Analyzing your Audience before you Speak 6.5 107
based only on the biological sex profile of your listeners could lead you to adapt
to your listeners inappropriately. Your listeners might identify themselves as male
or female, transgender/transsexual, or intersex, for example, with sexual orienta-
tions that might include lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, or asexual.
uSE unBIASED LAnguAgE Take time to educate yourself about what words,
phrases, or perspectives are likely to offend or create psychological noise for your
listeners. Think carefully about the implications of words or phrases you take for
granted. For example, many people still use the words ladies or matrons without
thinking about their connotations in U.S. culture. Sometimes we unintention-
ally offend someone through more subtle misuse of language. For example, gays
and lesbians typically prefer to be referred to as “gay” or “lesbian” rather than as
“homosexual.” Be especially wary about jokes; many are derogatory to people who
identify as a particular sex, gender, or sexual orientation. Inappropriate language
and jokes may lower perceptions of your credibility among not only listeners who
are directly mentioned, but also among audience members who disdain bias.
MAkE yOur LAnguAgE AnD yOur MESSAgE IncLuSIvE If you are
speaking to a mixed audience, make sure that your speech relates to all your
listeners, not just to one gender or orientation. If you decided to discuss breast
cancer, for example, you could note that men, too, can be victims of breast cancer
and that the lives of husbands, fathers, and brothers of patients are affected by
the disease. Many of the men in Josh’s audience were the ones who took a prime
role in caring for their children, and Josh’s opening did not relate to them.
AvOID StErEOtypES No matter what the gender mix in your audience, you
don’t want to make judgments based on gender stereotypes, as Josh did. Also be
cautious about assuming that men and women will respond differently to your
message. For example, contemporary research suggests there is no major differ-
ence between men and women in their susceptibility to persuasive messages.^3
Moreover, although some research suggests that women are socialized to be
more emotional and empathic than men, other evidence suggests that men can
be equally sensitive.^4 It is clear there are learned sex and gender differences in
language usage and nonverbal behavior, but we caution against making sweep-
ing gender- or sex-based assumptions about your audience. Furthermore, it is
not appropriate to single out gays and lesbians as separate categories of people
who are assumed to hold political, ideological, or religious views that are consist-
ently different from those of straight people.
People evaluate credibility by behavior, not by intentions. Monitor your lan-
guage choice and use of illustrations and humor so that you don’t alienate mem-
bers of your audience.^5
cuLturE, EthnIcIty, AnD rAcE culture is a learned system of knowledge,
behavior, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms shared by a group of people. Eth-
nicity is that portion of a person’s cultural background that relates to a national or
religious heritage. A person’s race is his or her biological heritage—for example,