Chapter 6

There are apathetic, sleeping audiences that must be awakened

There are hostile audiences that must be defied & conquered

There are alienated and sullen audiences that must be won back

There are frightened audiences that must be calmed There are loyal affectionate audiences that must be further

inspired There are cool skeptical audiences that must be cooly

convinced There are heterogeneous audiences that must be molded

into some kind of unity

Houston Peterson

Audience focused communication is all around us What type of communication targets certain audiences? Why is it important that they know their audience?

Knowing your audience allows you to adapt your content to effectively communicate with them

▪ What type of delivery style allows for adjustments during your presentation?

If you looked up at your audience and saw this what would you do?

Would you continue with what you had been doing?

Gathering Audience Information So you have decided to analyze your audience for the speech How do you get information about them?

Observations This is one of the easiest ways to gather information but not

always the most reliable When would this type of info gathering take place

Research Seeking out information on your audience prior to the

speaking event Reviewing a company that will send many employees, Learning about a certain professions/groups that will be

present If you will have nurses, law enforcement, clubs,organization

Interviews Talking to people familiar with audience

Company manager sending employees Hospital head sending staff members Sample group of audience members

Surveys Series of questions designed to get information from audience Can be one of the most effective types of data collection.

What type of questions could you ask? When would you conduct a survey?

Who is the anticipated audience for speech Knowing will help in preparing for speech

First thing to consider is the demographics of audience Ethnic/cultural background and nationality

Audience may have lots of diversity, Knowing helps with cultural sensitivity in the content

Age Audience often vary in age often crossing many generations. Knowing this will help you to relate with different

views/perspectives Gender/Sexual orientation

Knowing will help with topics that may be controversial/sensitive to different sexual identifications

Religious affiliations Variety of beliefs exist as do non-believers Help prevent disconnect or angering audience during

religious / spiritual topics Socioeconomic status

Income level often identifies a persons life challenges Knowing these can help understand their needs

What kind of speaker would really beneift from this Relational Status

Refers to a persons bond with another person Marriage, domestic partner, single, widowed, etc

What is the audience relationship to your topic Previous knowledge

Do they have previous knowledge May require greater detail instead vs basic info

Involvement How is the topic relevant to audience Topics like “The new cell phone law” A public audience vs a police audience

Attitudes Knowing audiences views/attitudes helps prepare Especially for controversial topics

Persuading the receptive audience▪ Identify with audience▪ Clearly state objective▪ Tell audience what you want them to do▪ Ask listeners for an immediate show of support▪ Make it easy for your listeners to act

Persuading the neutral audience▪ Capture your listeners attention early in your speech▪ Refer to beliefs that many listeners share▪ Relate your topic to listeners and those they care for▪ Be realistic about what you can accomplish

Persuading the unreceptive audience▪ Don’t announce your intent to change them▪ Focus on most agreeable points first▪ Don’t expect a major attitude shift from hostile

audience▪ Acknowledge opposing points of view▪ Establish your credibility▪ Try to open audiences mind to understanding of

opposing views

Analyze attitudes toward your topic▪ Interested-Uninterested

▪ Hold & amplify interest or find a “hook”

▪ Favorable-Unfavorable▪ Know if audience is subject to respond positively or

negatively

▪ Captive-Voluntary▪ Captive – (required to attend)▪ Voluntary – Anticipate why they are coming

Analyze attitudes toward YOU, the speaker Credibility

▪ Establish early or before speaking▪ Trustworthy▪ Knowledgeable▪ Dynamic

▪ All factor into audience perception of you

Analyze audience after speaking Nonverbal Response Verbal Response Survey Response Behavioral Responses