Public Speaking and Debating

Semester III:
Spring 2023/2024
Session IV /16th Sept.
Audience Analysis
Professor A. El Bakkali
 Audience Analysis

• Audience-Centeredness
• The Psychology of Audience
• Demographic Audience Analysis
• Situational Audience Analysis
• Adapting to the Audience
• Reading Your Audience
 Audience-Centeredness
Good public speakers are audience-centered.

• Public Speakers know that the primary purpose of speechmaking is to gain a

desired response from listeners.
• Being audience-centered does not involve compromising your beliefs to
get a favorable response. Nor does it mean using devious, unethical tactics
to achieve your goal.
• You can remain true to yourself and speak while adapting your message to
your audience’s goals, values, and attitudes.
• To be audience-centered, you need to keep several questions in when you
work on your speeches:
• To whom am I speaking?
• What do I want them to know, believe, or do due to my speech?
• What is the most effective way of composing and presenting my speech to
accomplish that aim?
 The Psychology of Audience
What do you do when you listen to a speech? Input/ output

• Sometimes you pay close attention, at other times you let your thoughts
wander.

• People may be committed to attending a speech, but no one can make

them listen.
• The speaker must make the audience choose to pay attention. Even when
people do pay attention, they don’t process a speaker’s message exactly as the
speaker intends.

• Auditory perception is always selective.

• Every speech contains two messages one sent by the speaker and the one
received by the listener.
 What do people want to hear?
“Why is this speech important to me?”
• They want to hear about things that are meaningful to them.

• People are egocentric. They pay closest attention to messages that affect
their values, beliefs, and well-being.

• “There is nothing that people are so interested in as themselves, their

problems, and the way to solve them. That fact is . . . the primary
starting point of all successful public speaking.”
• What do these principles mean to you as a speaker?
• First, they mean your listeners will hear and judge what you say based on
what they already know and believe.
• Second, they mean you must relate your message to your readers how it
pertains to them, and explain why they should care about it as much as
you do.
 Demographic Audience Analysis
• One of the ways speakers analyze audiences is by looking at demographic traits such as
• age;
• gender;
• religion;
• sexual orientation;
• group membership;
• racial-ethnic,
• cultural background;
• This is called demographic audience analysis. It consists of two steps:
• (1) identifying the general demographic features of your audience
• (2) gauging the importance of those features to a particular speaking situation.
• When analyzing demographic information about your audience, avoid stereotyping.
• Stereotyping involves creating an oversimplified image of a particular group of people,
usually by assuming that all members of the group are alike.
 Situational Audience Analysis

• Size: No matter what size group you are addressing, bear in mind one principle: the larger the
audience, the more formal your presentation must be. Audience size may also affect your
language, choice of appeals, and visual aids.

• Physical Setting: When you face any speaking situation, it is important to know in advance if
there will be any difficulties with the physical setting. Speeches outside the classroom
can present unpleasant surprises unless you do your homework beforehand.

• Disposition Toward The Speaker: The more competent listeners believe a speaker to be,
the more likely they are to accept what he or she says. Likewise, the more listeners
believe the speaker has their best interests at heart, the more likely they are to respond
positively to the speaker’s message.

• Disposition Toward The Topic: there are three major things to consider in this phase: the
audience’s interest in the topic, their knowledge about it, and their attitude towards it.

• Disposition Toward The Occasion: Most important, the occasion would dictate the topic
itself, the length of the speech, and even the tone of the speech.
 Adapting to the Audience
How well you use what you know in preparing and presenting the speech

• Audience Adaptation Before The Speech: you must keep your audience in mind at every
stage of speech preparation. This involves more than simply remembering who your listeners
will be. It means two things:
• (1) assessing how your audience is likely to respond to what you say in your speech,
• (2) Adjust what you say to make it as clear, appropriate, and convincing as possible.

• Audience Adaptation During The Speech: No matter how hard you prepare ahead of time,
things may not go exactly as planned on the day of your speech.
• For speeches in the classroom, you may link that the projector for your visual aids is not
available or that another student has the same topic as you.

• For speeches outside the classroom, you might learn that the audience will be much
larger (or smaller) than you had anticipated, or that the amount of time available for
your speech has been out...
 Reading Your Audience
• Reading your audience implies that your audience sends out messages. The more nervous
or ill at ease you are during a presentation, the less likely you are to pick up on the cues
offered by the audience.

• These could be summed up in the following:

• Audible Responses: laughs, groans, or sighs directly following a comment. Some people
instinctively believe that silence is the hardest type of feedback to read, but many types of
audience silences are quite revealing. If the audience makes an unexpected noise, like
laughter, note what made the reaction occur and use it to your benefit in another speech.

• Movement: actual movement is a more accurate indicator of what the audience is

experiencing. People leaving during your presentation is a clear sign, as are people coming
into the room to hear you.
• An attentive audience is quiet when it should be, laughing when appropriate, murmuring
when its members are confused or excited, and tearful when the presentation becomes
emotional.
 Reading Your Audience

• Positive Measure of Support: If you are fortunate enough to be in a position in which

someone in the audience makes a remark reflecting a highly favorable reaction to your
presentation, by all means, play it up.

• Stirring And Shuffling Papers: In addition to movement cues, general stirring in the room,
shuffling of papers, and other sounds of “organizing” indicate that people are ready for
you to end.

• Resistant Audiences: when dealing with resistant audiences or resistant individuals take
control of the room. If the stage or podium is far from audience seating, move to the
floor so that you are close to the participants. Physical proximity can reduce resistance.

• Dealing With Hecklers: Hecklers may not have anything in mind other than to get a
laugh and draw attention to themselves for doing so. Most audience members, including
hecklers, appreciate a quick wit or a smart inclusion in discussion.
 References
• Carnagey, D. (2021). The art of public speaking. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing.

• Davidson, J. (2003). The complete guide to public speaking. Breathing Space Institute.

• Lucas, S., & Stob, P. (2004). The art of public speaking (p. 382). New York: McGraw-Hill.

• Menzel, K. E., & Carrell, L. J. (1994). The relationship between preparation and performance in
public speaking. Communication Education, 43(1), 17-26.

• Miller, E. (2019). Debating and public speaking training for pre-service teachers: Experiences
and advantages. In EDULEARN19 Proceedings 11th International Conference on Education
and New Learning Technologies: Palma, Spain. 1-3 July, 2019 (pp. 1963-1967). Nikitina, A.
(2011). Successful public speaking. Bookboon.

• Video: How to Analyze an Audience for Public Speaking

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYLo4xcBy6c