80 CHAPTER^6 Audience Analysis
- To understand race and ethnicity better, read the first-person account of racial and
ethnic identity, available on your online resources. Identify the various labels the
author has been tagged with. What conclusions has she drawn? - In 1981 Washington Post reporter Joel Garreau wrote The Nine Nations of North
America. You can find a summary of his ideas on Garreau’s website. Follow the link to
your region and see if you agree with his description of the area in which you live. Then
link to another region. Do you think the regions have changed in the last thirty-plus
years? If so, how? How might a speaker from your region adapt to an audience in the
second region? - Song lyrics are written with audiences in mind. Analyze the lyrics to Reba McEntire’s
1994 song “She Thinks His Name Was John.” You can find them online, or you can
watch Ms. McEntire perform this song on YouTube. Who is her target audience? What
is her goal? The song came out in 1994. How have audiences changed and/or stayed
the same since then?^29 - Select a topic that you might use for a speech and then try to see yourself as your
classmates might see you speaking on that subject. At this point in the term, what
credibility would you bring to this speech? How could you demonstrate credibility in the
speech? How do you think your audience would see you after you’re finished?
AppliCATion ExERCiSES- Experienced speakers always try to check out the physical setting for a speech in
advance. Work with a group of your classmates to develop a checklist of what to look
for in any physical setting and then discuss how specific obstacles might be handled. - Choose one of the following topics and talk with a small group of your classmates
about the different ways you would use demographic factors in your audience to
develop a speech for each of the following groups or audiences.
Topic: Your school’s administrators are discussing a policy that will abolish all competi-
tive sports on campus.
Audiences
• Your classmates
• A group of prospective students
• Alumni who are consistent donors to the school
• Basketball team members
Topic: The United States should double its foreign aid budget.Audiences
• Senior citizens
• A high school government class
• The local chapter of the League of Women Voters
• Your classmates- With a small group of students list the physical characteristics of your classroom.
Include size, acoustics, lighting, temperature, ambient noise, placement of seats, and
distance between speaker and listeners. Then discuss how these physical characteris-
tics might affect the audience’s ability to listen effectively. What can you do as a
speaker to overcome potential barriers to listening in your classroom setting? - To further your understanding of prior credibility, work with several classmates to iden-
tify a campus event such as a commencement ceremony, an alcohol abuse workshop
for dormitory residents, or a sports recognition banquet for athletes and their parents.
Then identify a local, regional, or nationally known figure who would make a good
speaker for the event, given his or her credibility on the topic.
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