5
Chapter
Analyzing the
Audience
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1.
Explain why public speakers must be audience centered.
2.
Explain what it means to say that audiences are egocentric.
3.
Identify the major demographic traits of audiences.
4.
Identify the major situational traits of audiences.
5.
Use a questionnaire as a method of audience analysis for classroom speeches.
6.
Explain how a speaker can adapt to the audience while preparing the speech and
while delivering the speech.
Chapter Outline
I.
Good speakers are audience-centered (text pages 110-112).
A. They understand that the primary purpose of public speaking is to gain a
desired response from their listeners.
B. They keep three questions in mind as they prepare their speeches:
1.
To whom am I speaking?
2.
What do I want the audience to know, believe, or do as a result of my
speech?
3.
How can I most effectively compose and present my speech to accomplish
that aim?
CHAPTER 5ANALYZING THE AUDIENCE
C.
137
They seek to create a bond—what communication scholars call identification—
with listeners by emphasizing common values, goals, and experiences.
II.
It is important for student speakers to approach their classmates as a real audience (text
pages 112-113).
A. Because the classroom seems like an artificial speaking situation, it is easy for
students to lose sight of their classmates as an authentic audience.
B. The best student speakers take their audience seriously and treat their classmates
as worthy of their best effort.
III.
Good speakers understand the psychology of audiences (text pages 113-114).
A. A speaker’s task is to make the audience want to pay attention to her or his message.
B. The auditory perception of audiences is always selective.
1.
Everything a speaker says is filtered through a listener’s frame of reference.
2.
Every speech contains two messages—that sent by the speaker and that
received by the audience.
C. Audiences are egocentric.
1.
They pay closest attention to messages that affect them directly.
2.
They typically approach speeches by asking, “Why is this important to me?”
D. These psychological principles have two important implications for speakers.
1.
Listeners will judge a speech on the basis of what they already know and believe.
2.
Speakers must take care to relate their messages to an audience’s existing
knowledge and beliefs.
IV.
The first stage of audience analysis is examining demographic traits of the audience
and how they might affect reception of the speech (text pages 114-121).
A. Demographic audience analysis is a useful tool in understanding audiences, but it
needs to be used properly.
1.
When analyzing demographic information about the audience, it is essential
to avoid stereotyping.
2.
Demographic audience analysis should always be combined with
situational audience analysis.
B. Few things affect a person’s outlook more than her or his age.
1.
Each generation has more-or-less common experiences and values.
2.
Effective speakers adapt to these experiences and values when addressing
an audience.
C. Gender issues can have a strong impact on how an audience responds to a speech.
1.
Women and men in the United States share a broader range of experiences
than was the case a few decades ago.
2.
The composition of audiences has also changed.
a.
Many audiences that were once predominantly male now include
large numbers of women.
b.
Many audiences that were once predominantly female now include a
substantial number of men.
3.
To be effective in today’s world, public speakers must avoid outdated
gender stereotypes and be responsive to both the similarities and the
differences between men and women.
138 CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER GUIDE TO THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
V.
It is important to adapt to the audience on the basis of sexual orientation.
1.
Audience-centered speakers avoid words and phrases that demean people
on the basis of sexual orientation.
2.
They also avoid examples and other supporting materials that may
unintentionally exclude listeners with same-sex partners.
It is also important to consider the racial, ethnic, or cultural background of
audience members.
1.
Audience-centered speakers are sensitive to the fact that most Americans
support racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity as a fundamental element in
today’s globalized world.
2.
Audience-centered speakers are also sensitive to the ways racial, ethnic, and
cultural differences among audience members might affect reactions to a
speech.
The religious views of the audience need to be considered.
1.
A speaker cannot assume that her or his religious views, whatever they may
be, will be shared by all members of the audience.
2.
As the United States becomes more diverse culturally, it is also becoming
more diverse religiously.
3.
Failure to consider the religious views of the audience can seriously weaken
a speech.
The group membership of an audience is another important factor to consider.
1.
There are thousands of national, state, and local voluntary associations in
the U.S.
2.
The group affiliations of audience members can provide valuable clues
about their interests and attitudes.
There are also a number of other potentially important demographic variables.
1.
They include occupation, economic position, education, intelligence, and
place of residence.
2.
Special demographic variables for classroom speeches might include year
in school, major, extracurricular activities, job aspirations, and living
arrangements.
3.
Anything characteristic of a given audience is potentially important to a
speaker trying to gauge how listeners will respond to her or his speech.
Another stage of audience analysis is examining features of the audience unique to the
speaking situation at hand (text pages 121-126).
A. The first factor to consider is the size of the audience.
1.
Larger audiences usually require more formal presentations.
2.
Audience size may also affect a speaker’s language, choice of appeals, and
use of visual aids.
B. The second factor to consider is the physical setting of the speech.
1.
The receptivity of listeners is frequently influenced by physical conditions
such as the size, seating, and temperature of the room.
2.
Speakers should do what they can to control the influence of physical
setting on the audience.
C. The third factor to consider is the audience’s disposition toward the topic.
1.
A speaker needs to assess the audience’s interest in the topic.
CHAPTER 5ANALYZING THE AUDIENCE
a.
D.
E.
VI.
139
Outside the classroom, people seldom expend the time and effort to
attend a speech unless they are interested in the topic.
b.
For classroom speeches, it is usually necessary to take special
measures to get the audience involved.
2.
A speaker needs to assess the audience’s knowledge about the topic.
a.
If the audience knows little about the topic, the speaker will have to
talk at a more elementary level.
b.
If the audience knows a lot about the topic, the speaker can take a
more advanced approach.
3.
A speaker needs to assess the audience’s attitude toward the topic.
a.
If the audience is skeptical about or hostile toward the speaker’s
views on the topic, the speaker will have to adapt to that skepticism or
hostility.
b.
If the audience is favorably disposed toward the speaker’s view of the
topic, the speaker will usually have an easier task.
The fourth factor to consider is the audience’s disposition toward the speaker.
1.
An audience’s response to a message is invariably colored by their
perceptions of the speaker.
2.
The more credible and competent listeners believe a speaker to be, the more
likely they are to accept what the speaker says.
The fifth factor to consider is the audience’s disposition toward the occasion.
1.
The occasion will often determine the audience’s expectations about the
length and content of the speech.
2.
Speakers who seriously violate these expectations risk alienating the audience.
There are several ways to get demographic and situational information about the
audience (text pages 127-130).
A. For speeches outside the classroom, speakers often make informal inquiries about
their audience.
1.
They may ask the person who invites them to speak to explain the group’s
history and purpose.
2.
They may sound out someone else who has addressed the same group.
B. For classroom speeches, students often use audience-analysis questionnaires.
1.
There are three basic types of questions for such questionnaires.
a.
Fixed-alternative questions offer a choice between two or more
specific responses.
b.
Scale questions allow for a continuum of answers.
c.
Open-ended questions give maximum leeway in responding.
2.
There are four guidelines for effective audience-analysis questionnaires.
a.
They should be carefully planned to elicit the necessary information.
b.
They should use all three types of questions to get specific and
detailed information.
c.
They should be clear and unambiguous.
d.
They should be relatively brief.
VII. Once speakers complete their audience analysis, they use that analysis to adapt their
speech to their listeners (text pages 130-132).
140 CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER GUIDE TO THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
A.
B.
Most of the work of audience adaptation takes place before the speech as part of
the preparation process.
1.
A speaker should keep the audience in mind at every stage of speech
preparation.
2.
A speaker should keep the following questions constantly in mind while
preparing the speech.
a.
How is the audience likely to respond to what I will say?
b.
How can I adjust my message to make it as clear and convincing as
possible?
3.
Adjusting the message to the audience requires two things of a speaker
during the process of speech preparation.
a.
The speaker must anticipate how listeners will respond to the speech.
b.
The speaker must be creative in thinking of ways to adapt the speech
to listeners.
Audience adaptation also takes place during the presentation of the speech.
1.
No matter how hard a speaker works ahead of time, things do not always go
smoothly on the day of the speech.
a.
Physical circumstances might be different than anticipated.
b.
The audience might respond differently than anticipated.
2.
Skillful speakers learn to adapt to these kinds of changes.
a.
They modify whatever aspect of their speech is necessary to take
account of changed physical circumstances.
b.
They keep an eye out for audience feedback and adjust their remarks
accordingly.