NFGS_ch2.2_lecppt.pptx

1. Chapter 2.2
Audience
Copyright © 2022 W. W. Norton & Company

2. Introduction
• Audience refers to the people the speaker addresses in a variety
of rhetorical situations
• A presentation is effective only when you, the speaker, and the
audience connect in a meaningful way
• The audience should be better informed, entertained or moved,
or inspired after your speech
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3. The Central Importance of Your Audience
• Audience-centered speakers strive to understand and adapt to
audience characteristics and interests, think critically about
listeners’ points of view, and empathize with listeners’
motivations and needs
• Employing the following strategies will achieve these goals
• Seek Common Ground
• Respect Differences
• Be Mindful of and Responsive to Feedback
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4. Seek Common Ground
• Common ground are the values and beliefs speakers share with
their audience
• Finding common ground establishes trust with your audience
• Look for ways to change negative attitudes into positive ones by
identifying and appealing to the things you have in common with
your audience
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5. Respect Differences
• Audience-centered speakers avoid making overly broad
assumptions about an audience’s values, beliefs, and attitudes
• Rather than seeing a diverse audience as an obstacle to
overcome, audience-centered speakers welcome diversity as a
chance to learn about, adapt to, and communicate with people
different from themselves
• Ensure that your presentation is as inclusive as possible
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6. Be Mindful of and Responsive to Feedback
• Mindfulness is a core principle of audience-centered speaking
• Mindful speakers are fully present—aware of where they are,
what they’re doing, what they’re saying, and to whom they are
saying it
• When speakers are mindful, they focus on the audience instead of
themselves
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7. Audience Analysis
• Audience analysis is the work you do to understand, respect,
and adapt to listeners before and during a presentation
• Helps you choose, focus, and narrow your topic
• Makes you more confidence and ease speaking anxiety
• Adapting your presentation to your audience increases the
likelihood that they will be engaged and interested in what you
have to say
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8. Audience Analysis
• Target audience is the most important, influential, or receptive
members of your audience as determined by audience analysis
• Audience analysis should answer several critical questions
• Who are they?
• Why are they here?
• What do they know?
• What are their interests?
• What are their attitudes?
• What are their values?
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9. Who Are They?
• Demographic information: Information that includes, but is
not limited to, race, age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion,
citizen status, occupation, place and type of residence, income,
educational level, political perspective, organizational affiliation,
and social standing
• Stereotyping: Wrongly assuming that specific demographic
information about audience members makes them similar,
potentially leading to mistaken conclusions about their
knowledge, attitudes, values, and backgrounds
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10. Why Are They Here?
• Discovering why your audience is there can help you meet
them where they are rather than where you are
Reason for attending Example
They are interested in the topic. Civil war buffs who attend a talk about
the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge
They are interested in the speaker. Fans of a political candidate, a celebrity,
or other well-known public figure
They will be rewarded for attending. Members of a professional organization
who will receive job certification credits
They always attend. Members of a service club that meets
regularly
They are required to attend. A required class; a mandatory training
session
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11. What Do They Know?
• Questions to ask about your listeners:
• Will they understand my vocabulary and topic-related
terminology?
• Have they heard any of this before?
• Based on what I now know, how much background material
should I cover?
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12. What Are Their Interests?
• Self-centered interests are focused on personal gain or loss
where the listener stands to lose or gain something as a result of
the presentation or its outcome
• WIIFT: What’s In It For Them?
• Topic-centered interests are subjects the audience enjoys
hearing and learning about and that tend to be personal; may
include hobbies, favorite sports or pastimes, or subjects loaded
with intrigue or mystery
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13. What Are Their Attitudes?
• Audience attitudes refers to whether the people in your
audience agree or disagree with your position, how strongly they
agree or disagree, and what you can do to influence their
opinions/behavior
• Start matching persuasive speaking strategies to audience
attitudes
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14. What Are Their Attitudes?
AUDIENCE ATTITUDES: "LONGER JAIL SENTENCES WILL DETER CRIMES."
Strongly
agree
Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly
disagree
If criminals
know they
won't be
back on the
streets in a
short period
of time,
longer jail
sentences
will deter
them and
reduce crime.
Because
criminals
are often
released
before
they have
served
their
sentences,
longer jail
sentences
may help
deter and
reduce
crime.
There are
good, strong
reasons on
both sides of
the issue.
or
I don't know
or care very
much about
this issue.
Because
Longer jail
sentences
cost more and
are unfairly
given to poor
and minority
defendants,
these sen-
tences may
not be a fair
or wise
course of
action.
longer jail
sentences
do not
deter or
reduce
crime;
they only
create
more
hardened
and
danger-
ous
criminals.
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15. What Are Their Values?
• Universal Values: Some values are universal: love, honesty,
responsibility, fairness, freedom, compassion. An appeal to
universal values will be welcomed by most audiences
• Cultural Values: Distinct cultural values that characterize an
aspect of a culture that can be described and measured relative to
other cultures
• Individualism-collectivism: End points on a continuum
from a preference for independence on one end to
interdependence on the other
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16. Adapting Your Message to Your Audience
• Audience analysis and adaptation are important during speech
preparation
• Analyzing and adapting to your audience is just as important
when you speak as it is when you are preparing
• Audience analysis and adaptation never stop
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17. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 1
In 2011, the Iowa House Judiciary Committee
conducted public hearings about a proposed
constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the
state. Zach Wahls, a nineteen-year-old college student
and the son of lesbian parents, spoke against the
amendment during a public hearing before the
committee. His presentation went viral online and
attracted national media attention. It also presented
him with opportunities to speak to a variety of groups
as well as to author a book called My Two Moms.
Wahls is now a prominent LGBTQ activist, and in 2018
he won the Democratic primary and was subsequently
elected to serve in Iowa’s State Senate Seat.

18. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 2
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19. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 3
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20. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 4
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21. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 5
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22. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 6
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23. Notable Speaker: Zach Wahls, Part 7
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24. Credits
This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 2.2.
For more resources, please visit The Norton Field Guide to Speaking:
http://digital.wwnorton.com/nfgspeaking.
Copyright © 2022 W. W. Norton & Company