5.1: Audience Analysis
Angela Pettitt
Audience analysis is the process of gathering information about the people in your audience so that you can understand their needs, expectations, beliefs, values, attitudes, and likely opinions. In this chapter, we will first examine some reasons why audience analysis is important. We will then describe three different types of audience analysis and some techniques to use in conducting audience analysis. Finally, we will explain how you can use your audience analysis not only during the creation of your speech but also while you are delivering it.
Image Long Description
This image is a circular flowchart titled “Why Audience Analysis Matters.”
It visually illustrates the communication loop between a speaker and an audience, emphasizing the role of feedback in achieving message success.
- On the left is a silhouette of a person behind a podium labeled “Speaker.”
- On the right is a group of three people labeled “Audience.”
- A curved arrow labeled “Feedback” points from the audience back to the speaker, showing that the audience responds to the speaker.
- Another curved arrow loops from the speaker to the audience, indicating the ongoing nature of communication.
- A straight arrow pointing downward from the feedback loop leads to a box at the bottom labeled “Message Success.”
The diagram highlights that understanding the audience and incorporating their feedback increases the likelihood of delivering a successful message..
Text Transcription
Why Audience Analysis Matters
- Speaker
- Audience
- Feedback
- Message Success
What is an Audience Analysis?
A communicator, when either writing or speaking, should be highly motivated to ensure their message is received as intended by an audience. To do that, it helps to understand the characteristics that define a given audience and will affect what an audience is likely to think or understand about the topic. For instance, a heart surgeon speaking about the importance of a new screening test for heart disease should probably use different language to describe the test when addressing other doctors at a medical conference than when they are speaking to the general public at a health expo. The medical field is full of jargon, specialized language within a closed group, and if the speaker doesn’t adapt to the audience’s knowledge, they may fail to communicate the benefits and importance of the new test.
Audience analysis is also important when an audience is unfamiliar with, skeptical about, or downright hostile toward the topic. A proposal to ban cell phones in a school or district is more likely to be immediately welcomed by teachers and parents, whereas students might not like the idea of losing access to their phones throughout the day. Therefore, a speech highlighting the benefits of the new policy for teachers probably won’t be effective in persuading students. If the speaker wants to elicit student support for the policy, they will have to think about the policy from students’ perspective and address students’ concerns. In other words, they need to consider their audience.
Demographic categories such as race, gender, religion, sexuality, location, and education level may also impact how an audience responds to a topic. Our identity often influences how we see and interact with our world, which shapes what we know and think about important topics.
Figure 5.2: Demographic Factors to Consider
Image Long Description
The image displays the heading “Demographic Factors to Consider” followed by a visual cluster of words, each representing a different demographic variable. The words vary in size and boldness, drawing emphasis to some over others. The terms included are:
- AGE
- GENDER
- RELIGION
- SEXUALITY
- SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (appears twice)
- OCCUPATION
- EDUCATION
- CULTURE
- LANGUAGE (appears twice)
These factors are arranged in a scattered, cloud-like layout, possibly to emphasize their equal importance or overlapping nature when considering audience or population characteristics.
Text Transcription
Demographic Factors to Consider
- AGE
- GENDER
- RELIGION
- SEXUALITY
- SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
- OCCUPATION
- EDUCATION
- CULTURE
- LANGUAGE
- SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
- LANGUAGE
Effective communication is based on mutual respect, which is more easily achieved when a speaker creates a relationship with their listeners. Scholars Sprague, Stuart, and Bodary explain, “Speakers do not give speeches to audiences; they jointly create meaning with audiences” (Sprague, et al., 2010). The success of a speech rests in large part on how an audience receives and understands it. The best way to reduce the risk of offending, alienating, or even just boring an audience is to conduct an audience analysis as you prepare your speech.
The Role of Respect in Communication
“Speakers do not give speeches to audiences; they jointly create meaning with audiences”
Audience analysis is the process of gathering information about the people in your audience so that you can understand their needs, expectations, beliefs, values, attitudes, and likely opinions. In this chapter, we will first examine some reasons why audience analysis is important. We will then describe three different types of audience analysis and some techniques to use in conducting audience analysis. Finally, we will explain how you can use your audience analysis not only during the creation of your speech but also while you are delivering it.
Figure 5.3: The Audience Analysis Process
Image Long Description
The image is a vertical flowchart titled “The Audience Analysis Process”. It consists of four colored boxes, each containing a step in the process. Each box is connected with a downward-pointing arrow, indicating sequential order.
- Audience Analysis – Teal-colored box.
- Gather Information – Orange-colored box.
- Adapt Message – Teal-colored box.
- Deliver Effectively – Red-colored box.
This flow visually represents the logical progression of analyzing an audience: starting with recognizing the need for analysis, collecting relevant data, adjusting communication to fit the audience, and finally delivering the message appropriately.
Text Transcription
The Audience Analysis Process
- Audience Analysis
- Gather Information
- Adapt Message
- Deliver Effectively
