Public Speaking

76 CHAPTER^6 Audience Analysis

get a lower appraisal or lose your job if you show up on a Friday

prepared with an hour speech—even if the speech is great.

Online courses let students be more flexible in their par-

ticipation, although instructors typically set general boundaries

for speech length and for times to upload speeches, view others’

videos, and comment in various forums.

In contrast, listeners from a culture or co-culture with a

more relaxed view of time focus less on starting precisely on time

or on finishing within a rigid time frame. For example, Professor

Robert Levine, a native of fast-paced Brooklyn, taught in slower-

paced Brazil where his psychology class was scheduled from

10:00 a.m. to noon.^25 Taking along his cultural expectations, he

assumed the class would begin at 10:00 and end at 12:00. To his

surprise, students unapologetically strolled in as late as 11:00. At

noon he was finished, but most students stayed, asking questions.

By 12:15 Levine was fidgety. At 12:30 he ended the class and left,

although the students seemed willing to stay even longer.

Third, consider how cultural or social events might affect

the audience’s response to various topics. For example, a speech

about snow is probably a better choice in December than, say, mid-April. Topics such

as bullying often follow nationally televised coverage of a situation that got out of hand

with disastrous consequences. And topics related to politics may be more interesting and

relevant during election years.

Consider the Environment

Room design and equipment can create a pleasant or unpleasant setting for a speech.

Instructors tell stories about challenging rooms:

•   One class was held in a basement classroom with no windows and three large drain

pipes that segmented the room in such a way that not all the students could see one

another.

•   Another room was wider than it was deep. A grand piano sat in the center, and the

blackboards were covered with five-lined staffs for musical notations.

•   In online courses, students sometimes gather an audience and videotape their speech

in a living room, a cramped workspace, or another improvised setting.

Rooms such as these can all affect your audience, whether or not they realize it. If

you can change the location or the seating pattern, do so. But when things are out of

your control, make sure everyone can see and hear you.

Other environmental considerations such as the temperature inside (too hot, too

cold), the weather outside (sunny and beautiful, stormy and icy), or noise (a rattling

air conditioner or radiator) can also affect audience comfort or distract their attention.

Recognize potential environmental effects on your audience, and do what you can to

make your listeners comfortable and focused on your speech.

Consider Your Audience’s Perception of You

Analysis goes two ways. While you are forming impressions of your listeners, they are

forming perceptions about your credibility. They make judgments about your knowl-

edge and intelligence regarding the topic as well as your motivations and intentions

credibility listeners’ impres-
sions of your character,
intentions, and abilities
that make you more or less
believable

© iStockphoto.com/PixelEmbargo

In US classrooms and organizations across the
country, timing matters. You need to perform on
the due date and conform to the assigned speech
length.

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