Module 1: Audience Analysis

Name:

Directions: This worksheet is designed to be used as a workbook. You will read and learn about
the information while also answering questions to learn the info better and to demonstrate your
knowledge. Questions for you to answer are marked in bold. When answering them, use
complete sentences and be sure that your answer fits the word count recommended by the
prompt. Academic grammar and punctuation should be used. Choose a readable color other
than black to write your answers. The worksheet questions are worth a total of 20 points and
each question indicates its own point total.

Section 1: What makes a “good” speech?

• Audience-based (the speech is for the audience, not the speaker)
• Relevant (the speech provides the audience with useful and/or interesting info)
• Attention-grabbing (the speech gives the audience a specific, direct reason to
listen)
• Creative (the speech includes creative, fun, and/or unexpected elements)
• Intellectually stimulating (the speech provides new, interesting information)
• Memorable (the speech stands out in a memorable way)
• Authentic (the speech showcases the speaker’s
personality while also adapting to the needs of the
specific communication situation)
QUESTION 1 (2 points): Using [Link], find an example of an informative speech
and copy/paste the link to it. This doesn’t have to be a student delivering a speech;
this could be a how-to video or some other informative (not persuasive) video. Then,
discuss the quality of the speech. How audience-based, relevant, attention-grabbing,
creative, intellectually stimulating, memorable, and/or authentic was the speech and
why?

Link: [Link]

Quality of Speech (40-80 words): Its a speech to show us how to make people listeen to you
when speaking, which a lot of people want to happen when they give a speech. it grabs
attention by him calling the things not to do in a speech "deadly Sins". he also used very
uniqe photos and makes jokes during his speech to make it both creative and attention
getting

QUESTION 2 (7 points): Choose one of the following speech topics and explain what you
would do to make the speech audience-based, relevant, attention-grabbing, creative,
intellectually stimulating, memorable, and authentic. Assume that your classmates are the
audience.
Speech Topic Options: Halloween, bread baking, artificial intelligence, sleep, weather
Topic You Chose: Halloween
How to Make It Audience-Based: what popular costumes are out this year
How to Make It Relevant: talk about diffrent holloween traditions
How to Make It Attention-Grabbing:
How to Make It Creative: diffrent cheap decorations that look good
How to Make It Intellectually Stimulating: how the origins of hollowen
How to Make It Memorable:
How to Make It Authentic: old traditions tha are still used today

Section 2: What is audience analysis and how do we use it?

Audience Analysis: using information about the audience to craft a speech message that is
meaningful to that specific audience and speaking situation.
STEP 1: Determine the situational characteristics of the speech.
• Type: speaking to inform, persuade, or entertain
• Size: size of the audience, size of the space
• Time: length of the speech, time of day, schedule of the event
• Location: room, setting, environment
• Mobility: movement of the audience (seated, standing, walking)

STEP 2: Determine what type of audience you likely will have.

• Pedestrian Audience: no obvious connection to the speaker or to one another (example:
shoppers walks past a kiosk at the shopping mall)
• Passive Audience: motivation to listen to the speech is low (example: students who are
bored in math class)
• Selected Audience: share an interest in the speech, but may not agree on the topic
(example: attendees at a political event)
• Organized Audience: devoted to the speaker and the message of the speech (example:
members of a religious organization)
• Captive Audience: required to be present during the speech (example: high school
students at a pep assembly)
STEP 3: Determine the audience demographics/additional useful info and figure out how the
information helps you to craft the speech.
AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS: measurable characteristics of an audience that can help the
speaker to make decisions about how to cater the speech to the audience

(Somewhat) Observable:
Age
Gender
Race & Ethnicity

Requires Surveying:
Cultural Background
Religious Orientation
Income Level
Education/Occupation
Political Affiliation
Ability
Sexuality

To collect audience demographic info:

• Surveying the audience can help you to gather useful information!
• Ask questions related to measurable demographics.
• Questions can be multiple-choice, scaled, open-ended.
• Multiple-choice: one question and audience members select their answer from a
list of choices
• Scaled: one question and audience members select their answer based on a scale
(i.e “on a scale from 1-10,” or “high vs low”)
• Open-ended: one question that begins with either who, what, when, where, why,
how and audience members write their unique answers

STEP 4: Use what you know about your audience and the speech situation to select a topic,
determine how to explain the topic, and strategize how to gain and maintain the audience’s
attention.

Be prepared to answer these questions while using audience analysis to begin crafting the
speech:
- What topic might the audience like to know more about?
-Has the audience heard this message before?
-How new is this information for the audience?
-How might the audience react to this message? Positively? Negatively?
-How will you explain the topic?
-How will you make sure that you generate audience interest in your topic?
QUESTION 3 (2 points): Explain how you would need to adapt your speaking style to
accommodate each of the following speech scenarios based on their situational
characteristics (see Step 1 of the audience analysis process, listed above, for more
info).

Scenario 1: Speaking to a group of 3 people versus 300 people

How the speaker’s style would need to differ: generalize toyr speech more
since more people means more walks of life

Scenario 2: Delivering a five-minute-long speech versus a two-hour-long speech

How the speaker’s style would need to differ: a good night sleep and eat a
meal before hand

Scenario 3: Delivering a speech in a large auditorium versus virtually on Zoom

How the speaker’s style would need to differ: need to speak louder and
cleared in an atrium to carry your voice

Scenario 4: Speaking to a group of people as they walk past versus speaking to an

audience that is seated and looking at the speaker

How the speaker’s style would need to differ: need to use more attention
grabers to catch peoples attention when they walk on the street

QUESTION 4 (1 point): Think about the five different types of audiences listed for Step 2
of the audience analysis process (pedestrian, passive, selected, organized, captive) and use
critical thinking skills to determine which audience is likely to be the most difficult to speak
to and explain why. Hint: think about what you have learned about the importance of
audience analysis. (30-60 words)

QUESTION 5 (3 point): When using audience demographics (described in Step 3 of the

audience analysis process, listed above), we make generalizations about groups based on
things they have in common. Your audience is mainly comprised of college students. Give
three examples of ways in which this information is helpful to you. How might this help you
to select a topic, determine how to explain the topic, and/or generate audience interest. Be
specific!

Example 1: low money, can use ways to spend less money as a attention grabers

Example 2: studing for classes, giving tips for study and notetaking will make it more
audience focused

Example 3:
QUESTION 6 (3 points): Find a video clip of a television commercial. Provide a link to the
video and describe three audience demographics you think the marketing team who
created the commercial had in mind while determining their target audience.

Link to Commercial: [Link]

Demographic: small children

Why you think this is a main demographic of the target audience: when children
see the commercial they would want their parents ro buy the product

Demographic: teachers

Why you think this is a main demographic of the target audience: it can help hids
on how to draw shapes and make art

Demographic:

Why you think this is a main demographic of the target audience:

QUESTION 7 (2 points): Choose one of the following speech topics and write one multiple-
choice, one scaled, and one open-ended question that you could use to gage your audience’s
knowledge of and interest in the topic. See Step 3 of the audience analysis process for more
info about collecting audience demographic info.
Speech Topic Options: Halloween, bread baking, artificial intelligence, sleep, weather
Topic You Chose: Sleep

Multiple-Choice Question: how well rested do you feel in the morning

Scaled Question: how many hours do you sleep on average

Open-Ended Question: what do you do to get a good night sleep