A Speaker's Guidebook: Chapter 6

A Speaker's Guidebook: Chapter 6

Name: _________________________

Analyzing the Audience

Define these KEY TERMS

audience analysis

audience-centered approach

pandering

attitudes

beliefs

values

perspective taking

identification

captive audience

demographics

target audience

generational identity

socioeconomic status (SES)

gender

sexist language

gender stereotypes

persons with disabilities (PWD)

co-culture

individualistic culture

collectivist culture

uncertainty avoidance

high-uncertainty avoidance cultures

low-uncertainty avoidance cultures

power distance

linear-active culture

multi-active culture

reactive culture

interview

questionnaire

closed-ended question

fixed alternative question

scale question

open-ended question

1. What can audience demographics reveal about an audience?

2. Which features of the speech setting should be assessed as part of audience analysis?

3. How might audience analysis help alleviate public speaking anxiety?

4. What advantages do published sources have over interviews and surveys?

Class Collage

Instructions: Bring to class three to five cutouts of pictures that represent your values, attitudes, and beliefs.

Discussion: The class will generate a list of demographics and psychographics.

Uncovering Audience Psychology: Identifying Feelings about the Topic, Speaker, and Occasion

Instructions: Group work: hypothetical speech assignments. (This exercise corresponds to text material on pages 89–91.)

1. Topic: Welfare to Work Laws: Should Welfare Mothers Be Required to Work?

Speaker: A professor specializing in the history of welfare

Occasion: A lecture at a university

• Audience 1: senior Republican lawmakers

• Audience 2: caseworkers assigned to welfare mothers

• Audience 3: mothers currently on welfare

2. Topic: Should There Be Legislation Limiting What the Media Can Report on Politicians’ Personal Lives?

Speaker: The publisher of the New York Times

Occasion: An appearance before a congressional committee that is also open to the public

• Audience 1: senators and representatives

• Audience 2: journalists

• Audience 3: lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union

For each of these audiences, how might feelings about the speaker differ? How might feelings about the topic differ? How might feelings about the occasion differ?

• How might the speaker shape his or her message to appeal to each audience?

• Why should the occasion be one of the speaker’s key considerations in planning and delivering the speech?