The Speaker and the Audience: The Occasion and the Subject

Transcription

1 The Speaker and the Audience: The Occasion and the Subject Chapter 14 1 Four Stages of Speech Making Topic selection Topic development Presentation Postpresentation analysis Time spent on each stage will vary from speech to speech 2 Systematic Process 3 1

2 Expectations Society has grown accustomed to high-quality speeches Characteristics of good speakers: Have insight Know their audience Believe what they are doing is important Always practice Think of the speech as a performance Make a critique or postpresentation analysis of the speech 4 Self-Analysis Front-end analysis a self analysis conducted to help you uncover aspects that you may find particularly interesting or appealing Review your life: Your Autobiography Consider the Moment: This Moment Search the News: Today s News The Alphabet Technique The Topoi System Who? What? When? Where? How? Why? and So?) 5 Considering the Audience Pitfall for speakers is speaking to themselves MYGLO ( my eyes glaze over ) You must know something about the audience in order to pay proper attention to them Audience analysis is the step most often overlooked Approach speech making from behind the eyes of the audience 6 2

3 Audience Analysis: Who Are They? Finding out information about the makeup of your audience Educated guesses Sources of audience information Personal experience Research Ask program planner to provide audience information Obtain copies of public relations material Discussions with members of the potential audience 7 Audience Demographics Background and composition of your audience are important factors Age Gender Family orientation Religion Cultural background Occupation Socioeconomic status Educational level Additional factors 8 Attitudes of an Audience Try to predict the attitudes your listeners will have toward you and your presentation Attitudinal scales Motivation willingness to attend Values degree of homogeneity Level of agreement audience s reaction to the stance of the speaker Level of commitment how much the audience cares 9 3

4 Predicting the Reaction After completing audience research, ask the following: What do the audience members now know about my topic? To what extent are they interested in my topic? What are their current attitudes toward this topic? Keep answers in mind when developing presentation 10 Considering the Occasion Date and time of the presentation Timing can influence a speaker s effectiveness Length of the presentation Ensure you will not run over or under your time limit Location of the presentation Remind yourself of the location and people connected to it Nature of the occasion Clarify the situation in your mind Size of the audience 11 Considering the Subject Evaluate topic ideas according to specific criteria: Apparent worth Is it important to you and the people who will listen to you? Appropriateness Is it appropriate to the audience? Is it appropriate to the occasion? Interest How does it relate to your audience and how will they benefit? Availability of material Be certain that material on the subject exists and that you can find it readily 12 4

5 Narrowing the Topic Essential to consider the time constraints and narrow your topic to fit those imposed by the situation 13 Purpose Statement and Behavioral Objectives The Informative Speech Primary responsibility is to relay information The Persuasive Speech Main goal is to reinforce or change an audience s beliefs or to make an audience behave in a certain way Develop a purpose statement Formulate behavioral objectives Develop a thesis (arguable point of view) 14 Technology and Topics Internet is a huge resource of information for speakers Search engines Mailing lists Usenet groups Conference system of bulletin boards devoted to different topics, on which people around the world with similar interests can interact with each other 15 5

6 Using Analysis Effectively Focus your attention on the characteristics of people you consider good speakers Conduct a systematic self-analysis as a preparation for speech making Analyze your audience Analyze the occasion Determine if your topic is supported by your own interests, your audience s interests, and the demands of the occasion 16 6