Adapting to Your Audience Verbally
Information Comprehension
Although your audience analysis helped you select a topic that was appropriate for your audience's
current knowledge level, you will still need to adapt the information you present so that audience
members can easily follow what you are saying and remember it when you are through. Six techniques
that can aid you are (1) orienting or refamiliarizing the audience with basic information, (2) defining key
terms, (3) creating vivid examples to illustrate new concepts, (4) personalizing information, (5)
comparing unfamiliar ideas with those the audience recognizes, and (6) using multiple methods of
development.
1) Orient the Audience
When listeners become confused or have forgotten basic information, they lose interest or do
not understand what is being said. So you will want to quickly review the basic ideas that are
critical to understanding the speech. For example, if your speech concerns U.S. military
involvement in Iraq, you can be reasonably sure that everyone in your audience is aware that
the United States and Great Britain were participants in the coalition, but many may not
remember the other countries that participated. So before launching into the roles of various
countries, remind your listeners by listing the nations that have provided troops, and where
they have been stationed.
There may be, however, some audience members who do not need the reminder, so to avoid
offending them by appearing to talk down at them and to save face for those who need the
reminder, you should acknowledge that they probably already remember the information.
Phrases such as: “As you will remember …,” “As we all probably learned in high school …,” and
“As we have come to find out …” are ways of prefacing reviews so that they are not offensive.
2) Define Key Terms
Words have many meanings, so you ensure audience members' comprehension of ideas by
defining the key terms that may be unfamiliar to them or are critical to understanding your
speech. This becomes especially important when you are using familiar words whose commonly
accepted meanings have been altered. For instance, in a speech on the four major problems
faced by functionally illiterate people in the workplace, it will be important to your audience to
understand what you mean by “functionally illiterate.” So early in the speech, you can offer your
definition. “By ‘functionally illiterate,' I mean people who have trouble accomplishing simple
reading and writing tasks.”
3) Illustrate New Concepts with Vivid Examples
Vivid examples help audience members understand and remember abstract, complex, and novel
material. From one vivid example, we are better able to understand a more complicated
concept. So as you prepare your speech, you will want to adapt by choosing real or hypothetical
examples and illustrations to help your audience understand the new information you present.
For example, in the definition we used above, the description “having trouble accomplishing
simple reading and writing tasks” can be made more vivid when accompanied by the following
example: “For instance, a functionally illiterate person could not read and understand the
directions on a prescription label that states: ‘Take three times a day with a glass of water. Do
not take on an empty stomach.’”
4) Personalize Information
We personalize information by presenting it in a frame of reference that is familiar to the
audience. Devon, a student at the University of California, is preparing to give a speech on how
the Japanese economy affects U.S. markets at the student chapter of the American Marketing
Association. He wants to help his audience understand geographic data about Japan. He could
just quote the following statistics from the 2001 World Almanac: Japan is small and densely
populated. The nation's 126 million people live in a land area of 146,000 square miles, giving
them a population density of 867 persons per square mile.
Although this would provide the necessary information, it is not adapted to an audience
consisting of college students in California, a large state in the United States. Devon can easily
adapt the information to the audience by putting it in terms that are familiar to this student
audience.
Japan is a small and densely populated nation. Its population of 126 million is less than half that
of the United States. Yet the Japanese are crowded into a land area of only 146, 000 square
miles—roughly the same size as California. In fact, Japan packs 867 persons into every square
mile of land, whereas in the United States we average about 74 persons per square mile.
Overall, then, Japan is about 12 times as crowded as the USA.
In order for Devon to personalize the information above, he had to find the statistics on the U.S.
and California. If Devon were speaking to an audience from another state of the country, he
could adapt to them by substituting information from that state.
5) Compare Unknown Ideas with Familiar Ones
An easy way to adapt your material to your audience is to compare your new ideas with ones
the audience already understands. For example, if I want an audience of Generation Xers to feel
the excitement that was generated when telegrams were first introduced, I might compare it to
the change that was experienced when e-mail became widely available. In the speech on
functional illiteracy, if you want the audience of literates to sense what functionally illiterate
people experience, you might compare it to the experience of surviving in a country where one
is not fluent in the language.
6) Use Multiple Methods for Developing Criteria
People vary in how they learn, so you will want to develop your ideas in different ways. Some
people learn best with detailed explanations, some need precise definitions or vivid examples,
others learn through statistics, and still others will benefit from a well-designed visual aid.
Common Ground
Each person in the audience is unique, with differing knowledge, attitudes, philosophies, experiences,
and ways of perceiving the world. They may or may not know others in the audience. So it is easy for
them to assume that they have nothing in common with you or with other audience members. Yet when
you speak, you will be giving one message to that diverse group. Common ground is the background,
knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and philosophies that are shared by audience members and the
speaker. Effective speakers use the audience analysis to identify areas of similarity; then they use the
adaptation techniques of using personal pronouns, asking rhetorical questions, and drawing on common
experiences to create common ground.
 Use Personal Pronouns
The simplest way of establishing common ground is to use personal pronouns : “we,” “us,” and
“our,” so speakers can acknowledge commonalities between themselves and members of the
audience.
 Ask Rhetorical Questions
A rhetorical question is one whose answers are obvious to audience members and to which they
are not really expected to reply. Rhetorical questions create common ground by alluding to
information that is shared by audience members and the speaker. They are often used in the
introduction to a speech, but can also be effective as transitions and in other parts of the
speech. For instance, notice how this transition, phrased as a rhetorical question, creates
common ground:
When you have watched a particularly violent TV program, have you ever asked yourself, “Did
they really need to be this graphic to make the point”?
Rhetorical questions are meant to have only one answer that highlights similarities between
audience members and leads them to be more interested in the content that follows.
 Draw from Common Experiences
You can develop common ground by selecting and presenting personal experiences, examples,
and illustrations that embody what you and the audience have in common.
Adapting your information so that it speaks directly to your specific audience, creating common
ground, takes time and thought. But well-adapted speeches never leave an audience wondering,
“What does this have to do with me?” Research has shown a significant effect of adaptation, or
“immediacy,” on building attention and ensuring audience retention of information.
Speaker Credibility
Credibility is the confidence that an audience places in the truthfulness of what a speaker says. Some
famous people are widely known as experts in a particular area and have proven to be trustworthy and
likeable. When these people give a speech, they don't have to adapt their remarks to establish their
credibility. However, for most of us, even though we may be given a formal introduction that attempts
to acquaint the audience with our credentials and character prior to our speech, we will still need to
adapt our remarks in the speech so that we can build audience confidence in the truthfulness of what
we are saying. Three adaptation techniques that can affect how credible we are perceived are
demonstrating knowledge and expertise, establishing trustworthiness, and displaying personableness.
 Demonstrate Knowledge and Expertise
When the audience perceives you to be a knowledgeable expert, it will perceive you as credible.
Their assessment of your knowledge and expertise depends on how well you convince them
that you are qualified to speak on this topic. You can demonstrate your knowledge and
expertise through direct and indirect means.
You directly establish expertise when you disclose your experiences with your topic, including
formal education, special study, demonstrated skill, and your “track record.” Audience members
will also assess your expertise through indirect means such as how prepared you seem and how
much you demonstrate your firsthand involvement by using personal examples and illustrations.
Audiences have an almost instinctive sense of when a speaker is “winging it,” and most
audiences distrust a speaker who does not appear to have command of the material. Speakers
who are overly dependent on their notes or who “hem and haw,” fumbling to find ways to
express their ideas, undermine the confidence of the audience. When your ideas are easy to
follow and are clearly expressed, audience members perceive you to be more credible.
 Establish Trustworthiness
Your trustworthiness is the extent to which the audience can believe that what you say is
accurate, true, and in their best interests. The more your audience sees you as trustworthy, the
more credible you will be. People assess others' trustworthiness by judging their character and
their motives. So you can establish yourself as trustworthy by following ethical standards and by
honestly explaining what is motivating you to speak.
 Display Personableness
We have more confidence in people that we like. Personableness is the extent to which you
project an agreeable or pleasing personality. The more your listeners like you, the more likely
they are to believe what you tell them. We quickly decide how much we like a new person
based on our first impressions of them. As a speaker who is trying to build credibility with an
audience, you should look for ways to adapt your personal style to one that will help the
audience like you and perceive you as credible.
Overcome Linguistic Problems
When the first language spoken by the audience is different from that of the speaker, who is
trying to speak their language, audience members often cannot understand what the speaker is
saying due to mispronunciations, accents, vocabulary mistakes, and idiomatic speech meaning.
Fear of making these mistakes can make second-language speakers self-conscious. But most
audience members are more tolerant of mistakes made by second-language speakers than they
are of those made by native speakers. Likewise, most audience members will work hard to
understand a second-language speaker.
Nevertheless, when you are speaking in a second language, you have the additional
responsibility to make your speech as understandable as possible. You can help your audience
by speaking more slowly and articulating as clearly as you can. By slowing your speaking rate,
you give yourself additional time to pronounce seemingly awkward sounds and choose words
whose meanings you know. You also give your audience members additional time to “adjust
their ear” so that they can more easily process what you are saying.
One of the best ways to improve when you are giving a speech in a second language is to
practice the speech in front of friends and associates who are native speakers. These “trial
audience members” should be instructed to take note of words and phrases that are
mispronounced or misused. Then they can work with you to correct the pronunciation or to
choose other words that better express your idea. Also, keep in mind that the more you practice
speaking the language, the more comfortable you will become with the language and with your
ability to relate to the audience members.