Analyzing the Audience

1. A Speaker Must Be Audience-Centered

A. 3 questions to keep in mind when preparing your speech. 1)Whom am I addressing? 2)What do I want my audience to know, believe or do. 3)What is the most effective way of composing and presenting my speech to accomplish that aim? (even though this is a "classroom" treat them like a real audience.

B. The psychological make-up of your audience. 1)message is scrambled-remember the communication process-listeners are always selective in what they want to hear. 2)audiences are egocentric-"why is this speech important to me." 3)the listener will judge the speech on what they already know and believe and the speaker must understand this.

2. Analyzing your audience.

A. The demographic traits of the audience. 1)age 2)gender 3)religion 3)group membership 4)racial 5)ethnic 6)cultural background 7)party affiliation 8)occupation-economic position 9)education-intelligence

B. Situational audience analysis. 1)size of audience-larger more formal-audio visual must keep in mind. 2)physical setting of the speech-outside, temperature, seating arrangements, etc.

C. Audience disposition toward the topic. a)will the audience like the topic. b)how much does the audience know about the topic. c)what will their attitude be about the subject.

D. Audience's disposition toward the speaker a)how credible is the speaker

E. The audience's disposition toward the occasion. a)the audience will have a pre-determined idea how long the speech will be and what it should consist of..

3. How to get the demographic and situational information.

A. Ask the person who invited you to speak, or find a person who spoke there before.

B. In the classroom--use questionnaires and simply observe and ask.

4. How to use the information in your speech.

A. Adapt your speech to your audience.

B. When you deliver your speech, keep an eye out for audience feedback.