CHAPTER 5
ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
EXCERPTS
• “To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the
students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the
people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight
as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today
and will stand by you tomorrow.”
• “But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -– at
a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the
world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -–
it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re
talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.”
• “I want to live up to her expectations. (Applause.) I want our
democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be
as good as she imagined it. (Applause.) All of us -– we should do
everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s
expectations. (Applause.)”
AUDIENCE-CENTEREDNESS
• Speeches seek to gain responses from audiences
• Shouldn’t imply compromise
• Questions to ask yourself
• To whom am I speaking?
• What do I want them to know, believe, or do as a result of
my speech?
• What is the most effective way of composing and
presenting my speech to accomplish that aim?
THE CHALLENGER ADDRESS
IDENTIFICATION
• Emphasizing common values
• Characteristic of ceremonial speaking
• Present in deliberative speaking?
CASE STUDY
YOUR CLASSMATES AS AUDIENCE
• Instructors are not the only audience members
• “The best classroom speeches are those that take
the classroom audience as seriously as a lawyer, a
politician, a minister, or an advertiser takes an
audience.”
• Most speeches will not
have immediate
impact, but they do
count.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AUDIENCES
• Auditory perception is always selective
• Egocentrism – We hear what we want to hear
• What should you know as a speaker?
DEMOGRAPHIC AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
• Useful tool, but exercise caution
• Common Demographic Factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
Age
Gender
Religion
Sexual Orientation
Racial, ethnic, and cultural background
Group membership
RESPECTING AUDIENCE CULTURES
• Heterogeneity and Diversity
• What about homogeneity?
• Assessing audience culture assumes audiences are
more than the some of their parts
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
• How do we operationalize diversity?
• More than one type?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Your own cultural dispositions - egocentrism
Gender roles
Who can speak
Appropriate language
Regional differences
Negative Stereotypes
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
• Self-interests
• Based on results of action of policy
•
•
•
•
Personal interests
Beliefs and values
Prior understanding
Common knowledge and experience
STRATEGIES FOR ANALYZING THE
AUDIENCE
• Formal methods
• Informal methods
• Observation, chatting, etc.
• Simplifying devices
• Focus on the general public
• Focus on audience roles or topic fields
SITUATIONAL AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
• Builds on demographic analysis
• Unique to the speaking situation at hand
• Common Situational Factors
•
•
•
•
•
Size
Physical setting
Disposition toward topic
Disposition toward speaker
Disposition toward occasion
ADAPTING TO AUDIENCE
• Before the speech
• During the speech