C H A P T E R 5

Analyzing the
Audience

Introduction to Public Speaking Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Rhetorical Triangle
Topic

You (speaker)

Audience Purpose

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 2 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Audience-Centeredness
Keeping the audience foremost
in mind at every step of speech
preparation and presentation.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 3 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Questions for Audience-
Centeredness
• To whom am I speaking?
• What do I want them to know,
believe, or do as a result of my
speech?
• What is the most effective way of
composing and presenting my
speech to accomplish that aim?

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 4 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Identification
Creating a bond with listeners by
emphasizing common values, goals,
and experiences.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 5 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Egocentrism
The tendency of people to be
concerned above all with their own
values, beliefs, and well-being.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 6 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Factors of Demographic
Audience Analysis
• Age
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Racial, ethnic, and cultural
background
• Religion
• Group membership

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 7 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Stereotyping
• Creating an oversimplified image
of a particular group of people,
usually by assuming that all
members of the group are alike.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 8 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Factors of Situational
Audience Analysis
• Size
• Physical setting
• Attitude toward the topic
• Attitude toward the speaker
• Attitude toward the occasion

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 9 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Attitude
A frame of mind in favor of or
opposed to a person, policy, belief,
institution, etc.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 10 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Getting Information about
the Audience
• Interviewing
• Questionnaires

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 11 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Questionnaires
• Fixed-alternative questions
• Scale questions
• Open-ended questions

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 12 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Fixed-Alternative Questions
Questions that offer a fixed choice
between two or more alternatives.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 13 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Fixed-Alternative Question
Do you know what the insanity plea is
in the U.S. legal system?

Yes___________
No____________
Not Sure_______

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 14 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Fixed-Alternative Questions
Have you ever voted in a local, state, or
national election?
Yes___________
No____________

Are you currently registered to vote?

Yes___________
No____________

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 15 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Scale Questions
Questions that require responses
at fixed intervals along a scale of
answers.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 16 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Scale Question
Do you agree or disagree with the following:
Expert psychologists can determine with a
high degree of accuracy whether or not a
defendant is criminally insane.
strongly mildly mildly strongly
agree agree undecided disagree disagree

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 17 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Scale Question
How important is it for U.S. citizens to exercise
their right to vote?.

not at all
very important important

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 18 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Scale Question
Do you agree or disagree with this statement:
People have a responsibility to vote even if
they do not fully support any of the candidates.

strongly mildly mildly strongly

agree agree undecided disagree disagree

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 19 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Open-Ended Questions
Questions that allow respondents to
answer however they want.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 20 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Open-Ended Question
What is your opinion about the
insanity plea in U.S. court cases?

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 21 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Open-Ended Questions
How would you feel if you lived in a
country where you did not have the
right to vote?

Briefly respond to this statement:

Unhappiness with political leaders is a
bad excuse for not voting; if you don’t
vote, you can’t make things better.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 22 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
1. Being audience-centered means a
speaker must sacrifice what she or
he really believes in order to get a
favorable response from the
audience.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 23 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
2. Audience analysis first comes into
play after a speaker has chosen a
specific purpose.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 24 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
3. Even when listeners pay close
attention, they don’t process a
speaker’s message exactly as the
speaker intended.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 25 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
4. One of the major demographic traits
of audiences is interest in the
speaker’s topic.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 26 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
5. As a general rule, the larger your
audience the less formal your
speech presentation should be.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 27 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
6. Knowing how the physical setting
might affect your listeners’
receptivity to your ideas is an
important factor in situational
audience analysis.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 28 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
7. No matter what the occasion,
listeners will have fairly definite
expectations about the kinds of
speeches appropriate for that
occasion.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 29 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
8. Keeping speeches within strict time
limits is an artificial constraint of
classroom speeches and is less
important for speeches outside the
classroom.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 30 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
9. The process of audience adaptation
is over by the time a speaker starts
delivering the speech.

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 31 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 True or False Quiz
10.Egocentrism means that audiences
typically approach speeches by
asking “Why is this important for
me?”

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 32 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.

 Analyzing the Audience
Chapter 5

Introduction to Public Speaking Slide 33 Analyzing the Audience/Chapter 5.