Audience analysis, also know as reading he audience. Is important for a speech because it allows for you to convey your idea the most effectively to your target audience. A good example of this would be when you are discussing a complex idea to a group of people who are not familiar with your field of study. You might start talking about an idea that doesn't seem too complex, but after seeing some confusion on peoples faces you could adapt your explanation to be more simplistic.
Other reasons for audience adaptation is for when you have a group of people who come in with bias, social, or cultural differences. They might not be as malleable to fringe ideas surrounding their beliefs. It would be important to introduce these ideas gently and know when to refrain from saying something that could be inflammatory.
The book gives several good examples as well, one being about a speech for introducing a school, this school just being recently hit with a bacterial outbreak. The speaker started with her usually outline of the school, but quickly determines that the audience was not interested in the school, but with bacterial outbreaks and the well being of the students. Knowing this she was able to shift her focus to the more important issue, and win her audience over.
I found your post very interesting because if we want to reach our audience we have to learn how to analyze them. Thinking about it more deeper I found one article in the book "How to analyze the Audience for a Public speech" and what was interesting: 1. We have to find out the event for the speech. Find out why and where you're giving a speech. Is it for a formal setting or something more relaxed? Is it for a wedding, an event at the workplace or other situations? Knowing the event will help you determine the type of audience you have. A formal setting will have a formal and probably more mature audience. An informal setting can give you an audience that is much more relaxed and less detail-oriented.
ReplyDelete2. Check with the person inviting you to speak. Ask questions about the audience to the person bringing you in to speak. They can give you valuable information regarding the room's occupants. Will they be Nurses or Electricians? Will you be speaking for an hour or ten minutes? Knowing every aspect of your speaking engagement will help you build a better speech for your audience.
3. Meet your potential audience before you speak. If it's a workplace where you will be speaking, check to see if you can walk around or get a tour. If it's a school, ask for a chance to visit the class where you will be talking. If you can see your audience in their environment you can better assess how to address them in your speech.
4 Join them. If it is an event with other speakers participating, sit in the audience and watch. See how they respond to speakers before you. Do they laugh at certain jokes? Is it hot in the room? Do you hear people talking about things outside like traffic, weather, etc? Joining them can give you insight into what you can and cannot say and what may be on their minds. You can also see what they react to from other speakers like jokes, anecdotes or to-the-point speeches.
We have to prepare in advance to anticipate their needs and inerests and designing a strategy to respond to the audience.
I really liked how you used the example of explaining your line of work to a class. It may seem simple to you, because you do it on a regular basis, but hearing it on the other end may be difficult. You can definitely tell if the audience is following along or is confused by their facial expressions. Also, bias groups can be hard to explain your view to. No matter how many examples you give, they will never change their mind or even consider thinking outside the box for a second. It can be frustrating, but there are many reason, which you mentioned a few, that people think that way.
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