Ch 6 Analyzing the

Audience
The Art of Public Speaking 2023 Release

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Good public speakers

A good public speakers are

audience-centred and they know the
primary purpose of speechmaking is
to gain a desired response from
listeners
 Audience-Centeredness
Audience
foremost in mind
during speech
preparation,
presentation
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 Audience-Centeredness
❑ not to compromising your beliefs
to get a favourable response
❑ not to use devious, unethical
tactics to achieve your goal
❑ remain true to yourself and speak
CHAPTER 6 ethically while adapting your
The Art of Public Speaking
Thirteenth Edition
message to the goals, values,
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and attitudes of your audience
classroom. No reproduction or further
distribution permitted without the prior written
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 Audience-Centeredness Questions
• To whom am I speaking?
• What do I want them to
know, believe, do as a
result of my speech?
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The Art of Public Speaking
• What is most effective way
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of accomplishing my aim?
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 By asking those questions…
❑ selecting a topic
❑ determining a specific purpose
❑ setting on your main points
❑ supporting materials
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The Art of Public Speaking
❑ organising the message
delivering the speech
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❑
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 Audience Analysis
and

CHAPTER 6
Adaption
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 Egocentrism(Listener)
Tendency to be concerned
with own values, beliefs,
well-being

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 Two Steps
1. identifying the general
demographic features of your
audience
2. gauging the importance of
those feature to a particular
speaking situation
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 Stereotyping
1. Oversimplified image of group
2. Done by assuming all members
are alike
3. gauging audience’s background,
interests, values, and beliefs

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 Audience Analysis
A. Demographic audience
analysis
B. situational audience
analysis

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 A.Demographic Analysis
1. Age
2. Religion
3. Racial, ethnic, cultural background
4. Gender identity, sexual orientation
5. Group membership

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 B. Situational Analysis
• Size
• Physical setting
• Disposition toward topic
• Disposition toward speaker
• Disposition toward occasion
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 Disposition toward speaker
- the more competent
listeners believe a speaker to
be, the more likely they are
to accept what he or she
says and respond positively
to that speaker's message.
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 Disposition toward topic
- Speaker needs to assess the audience's
interest in the topic. – Normally, people
won't attend a speech if they aren't
interested in the topic. Speaker needs to
assess audience's knowledge of topic.
1. interest
2. knowledge
3. attitude

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 Disposition toward occasion
- speakers need to be aware to the
format of the program or setting in
which they are speaking. Certain
topics and types of speeches are
deemed as inappropriate in
certain occasions/settings.
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 Getting Audience Info
HOW?
Observation ? Conversation?

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 Getting Audience Info
Three major types of questions
to choose from when
developing an audience-
analysis questionnaire:
1. Fixed-alternative Q
2. Scale Q
3. Open-ended Q
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 Fixed-Alternative
Offer a fixed choice between two or more responses
Do you know what gerrymandering is in the U.S. political
system?
• Yes
• No
• Not sure
By limiting the possible responses, produce clear,
unambiguous answers.

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 Scale
How often do you believe state
legislatures engage in gerrymandering?
very seldom very often
1 2 3 4 5

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 Open-Ended
Who do you think should set
the boundaries of
congressional districts—state
legislatures, the courts,
independent commissions,
or some other option?

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 Designing Questionnaire
1. Plan the questionnaire carefully to
elicit precisely the information you
need
2. Use all three types of questions
3. Make sure the questions are clear
and unambiguous
4. Keep the questionnaire relatively
brief
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 Audience Adaptation before the speech Before

• Assess how audience will

respond
• Adjust to make speech
clear, convincing

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 Adapting During
• Adjust for unexpected
circumstances
• Watch for feedback

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