McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. CHAPTER Five Analyzing the Audience

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Good Speakers are Audience-Centered They understand that the primary purpose of public speaking is to gain a desired response from their listeners. They keep three questions in mind as they prepare their speeches: 1.Who am I addressing? 2.What do I want the audience to know, believe, or do because of my speech? 3. How can I most effectively compose and present my speech to accomplish that aim?

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Egocentrism The tendency of people to be concerned above all with their own values, beliefs, and well-being.

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Why are Audiences 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?” So, listeners will judge a speech on the basis of what they already know and believe. Speakers must take care to relate their messages to an audience’s existing knowledge and beliefs.

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Factors of Demographic Audience Analysis Age Gender Racial, ethnic or cultural background Religion Group membership

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Factors of Situational Audience Analysis Size of the audience Physical setting Disposition toward the topic Disposition toward the speaker Disposition toward the occasion

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Fixed-Alternative Questions Have you ever engaged in volunteer work for a community, religious, or charitable organization? Yes______ No_______ Questions that offer a fixed choice between two or more alternatives.

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Scale Questions Questions that require responses at fixed intervals along a scale of answers. If you have engaged in volunteer work, how would you rate the experience? verysomewhat somewhat very rewarding rewardingneutral unrewarding unrewarding

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Open-Ended Questions Questions that allow respondents to answer however they want. If you have worked as a volunteer, do you plan to do so again? Why or why not?

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. Adapting Speech to Audience A.Most of the work of audience adaptation takes place before the speech as part of the preparation process. 1.Keep the audience in mind at every stage of speech preparation. 2.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?

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. 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. B.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.

McGraw-Hill©Stephen E. Lucas 2001 All rights reserved. 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.