Test Unit 4 - Considering the Audience

Hua will be presenting before a community group on school safety. What should be her first step?

• Finding out about the audience and the event
• Writing the speech
• Researching the speech

In audience analysis, three methods used to gather information before you speak are:

• Interviewing attendees, physical feedback, and post-presentation surveys
• Observation, inference, and data collection (surveys)
• Visual observation, physical feedback, and non-verbal communication

Audience analysis is the process of gathering information about an expected audience, used to help a public speaker adapt the content of a speech. How do demographic and inference data differ in regards to audience analysis?

• Demographics and inferences are synonyms. They both mean the same thing.
• Demographic data is information about characteristics of a population whereas inferences are a type of “educated guess” made from observations or research.
• Demographics are subjective information about a group or population whereas inferences are a type of data collected from unbiased sources.

Kahlil was invited to lead a workshop on photography with an afterschool youth program. The organizer of the event tells him: "they're great kids! They get distracted easily, though, so it's good to keep things moving. I think all of them know how to use a camera already." What kind of audience information is this?

• Survey results
• Second-hand observation
• First-hand observation

Which of the following is NOT usually collected as demographic data?

• Race or ethnicity
• Highest educational level reached
• Occupational goals

Amal, who is majoring in philosophy, is giving a speech to his class about why philosophy isn't a waste of time. He has the class fill out a survey and finds out that many of his classmates are majoring in business and marketing. How might this information shape the organization of his speech?

• He can use philosophical argumentation to prove to his classmates that the business world is immoral unless one has a philosophical viewpoint.
• He can start with the questions one might encounter in the business world, then show how philosophy can help resolve these questions.
• He can ignore this information and focus on the fact that they're all there for the same reason: to learn public speaking.

Adapting your speech as you are presenting it is not easy. However, it is doable if...

• You are observant of your audience, pay attention to their cues, and have a plan in place.
• You stick to your notes and do not diverge from your outline.
• You stop speaking and restart your speech from the beginning.

To improve their presentation skills, a speaker should pay attention to audience feedback. When and how does the audience give feedback to the speaker?

• Before the speech, through surveys and questionnaires.
• Feedback is usually kept from the speaker to avoid hurting their feelings.
• Both during and after the speech, through verbal and nonverbal communication.

When considering diversity within audiences it is important to remember:

• To research the geography of the venue’s location.
• To make a point to use individuals in the audience as a reference when discussing examples of race, ethnicity, gender identity, or culture.
• That diversity is not always visible.

Joao is telling a story about something that happened in his Intercultural Communication course. His younger brother asks "What's intercultural communication?" How might Joao reply?

• "Intercultural communication is talking to someone who lives far away using the internet or the telephone."
• "Intercultural communication happens when people with different backgrounds or experiences communicate."
• "Intercultural communication means talking to someone who speaks another language, often with a translator."