Audience Analysis

Examples of Audience Analysis in the following topics:

• The Benefits of Understanding Your Audience

  • The audience may be small or it may be a large public audience.
  • In order to prepare, it is important to know about the audience and adapt the message to the audience.
  • Audience analysis involves gathering and interpreting information about the recipients of oral, written or visual communication.
  • There are very simple methods for conducting an audience analysis such as interviewing a small group about its knowledge or attitudes, or using more involved methods of analyzing demographic studies of relevant segments of the population.
  • Two practical benefits of conducting an audience analysis are (1) to prevent you from saying the wrong thing such as telling a joke which offends, and (2) to help you speak to your audience in a language they understand about things of interest to them.

• What to Look For

  • By looking at the audience, the speaker understands their reality.
  • The speaker should attempt to reach the most accurate and effective analysis of her audience within a reasonable amount of time.
  • For example, speakers can assess the demographics of her audience.
  • For an analysis of audience demographics for a speech, focus on the same characteristics studied in sociology.
  • The depth of the audience analysis depends of the size of the intended audience and method of delivery.

• What to Do with Your Knowledge

  • When the speaker takes an audience-centered approach to speech preparation, she focuses on the audience and how it will respond to what is being said.
  • In essence, the speaker wants to mentally adopt the perspective of members of the audience in order to see the world as the audience members see it.
  • What do you and your audience have in common?
  • You can use your analysis to create what is called a "theoretical, universal audience. " The universal audience is an imagined audience that serves as a test for the speaker.
  • Imagine in your mind a composite audience that contains individuals from the diverse backgrounds you have discovered in your audience analysis.

• Culture, Ethnicity, and Race

  • As society becomes more diverse, the speaker will find it useful to learn more about the cultures, races and ethnic groups in each audience.
  • In addition to considering the attitudes of the audience toward different cultures, races or ethnic groups, it is also important to consider how a diverse group will respond to certain parts of your message .
  • Before considering the role of culture, race and ethnicity in audience analysis it is useful to distinguish among the terms.
  • In order to adapt the message to the audience it is important to become aware of your own ethnocentrism and to avoid prejudice and racism.
  • When you judge another culture solely by the values and standards of your own culture you miss significant aspects of the other culture of the members of your audience.

• Defining a Persuasive Speech

  • Persuasive speeches aim to convince the audience to believe a certain view.
  • The speech is arranged in such a way as to hopefully cause the audience to accept all or part of the expressed view.
  • Though the overarching goal of a persuasive speech is to convince the audience to accept a perspective, not all audiences can be convinced by a single speech and not all perspectives can persuade the audience.
  • During a sales pitch, the speaker is trying to convince the audience to buy his or her product or service.
  • Audience analysis is an important factor when giving a persuasive speech.

• The Importance of Gathering Information

  • If you want the audience to trust your claims, back them up.
  • Don't expect the audience to take your word for it, no questions asked.
  • Different audiences have different needs.
  • When you conduct an audience analysis, you will gain valuable demographic information—and you should use that information to guide the search for supporting evidence and illustrations.
  • Let's say you are counseling an audience of nursing students in Florida about their job prospects.

• Sexual Orientation

  • The sexual orientation of your audience members should be taken into account when giving a speech.
  • When taking into account the sexual orientation of your audience it is useful to consider it on a continuum.
  • Your audience could be made up of members anywhere along the continuum.
  • One common mistake that speakers make is assuming that the audience is just like them with regards to this aspect of identity.
  • Consider how to combat hetrosexism in your audience analysis and speech making.

• Communicating Statistics

  • Statistics is the study of the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization of data.
  • Your audience is much more likely to believe you if you incorporate statistics.
  • As a result, consider using visual tools such as tables, graphs, and maps to make statistics more understandable for your audience.
  • Visual representations of quantitative information such as this map, which illustrates the prevalence of self-reported obesity among U.S. adults by state and territory, can make data more understandable for your audience.

• Thoughts for Group and Individual Presenters

  • This group introduction makes the presentation as a whole accessible to the audience.
  • A transition should remind the audience of the sequence the group introduction promised.
  • Such statements identify the structure of the talk and help the audience follow along.
  • In a team presentation, every individual speaker needs to develop rapport with the audience.
  • Although the first and last speakers cover the presentation as a whole, the speakers in the middle should not re-present evidence unless new analysis is involved.

• Introducing the Topic, Thesis, and Main Points

  • After the attention-grabbing opening, there is only a small window of time in which to convince the audience that you have something useful to say .
  • Explain the topic at a level that is appropriate for your audience,
  • Before your introduction is finished, give the audience an overview of your main points.
  • I have prepared a chronological overview and analysis of methodologies for measuring vitamin D levels in the U.S. population, beginning with a study conducted at this university.
  • Public speakers need to introduce their topic and state their these as soon as possible to keep their audience.