An Audience Analysis, Why You Need To Do It And What Is It

Before giving a speech, a speaker should take into account who their audience is and the best way to deliver the speech to them. In order to properly do this, they must perform an audience analysis, which takes into account a variety of characteristics and demographics that the audience shares, which the speaker can then use to tailor their message for the audience. An audience analysis includes situational characteristics such as the size of the audience, the time at which the speech is taking place, and the location of the speech, and demographics such as the age, gender, and race and ethnicity of the audience. By keeping these ideas in mind, the speaker is able to adjust their speech in any way that is necessary in order to get their message across to the audience. Situational characteristics are factors that a speaker can see in a specific speech setting before they give their speech, and they have a major impact on how an audience will perceive a speech. The size of the audience determines how much you can interact with your audience. For instance, in a smaller group, the speaker is able to deliver their speech and interact with their audience by answering questions, whereas with a larger group, answering questions would not be possible, as it would take up most of the time (Fraleigh 120).

In our classroom audience, the size of the audience is too big to interact with, so it would be rather time-consuming to answer any questions they have. To combat this, it would be best to include as much information as possible to avoid any confusion so that there are no questions needed to be answered. The time the speech takes place is also a situational characteristic that will affect how the audience takes in a speech. There are two aspects that come into effect with timing, and they are called “presentation time” and “body clock.” Presentation time is the amount of time you are given to deliver your speech, which determines how deep you are able to get into the topic (Fraleigh 123). For Instance, if you are only given five minutes to deliver the speech, it would be best to avoid time consuming bits of the speech and just give the big idea rather than spend most of your time on one bit.

Body clock refers to the time of day or the day of the week at which your audience will be listening to the speech, which effects how much time you have to give your speech and how much effort must be put into it (Fraleigh 123). For instance, if you are giving your speech on a Monday, the audience will most likely be tired from the weekend, so it would be a good idea to ask the audience questions or add humor to the speech to increase their attentiveness. The same goes if the speech is given at the start or end of the day when the audience is tired, or when it is close to lunchtime and they are more focused on their hunger instead of your speech. Our classroom audience is set at a good time, as it is not near lunchtime or at the beginning or end of the day, so the audience will be alert. However, it is the first class of the day for some of the audience members, so in order to grab their attention, it would be smart to include some humor and have a positive attitude to not only grab their attention and increase the chances of them retaining the information in the speech, but to also give their day a good start!

The location of the speech is also an important factor that will impact a speech. The location is the setting in which the speaker will be giving the speech, and the location also determines how loud or soft the speaker should speak and if the speaker will need visual or audio aids (Fraleigh 125). For instance, in a small classroom, the speaker would not have to talk too loud and could do without a microphone or speaker, however, this wouldn’t apply to someone who is giving a speak in a large auditorium, where sound doesn’t travel very far without the help of such audio aids. Our classroom is fairly long, so in order for sound to travel to the furthest side of the room, the speaker will have to speak loudly and clearly so that those who sit in the back will be able to hear. Otherwise, those who sit in the back will not hear or retain any information given, and the speaker would have failed in delivering their speech to the whole class. In addition to the situational characteristics, demographics also affect the audience’s reception of a speech. Demographics refer to defining characteristics of an audience, and they too have a major impact on how an audience will perceive a speech.

One such demographic is the age of the audience. The age of the audience members can greatly affect how they respond to the speaker’s message and if they are able to understand it (Fraleigh 128). For instance, a group of elementary schoolers wouldn’t be interested in hearing about retirement plans, in the same way that a group of retirees wouldn’t care much about a speech based on how to save money in college. However, if the speech is tailored in such a way that it can appeal to them, they’ll be more attentive and actually gain knowledge from the speech. For example, if the same elementary schoolers were told how to introduce their grandparents to retirement plans, or if the same group of retirees were told how to teach their grandchildren how to save money in college, the audiences will be more likely to retain the information and pass it on to others. Luckily for us, our classroom audience is about the same age, give or take a few years, so the information given by the speaker will pertain to us and will be valuable information. However, in the case that there are people who are much older or much younger, it would be wise to only include references that they can understand, or tailor the references in a way that they will understand.

Another demographic that will impact a speech is the gender of the audience. Although it may come off as sexist, some ideas tend the resonate better with one gender than they do with the other, which should be noted by the speaker (Fraleigh 130). For instance, in the automotive marketing world, it was noted that females were more interested in the “safety and reliability features” of a vehicle, whereas the males were more interested in the “high-performance and turbocharged engines” of the same vehicle (Fraleigh 130). This goes to show that some topics of the same main idea will tend to resonate better with a specific gender. In our classroom audience, we have a mixed gender composition, so it would be best to bring in ideas that will tailor to both genders and have a strong impact on the audience.

However, it would also be wise not to generalize any one of the genders, as that may offend the audience and cause them to not pay attention to the rest of the speech. The race and ethnicity of an audience is another important demographic to keep in mind when a speaker is giving their speech. Race, which is a common heritage based on genetics and shared physical characteristics of people in a group, effect how the audience responds to the speaker’s message, even more so if the message involves racial issues which are sensitive (Fraleigh 132). For instance, if a speaker were to give a speech regarding the police’s negative treatment of black people all across the country to an audience of predominately black people, it would be more affective and would resonate more with the audience.

Ethnicity, which is a cultural background usually associated with shared religion, national origin, and language, also effects how an audience responds to a speech because it can shape beliefs, attitudes, and values of the audience members, and it is very important to not generalize the audience purely based on their ethnicity (Fraleigh 132). For instance, if a speaker were to refer to an audience as an ethnicity which they did not identify as, it would cause the audience to be offended and they would not pay much attention to the speech. In our classroom audience, there are a variety of different races and ethnicities, so it is important not to generalize any one race or ethnicity in order to avoid offending someone. It is also important to not misidentify our classroom audience to avoid any confusion or hate towards the speaker.

In conclusion, an audience analysis includes situational characteristics such as the size of the audience, the time at which the speech is taking place, and the location of the speech, and demographics such as the age, gender, and race and ethnicity of the audience. Situational characteristics and demographics can be analyzed before a speaker delivers the speech, so they can be easy to identify and used to tailor the speech to increase the audience’s chances of retaining the information. It is important for a speaker to take note of these things before delivering a speech in order to deliver it effectively and without any problems. It is also important not to mistakenly offend the audience, or else they will not pay attention to the speech or retain anything from it.