©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 7 Adapting to Your Audience

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Rhetorical Situation Definition: A natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence [goal] which strongly invites utterance--Bitzer Goals Audience Constraints

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Goals and Motivation to Speak Motives drive us to confront and master the speech situation Some goals are short term Others are long term

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 6.1 Levels of Diversity

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Diversity (Hofstede) Power distance Collectivism vs. individualism Femininity vs. masculinity Uncertainty avoidance Long-term vs. short-term orientation

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Power Distance Extent to which less powerful accept that power is unequal High power distance: Malaysia, Guatemala, Philippines, Mexico, India Lower power distance: U.S., Sweden, Denmark, Austria

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Collectivism vs. Individualism Collectivists value the good of the many, whereas individualists look out for #1 Highly individualistic: U.S. is #1 followed by Australia and Great Britain Highly collectivistic: Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Masculinity vs. Femininity Feminine societies: Gender roles overlap Masculine societies: Gender roles sharply defined Highly masculine: Japan is #1, U.S. is in top third Highly feminine: Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Uncertainty Avoidance Degree to which people feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations Societies that avoid uncertainty: Greece, Portugal, Guatemala, Japan Societies that tolerate uncertainty: Singapore, Jamaica, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, India, Philippines, U.S.

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Long vs. Short-term Orientation Long term looks to future, short term focuses on present Long term: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan Short term: U.S., Pakistan

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Demographic Diversity Age Gender/Sex Ethnicity Geographic origin Socioeconomic status Occupation Religion Language

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Individual Diversity Knowledge Beliefs Attitudes Values Motives Expectations Needs

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 6.2 A Belief System

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 6.3 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Constraints Facts pertaining to the situation Legal constraints Ethical constraints Nature of the occasion Traditions Time Resources