This document discusses important considerations for selecting a topic and analyzing your audience for a presentation. It recommends choosing a topic that is important, relevant, and presented in an interesting way. It also suggests learning about your audience's demographics, interests, and preferences through observation and research to tailor the presentation appropriately. Specific techniques mentioned include word concepts, ranking systems, and question-and-answer to gather attitudinal information and analyze the audience. The document stresses adapting the purpose, goal, language, style, and content of the presentation to best suit the specific audience.

1. Topic Selection and
Audience Analysis
What do you need to know?
Dawn Bartz

2. Selecting an appropriate topic for your audience
● Is it important and relevant?
● Do you have an interesting,
different, unique way of presenting
the topic ?
● What do you know of the
demographics of your audience?
● What do you know of the interests
of the audience?
● Is your topic narrow enough to
allow you to go into depth?

3. What can you learn about your audience through observation?
● Do they like stronger
speakers or more soft-
spoken?
● What techniques work
well? (statistics,
stories, examples,
visuals, etc.)
● What topics do they
relate to?

4. Using inference to help in communication
Making a
generalization
based on
evidence.
The more
evidence
gathered, the
more likely that
the
generalization
is correct.

5. Inferences can be
indirect (observation)
or direct (through
deliberately gathered
data).
Inferences may be drawn about
your audience from observations
that can occur in a classroom, for
instance. They can also be drawn
from research you conduct
(questionnaires, demographic
analysis, different questioning
techniques, attitudinal surveys)

6. ● Word concepts allow the audience to provide you with attitudinal information on
topics and issues
● Ranking systems allow you to find out what the most important issues (and least
important) are
● Asking questions and observing the responses (verbal and nonverbal)
Analyzing the audience through information gathering

8. Demographic Analysis

9. Research the
audience
before you
speak
What do you know about the organization or group that you are speaking to?
Who do you know inside the organization that can give you inside information
that may be helpful to know about the membership, goals, interests, etc.?
Where will the presentation take place (a small room, lecture hall, gym, banquet, etc.)?

10. Adapting Purpose and Goal
In public speaking, you must be willing to adjust the information and the
presentation to the audience in order to be successful.
Language
● Gestures
● Movements
● Facial expressions
● Style (conversational,
formal, technical)
● Pacing
● Word choices
Topic
● What is the best
approach?
● Organization of
material and
resources
● Understand the
audience’s needs
Purpose (immediate
and long range)
● What do you want the
audience to take away?
● What is the long-range
goal (to make a change?)

11. Immediate purpose: Very specific, “should be able to,” action verbs
(identify, state, explain, reveal…)
Long-range: What is the end purpose?