick responses to problems

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O Group membershipO we are social creatures who

congregate in groups to gain identities, to help accomplish projects that we support, and to have fun

O knowing what groups your listeners belong to can help you make inferences about their likes, dislikes, beliefs, and values

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O Different types of groups:O religious groupsO political groupsO work groupsO social groupsO service groups

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O Socioeconomic statusO socioeconomic status is a person’s

perceived importance and influence based on income, occupation, and education level

O a target audience is a specific segment of an audience that you most want to influence

Analyzing Your Audience Before You Speak

O Identify common valuesO People in all cultures:

O have beliefs about deathO have a childhood fear of strangersO have a division of labor by sexO experience certain emotions and feelings, such as

envy, pain, jealousy, shame, and prideO use facial expressions to create emotionO have rules for etiquetteO experience empathyO value some degree of collaboration or cooperationO experience conflict and seek to manage or mediate

conflicts

Psychological Audience Analysis

O psychological audience analysis explores an audience’s attitudes, beliefs, values, and other psychological information about an audience in order to develop a clear and effective message

O an attitude is an individual’s likes or dislikes

O an individual’s perception of what is true or false is a belief

O a value is an enduring concept of what is right and wrong

Psychological Audience Analysis

O a captive audience is required to be there

O a voluntary audience has a choice

Situational Audience Analysis

O situational audience analysis is an examination of the time and place of a speech, the audience size, and the speaking occasion in order to develop a clear and effective message

Adapting to Your Audience as You Speak

O identifying nonverbal cuesO eye contactO facial expressionO movementO nonverbal responsivenessO verbal responsiveness

Adapting to Your Audience as You Speak

O responding to nonverbal cuesO tell a storyO use personal examplesO use appropriate humorO be redundantO use visual aidsO as someone in the audience to summarizeO provide additional evidence to supportO remind your listeners of your credibilityO offer to provide additional information at a

later time

Adapting to Your Audience as You Speak

O Strategies for customizing your message to your audienceO appropriately use audience members’

namesO refer to the town or communityO refer to a significant event that

happened on the date of your speechO refer to a recent news eventO refer to a group or organizationO relate information directly to your

listeners

Analyzing Your Audience After You Speak

O nonverbal responsesO is audience clapping politely or is applause

enthusiasticO facial expressions

O verbal responsesO what do audience members say to you about

your speechO survey responsesO behavioral responses

O will the audience ultimately behave as you intended