Lecture 6 Understanding Your Audience

Summary

Lecture six emphasizes the importance of audience analysis in presentations, highlighting the need to consider demographics, psychographics, and audience knowledge. The speaker illustrates how understanding an audience's characteristics, attitudes, and beliefs can significantly influence the content and delivery of a presentation. Examples are provided to show the impact of audience analysis on speech topics and the challenges of engaging captive audiences, encouraging speakers to tailor their approach to effectively communicate with their listeners.

Takeaways

• 📝 Audience analysis is crucial for determining the content and approach of a presentation, as it helps tailor the message to the specific group of listeners.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Demographics are a key aspect of audience analysis, encompassing factors like race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, and other identity markers that define who the audience members are.
• 💭 Psychographics involve understanding the audience's attitudes, beliefs, and values, which can be particularly important when dealing with sensitive or controversial topics.
• 🌐 Knowledge level is another critical factor, requiring speakers to gauge whether the audience is familiar or unfamiliar with the topic, and adjust the depth of information accordingly.
• 📚 The speaker must balance addressing both the informed and the uninformed within the audience without alienating either group.
• 🏆 Group memberships, such as being a fan of a sports team or a member of a sorority, are part of an individual's identity and can influence their perspective and interests.
• 🤔 The speaker should be aware of the audience's interests and disinterests in the topic, as this can affect engagement and the effectiveness of the presentation.
• 🏫 In educational settings, students may be part of a 'captive audience' and may not be genuinely interested in the material, which the speaker must consider when planning their approach.
• 🌟 The speaker's own experiences and background can influence how they connect with the audience and the topics they choose to present or avoid.
• 📈 Adaptability is key for speakers, as understanding the audience's characteristics and attitudes can sometimes necessitate changes in presentation style or content.
• 📝 The concept of 'captive' versus 'captivated' audiences highlights the difference between those who are present by requirement versus those who are genuinely interested and engaged.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Lecture Six?

Lecture Six focuses on audience analysis, explaining why it is important and the factors to consider when preparing a presentation for an audience.

Why is audience analysis considered key in presentation preparation?

Audience analysis is key because it helps determine the content and delivery of a presentation, ensuring that the message resonates with the audience's demographics, psychographics, and knowledge base.

What are the three key areas to consider when analyzing an audience?

The three key areas to consider are demographics, psychographics, and knowledge. These help in understanding who the audience is and how to tailor the presentation to them.

Can you explain what is meant by 'demographics' in the context of audience analysis?

Demographics in audience analysis refers to the characteristics that define a person, such as race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, and other identity markers.

What is 'psychographics' and why is it important for audience analysis?

Psychographics refers to the audience's attitudes, beliefs, and values. It is important because it helps the presenter understand the audience's perspectives and potential reactions to certain topics.

How does a speaker balance addressing both informed and uninformed audience members?

A speaker should aim for a 'happy middle,' presenting information in a way that is accessible to those who are less informed without alienating or boring those who are more informed.

What is the difference between a 'captive' and a 'captivated' audience?

A captive audience is one that is present due to obligation or force, while a captivated audience is engaged and interested in the presentation voluntarily.

Why is it challenging to present to a captive audience?

Presenting to a captive audience is challenging because the audience members may not be interested or invested in the topic, making it harder to engage and maintain their attention.

Can you provide an example of how a presenter might adapt their approach based on audience analysis?

An example given in the script is the professor who removed certain topics from her lecture in Houston due to the cultural nuances and attitudes of the local community, which differed from her previous experiences in Chicago and San Diego.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Importance of Audience Analysis in Presentations

The first paragraph introduces the concept of audience analysis, emphasizing its importance in determining the content and approach of a presentation. The speaker discusses how audience characteristics, including demographics such as race, gender, age, and nationality, as well as psychographics like attitudes and beliefs, should inform the selection of topics and the preparation of presentations. The paragraph also highlights the need to consider the audience's knowledge base and the potential for diverse perspectives within a given group.

05:04

🏷️ Understanding Demographics and Group Membership

This paragraph delves into the specifics of demographics, explaining how personal attributes like race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, and religious identity contribute to an individual's identity. The speaker uses examples such as being a fan of a sports team or a member of a sorority to illustrate different forms of group membership, which can influence a person's beliefs and attitudes. The paragraph underscores

Keywords

💡Audience Analysis

Audience analysis is the process of understanding the demographic, psychographic, and knowledge-based attributes of the individuals one is addressing. In the video, it is emphasized as a crucial step in preparing presentations, as it helps tailor the content to meet the audience's expectations and interests. The lecturer provides examples of how considering the audience's race, gender, age, and other factors can influence the choice of topics and the delivery of the presentation.

💡Demographics

Demographics refer to the statistical characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, race, and nationality. The video explains that understanding these attributes is essential for audience analysis because they define who the audience members are. The lecturer uses demographics to illustrate the importance of recognizing the cultural identity markers that make up the audience.

💡Psychographics

Psychographics are the study of people's attitudes, values, interests, and lifestyles. In the context of the video, psychographics are highlighted as a key aspect of audience analysis because they reveal the audience's beliefs and attitudes, which can be particularly important when discussing sensitive or controversial topics. The lecturer discusses the challenges of navigating differing attitudes in a diverse audience.

💡Knowledge Base

Knowledge base pertains to the information, understanding, and skills that an individual or group possesses. The video emphasizes the importance of gauging the audience's level of knowledge about the topic being presented. This helps the speaker to adjust the depth and complexity of the information to ensure it is accessible to both novices and experts in the audience.

💡Cultural Identity

Cultural identity refers to the sense of belonging to a cultural group, which can be defined by various factors such as nationality, ethnicity, and religion. The video script discusses cultural identity in the context of demographics, explaining that even those who do not actively practice a religion or belong to a group still have a cultural identity that influences their perspectives.

💡Group Membership

Group membership denotes affiliation or association with a particular group, which can be based on shared interests, beliefs, or affiliations. The lecturer uses examples such as sports teams, fan bases of celebrities, and organizational memberships to illustrate how group membership can influence audience behavior and expectations in a presentation.

💡Attitudes and Beliefs

Attitudes and beliefs are the opinions and convictions held by individuals. The video script discusses the importance of understanding the audience's attitudes and beliefs, especially in the context of divisive topics that can lead to contentious debates. The lecturer shares personal experiences of adjusting lecture content based on the attitudes and beliefs prevalent in a new cultural environment.

💡Interest Level

Interest level refers to the degree of enthusiasm or engagement that an audience has for a particular topic. The video script mentions that a speaker must consider whether the audience is genuinely interested in the topic or if they are attending due to obligation. This awareness helps the speaker to adapt their approach to better engage the audience.

💡Captive Audience

A captive audience is a group of people who are required to be present, such as students in a classroom or employees in a mandatory meeting. The video script explains that captive audiences can be challenging to engage because their attendance is not voluntary. The lecturer discusses strategies for making presentations more compelling to such audiences.

💡Captivated Audience

A captivated audience is one that is willingly engaged and interested in the presentation. The video script contrasts this with a captive audience, highlighting the difference between attendance due to obligation versus genuine interest. The lecturer encourages speakers to strive for captivated audiences by choosing topics and presentation styles that resonate with the audience.

Highlights

Lecture six focuses on audience analysis, emphasizing its importance in determining the content and approach of a presentation.

Audience analysis considers various factors including race, gender, age, nationality, religion, and skill set to tailor the presentation effectively.

Demographic factors are crucial for understanding the audience's identity markers and cultural dimensions.

Psychographics involves understanding the audience's attitudes, beliefs, and their potential reactions to certain topics.

Knowledge level of the audience is key to balancing the depth of information provided, ensuring engagement for both novices and experts.

The concept of 'captive' versus 'captivated' audiences is introduced, highlighting the challenge of engaging audiences who are present out of obligation.

The speaker discusses the importance of adapting presentation style to the cultural nuances and attitudes of the audience's geographical location.

An anecdote about students choosing controversial figures for speeches illustrates the need to understand audience reactions to sensitive topics.

The lecture emphasizes the necessity of removing or adjusting topics based on the audience's potential contentious reactions.

The speaker shares personal experiences of culture shock and the adjustments made in teaching approaches when moving to a new location.

The importance of considering the audience's level of interest in the topic is discussed, as disinterest can affect engagement.

The lecture suggests strategies for presenting to mixed audiences with varying levels of knowledge and interest in the topic.

The speaker provides examples of group memberships and how they can influence audience identity and reactions.

The lecture touches on the challenges of discussing religion and politics due to the potential for disagreement and tension.

The speaker reflects on the importance of audience analysis in academic settings, including the need to adjust teaching methods and assignments.

The lecture concludes with a call to action for students to consider audience analysis when preparing their speeches and presentations.

Transcripts

well good morning good morning everyone

so I am back now with lecture six okay

I'm gonna run out of fingers soon but

that's okay so lecture six is about

audience analysis

and

excuse me audience analysis is important

because that sometimes can determine

what we're going to talk about for our

presentation right as I mentioned

previously sometimes the topic is going

to already be determined for us by an

assignment if you're in a class or by a

particular subject matter if you're in

an organization if it's a workplace or

um other kind of you know required

type of speaking and because sometimes

we

have to talk about subjects that someone

else has chosen for us or even if it's a

subject that we choose for ourselves we

have to consider the audience who is in

the room not only who's in the room

sometimes we think of that in terms of

race

um are there racially racial others in

the world okay

gender are there gendered others in

their own age are there age others in

the world nationality religion

belief systems

skill set knowledge base so all of these

are things that we have to consider

as we are choosing our topics and

definitely as we are preparing our

presentations so audience analysis is

key so in this case I'm going to show

you just some of the things that you

have to consider when you are analyzing

your audience I'm going to share the

screen

okay

okay so when we were thinking about

audience analysis we have to really

think about three key areas the

demographics the psychographics and the

knowledge and this is what we use to

determine to whom we are speaking okay

to whom are we speaking and how does

that inform the information that we

provide the content that we deliver

okay so demographics demographics you

guys may or may not be familiar with

that term but definitely you've

experienced this demographics deals with

um

what makes a person who they are so

their race ethnicity

excuse me their nationality Regional

identity age gender gender identity

sexual orientation marital status

religious identity social status group

ownership and ability

these are the things that make us who we

are

they are sometimes called cultural

identity sometimes they are known as 13

dimensions of identity identity markers

but this is really who we are and even

if you think you don't hold anything

here

I assure you that you do

okay so for example some of you may say

well I don't really practice a religion

I don't really have a religion as such

somebody made me saying well I don't

really believe in God

okay all of that is fair but that is

still a religious identity it could be

the identity of being a non-believer

it's the identity of being a

non-practicing religious person that is

still an identity okay

um

you may think that you don't really have

a group membership well yeah you do we

all belong to different groups

excuse me you guys I swear

um so for example if you like

the Chicago Bears membership you're a

fan of that team same can be said for

the

Texans or the Cowboys the Raiders

the Buccaneers or whomever it could be

same again of course if it's a

basketball team or a basketball softball

team or baseball team soccer team it

doesn't have to be the national team it

could be your local high school team

will give you your college team that is

one

group membership that you're in the fan

base of a certain team

um people who call themselves uh

swifties

excuse me you guys I have no idea why

this has happened

people who call themselves swifties they

are part of a group of people who are

fans of Taylor Swift The Beehive those

folks are a deep fan base of Beyonce

um fans they are in a group it's a group

and I don't mean the group is that you

have to pay dues or is it to attend

meetings or anything like that it just

means

people who have identified themselves to

to have the same belief system or

interest as other people they tend to

have a way of doing things they tend to

have a language that they use

um signals or codes that they use

amongst themselves okay

all right

group membership of course can also be

the Hoops that we find ourselves in that

require meetings or memberships dues and

things Oaths things like that so for

example

if you've ever been a Girl Scout a

brownie a Boy Scout or any of that eagle

scout that's group membership even if

you're not in it now and you were once a

part of it like if I were to do this I

think that's how it goes you guys I

don't remember I haven't been a brownie

or a girl scout in 40 40 years so I

don't remember but I think it was

something like this right and this is

how I would stand and give my oats or

what have you

um

again whatever that is I may not be part

of that group now but I was a part of

that grouping so even now it still makes

me part of the group having served in

that capacity if you are a member of a

sobriety or fraternity

again group membership I am a part of a

sorority and whether I'm active or

inactive that doesn't change the fact

that I'm still a part of a membership of

a part of a membership of a particular

sorority

Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated and

then also I'm a part of a larger group

that is known as the divine nine so

um and that's where

non-historically black sororities and

fraternities came together to form this

larger uh Union Again part of the

membership if you played an instrument I

heard someone I don't remember who it

was

I think it was Erica but don't quote me

but somebody uh said they played with

flute when I was growing up I played

clarinet so we were we are part of the

membership of band

students perhaps um if that's how she

you know got introduced and learned to

play flute through band if you are on

the chess club chess team or anything

like that this is part of group

membership and all of these things

together I won't go over them all

although this is my area of expertise

this particular area

um

we're all a part of this and all of this

matters when we are addressing audiences

we have to know who's in the audience so

that we can know the proper things to

say

and things to avoid as it relates to

Identity okay next we have

psychographics

encyclographics deals with your

audience's attitudes and beliefs

this one is a really interesting one

especially in the day and times that we

find ourselves in now where we have

gotten to the point where people

it's it's it's difficult for people to

disagree with people who think

differently than they do it has become

increasingly difficult for people to

agree to disagree it has become

increasingly difficult for people to

um disagree and behave with a sense of

Civility and

um respect for difference and respect

for difference of opinions and different

experiences and different lived

experiences it has become increasingly

difficult increasingly uh challenging

for

people who reside in the U.S to do so

but it is important that as a speaker

you know your audience you know their

attitudes and beliefs around certain

topics

excuse me especially those that are

considered hot button topics right the

topics of the day

the topics that are subject to start an

argument at the dinner table or you know

having cocktails with colleagues so we

have to be really careful

in the U.S it's regarded that we don't

talk about religion and politics at the

dinner table or really even just amongst

our peers we don't talk about

religion and politics and then it's

because oftentimes we may find ourselves

in community in the workplace and

organization at church Etc with people

who don't hold the same attitudes and

beliefs that we do and this can be very

contentious it could be a very

contentious environments when we are not

aware of how people think and believe I

know that sometimes we also experience

culture shock when I moved to Houston

again I told you guys I'm from Chicago

born and raised and in addition to

Chicago as a young you know growing up

there as an adult I lived in Minneapolis

I lived in

went back to Chicago and then I moved to

San Diego for five and a half years I

went back to Chicago for 10 years and

now I'm getting used to almost 14 years

and

there were certain topics that I had to

remove

from my topic list for speech class when

I moved to Houston

excuse me

foreign

there were certain topics I shouldn't

say that I had to remove them because

there wasn't anyone who told me that I

had to do it but I removed them because

I started to check the climate and the

cultural nuances of the place where I

had just moved and I realized that some

of these topics

might create more uh

contention in the classroom then they

would be helpful and because of the

different attitudes and beliefs that are

prevailing in some of the communities in

Houston I just thought it best to remove

I'll give you I'll give you an example

okay

okay

but one of the assignments of it I had I

had it was a list of people who you had

to present an informative speech on the

or someone from the list now the list

was really extensive and there were

anywhere from 90 to 100 people on this

list

so there were a lot of names to choose

from a lot of names to choose from

excuse me when I got to Houston

I had some students who um

one one semester one particular class in

particular they chose from the list

everybody was required to choose from

the list and I had two students in

particular both the three students one

second please just give me one second

you guys

okay thank you I'm back so

okay so I had three students in

particular in this one class and and

they seemed two of the students

definitely came into the class knowing

each other they were dating and then the

third student they I don't know if they

knew the third student or if they just

became fast friends in class

but when I got to this assignment again

there were almost a hundred people that

they could have chosen

and these three people they chose

to present their speeches on

Barack Obama

Mao Zedong

and

um

Fidel Castro

and so

prior to this time in Chicago

students had access to that same

assignment with those three names were

also on the assignment

and either they did the speech I mean

either they chose those people and they

didn't choose those people

but everyone prior to this particular

experience in Houston shows their topic

because they were legitimately

interested in learning more about their

topic and they wanted to share that

information with the audience in this

particular case however

these three students chose

this topic or the topic that they chose

the person that they chose they chose it

to

make a political statement

and that was not the purpose of the

assignment in fact they spent so much

time trying to make political statements

that they did not actually address the

questions

that they had to cover in the research

they did not actually fulfill the

assignment and so then they you know got

these and outs on the assignment and

then they wanted to challenge the brain

because they said I was biased

um because of the topic and racially

they they just said a lot of different

things

but what it taught me

is that you have to know your audience

and even as the professor I happen to

know the audience of my class of my

students I have to know who's sitting in

these seats what are the attitudes and

the beliefs the uh perspectives the

World Views the biases the lived

experiences of students in my in my

seats and that sometimes has to even

inform and sometimes change well it has

to always inform and sometimes change

alter slightly the way I present

information or the assignments that I

present or the ways in which I present

this on okay all right next we have

knowledge

knowledge deals with the broad and

specialized interested and uninterested

information that your audience members

hold so for example

is your audience already knowledgeable

about this topic

or is this the first time ever they've

ever heard the information chances are

you could be presenting to a group of

people

who fit both uh models yes your audience

could be people who on this side have

never heard of this topic or maybe on

this side of the room they know quite a

bit about it how do you as the speaker

get in that happy middle

so that you can speak to the people who

are less informed without losing the

people who are more informed vice versa

how do you speak to the people who are

more informed without losing the people

who are less informed right

this is something that you have to

consider as a speaker

also the topic that you're presenting is

your audience interested or uninterested

in this topic now in a classroom this

can be tricky because sometimes you have

to just present certain topics based on

the parameters and the guidelines that

I've given

at other times you get to choose the

topic and so in this case

it's likely that you're going to have

people who are definitely not interested

in your topic

but when you go out into the working

you're presenting in your

courses your major related courses when

you're presenting in the workplace when

you're presenting in your organizations

Etc you may have less of the

disinterested or uninterested group of

people because presumably you're all

therefore common or similar gold or at

least similar interest but you have to

still consider that there may be

audience members who are just simply not

interested in the topic that you're

presenting

quite honestly and quite frankly it

happens to me as a speech teacher right

there are people in the room who are

here simply because they have to be not

because they find interest or value in

this course in the material not because

they're intrigued about oral

communication and culture and how to

connect not because they're interested

in becoming better speakers not because

they want to know the tenants are the

foundations of communication but simply

they are present because it was a

required course in their degree

appointment or sometimes it was the

lesser of two evils of required forces

in a degree plan right so again I have

to always know who is my audit to you

as a speaker I have to always know

who is your audience to whom are you

speaking to whom are you addressing and

if you keep these three pieces of

information in mind dpk demographics

psychographics of knowledge then you

will do well to present to your audience

based on their needs one other thing

that you need to know about audience

analysis

is your audience captive or are they

captivated

captive audiences are hard to win over

because they are there because they have

to be yes it's when you're it's when

you're in class you have to come to

class you have to sit in a lecture you

have to sit in the student speeches you

have to watch them Etc

that's captive you're there through

Force sometimes at work we have to go to

certain meetings we may have to

participate in certain

committees we may have to attend certain

lectures certain

talks

when um before I was at HCC I was at

another College in the area and every

February I think it was we had a faculty

day it was every it was on a Friday

every second Friday or something

and nobody ever I shouldn't say nobody

many people didn't want to attend

because we loved our Fridays off and

many people said that they didn't find

anything value there they didn't learn

any new information

I wasn't one of those people I did not

like giving up my Friday but it was just

one Friday it wasn't the end of the

world so I would start to find there

were certain meanings that everyone had

to attend

period Point Blank but there were other

meetings you had to choose meetings

throughout the day

and I think you had to do the four

sessions the mandatory two mandatory

meetings plus four sessions two in the

morning and two in the afternoon so I

would always be careful to choose the

things that I thought were really of

interest to me I attended the two that I

had to attend I was captive I was

required but for the other four things

that I had a I had a menu of things in

which I could select I always chose the

things that were of interest to me and

that way I became a captivated audience

member

okay all right so this has been electric

six and we've now talked about audience

analysis ask yourselves how will you

apply this information when you are

preparing your next speech for an

audience think about that

right think about how you're going to do

that as it relates to presentations in

the workplace or in your major or any

other place how are you going to

consider who's sitting in those chairs

as you prepare your information okay

this is lecture six audience and now