Audience Analysis Adapting to Your Audience Class Activity – Adapting to Your Audience

1. Audience Analysis Adapting to Your Audience Class Activity – Adapting to Your Audience Class Activity – Timed Speeches

2. The Self-Centered Speaker • Focus on self • Because they concentrate on themselves, they often ignore the needs and interests of the audience.

3. The Audience-Centered Speaker • Focus on audience The best kind of speaker is one who focuses on the audience, asking “Who are my listeners? How can I reach them with my message?”

4. Analyzing and Adapting • Analyze: find out what they know and don’t know about the subject • Adapt: to provide the precise information that they lack What do listeners know about ice packs as first aid?

5. Getting Information about the Audience • Interviews • Surveys

6. Audience Diversity • Gender: Topic should appeal to entirety of your audience • Age: Be sensitive to the interests, attitudes, and knowledge of all your listeners, giving explanations or background whenever necessary. • Educational Background: Avoid talking over their heads or using concepts or language that they cannot understand. At the same time, don’t treat your listeners like children - don’t talk down to them.

7. Audience Diversity (cont.) • Occupation: Where appropriate, adapt your speeches to the occupational backgrounds of your listeners. • Economic and Social Status: Be sensitive to the economic and social status of your listeners so that you can adapt your speech accordingly.

8. Activity: Adapting to your Audience • Groups: • Select a yellow (possible audience) card • Select a green (possible speech topic) • Identify how you would adapt your topic to the particular audience you’ve been given • Provide three points you would discuss in a speech

9. Timed Speech Activity • My car (10 sec) • What you had for breakfast/lunch (30 sec) • Your job (1 min) • What do you want to do when you graduate? (1.5 min)

11. Selecting topic, purpose and central idea • When a speaker is enthusiastic about his or her ideas, how do listeners usually react? • List the six criteria discussed in this chapter for writing a specific purpose statement. • What is the difference between the specific purpose and the central idea?

12. Guidelines for Finding a Good Topic Select a topic that… • Fits requirements of assignment • Showcases your experiences and knowledge • Interests you • You can make interesting and valuable to your audience

13. Defining the General Purpose • Establish a general purpose to help bring your topic under control. • To inform • To persuade • To entertain

14. Defining the Specific Purpose • What exactly to you want to accomplish in your speech? • Topic: Foodborne illnesses • General Purpose: To inform • Specific Purpose: To tell my listeners how to protect themselves from foodborne illnesses

15. Defining the Central Idea • What exactly to you want your audience to remember from your speech? • Topic: Foodborne illnesses • General Purpose: To inform • Specific Purpose: To tell my listeners how to protect themselves from foodborne illnesses • Central Idea: Monitoring food temperatures is a great way to avoid foodborne illnesses

16. Narrow your topic Let’s use football as an example: Football - Explain divisions / conferences - Explain job of coaching - Explain history - Explain artificial vs. natural turf

17. Determine the Main Points • Brainstorm for possible main points • Narrow to 3 – 5 possible main points

18. Brainstorming Activity • Narrow down the following broad subjects to specific, manageable topics: • Outdoor recreation • Musical groups • Illegal drugs • Saving money