Audience Analysis For writers/speakers, audience analysis is the most important step in planning a target document or speech. For the final product to be successful, the piece must be aimed toward the intended audience—its knowledge/opinions, its needs/wants/expectations, its tolerances/limits/thresholds. The question then, is how do you best determine these criteria in your target audience? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Consider the variety of the messages that you hear—all the more miraculous with no coordination except the direction of heaven. But why wouldn’t they be varied? Most of our congregation, seen or unseen, is made up of members of the Church. However, with marvelous new methods of

communication, ever larger proportions of the audience for our conferences are not members of the Church—yet. So we must speak to those who know us very well and those who know us not at all. Within the Church alone we must speak to the children, the youth and young adults, the middle-aged, and the elderly. We must speak to families and parents and children at home even as we speak to those who are not married, without children, and perhaps very far from home. In the course of a general conference, we always stress the eternal verities of faith, hope, charity, and Christ crucified even as we speak forthrightly on very specific moral issues of the day. We are commanded in the scriptures to “say nothing but repentance unto this generation,” while at the same time we are to preach “good tidings [to] the meek . . . [and] bind up the brokenhearted.” Whatever form they take, these conference messages

“proclaim liberty to the captives” and declare “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” In the wide variety of sermons given is the assumption that there will be something for everyone. In this regard, I guess President Harold B. Lee put it best years ago when he said that the gospel is “to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the [comfortable].” —“An Ensign to the Nations,” Ensign, May 2011 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ By definition, audience analysis is about determining or assessing important characteristics of an audience in order to chose the most appropriate content, the most effective style, and the most efficient format when addressing them. Analysis—Who is the audience? Understanding—What is the audience’s knowledge of the subject? Demographics—What is their background? Interest—Why are they reading your document? Environment—Under what circumstances, will this document be sent/viewed? Needs—What are the audience’s needs associated with your document topic? Customization—What specific interests should you address? Expectations—What does the audience expect to learn from your document?

—Adapted from <http://www.wikihow.com/Conduct-Audience-Analysis> What is/are the individual audience member’s: � age � gender � education � ethnicity � political philosophy � religious beliefs � roles (student, professional, parent, citizen, owner, etc.) � interests/hobbies � general or specialized knowledge concerning topic (– = +) � preconceptions concerning your topic

(likely to agree/disagree, eager/open or resistant) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example # 1: Phonebloks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDAw7vW7H0c

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example # 2: “Halftime in America: Official Chrysler Super Bowl 2012 Commercial.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXdsvgpwc8

This ad targets patriotic Americans. Begins by announcing that it’s now half-time in the football game, but then transitions into commentary about the economic struggles in America. Clint Eastwood is the spokesperson, stating that America is in its own halftime. Eastwood lists all the troubles Americans are having: finding jobs, what to do with their lives, or where to go. Ends on a happy note: “It’s halftime America, and our second half is about to begin.” LIKELY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AUDIENCE � Interest in football (or else they wouldn’t be watching) � Patriotic � Believe in the American Dream, value achievement � Middle-class � Struggling financially, occupationally � Value surviving/fighting for what is theirs � Have hope for the future � Value Clint Eastwood, toughness/resilience _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example #3: Weight Watchers Weight Watchers was, at first, a predominantly female-based (and advertised) program. Lately however, they have launched campaigns to get men involved. After all, weight problems know no gender. Most men (that is, men who watch sports regularly) know who Charles is. He even has a few nicknames, including “The Round Mound of Rebound.” The latter was coined while he was in the NBA, as he was known for his “chubbier” physique. This rhetorical move dips into a testimonial, as pictures within the magazine show Chuck getting bigger until, finally, he reaches his greatest weight, something most aging men can relate to and, though they don’t admit it, feel helpless about. On the cover, we see part of this “testimonial.” Chuck is definitely slimmer than he was in June of 2011 and looks happy not helpless! Also, Chuck is holding a basketball. He hasn’t done that professionally since 2000. This gives men the hope that, “Hey, if Chuck is in shape enough to play ball again, maybe I can get there too!”

Chuck looks genuinely happy in this picture. Where can you find true happiness when you have almost everything in the world? By losing weight of course! As a plus, it seems that you can also be bald and happy. The pictures that form a summarized timeline of Chuck’s weight gain are indicative of what all men feel: they’re young, athletic, invincible, and then one day they gain 150 pounds, can’t run anymore, and have bad backs. It’s totally relatable to the male audience. Chuck takes up a good 60% of the entire page. This is probably a ploy to catch the attention of a atrophied male dragging his feet through the check-out stand at the grocery store.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Poor Audience Analysis Example