Audience Analysis

Persuasive Speech: Lowering the Legal Drinking Age to 18

Proposition: parents should teach their children how to drink early on!
Specific Purposes:
a. This will change the youths mentally on why to drink.
b. This will take away the idea of drinking to abuse is cool.
c. This will in turn lower the number of injuries, casualties, abusive drinking drop
because the mentality of why you drink will change.
d. Therefore lawmakers will see that young adults are making better decision
and can handle alcohol at a young age and will be willing to lower the
drinking age.
Analysis of Occasion:
a. Reason for Occasion: Com 202, Public Speaking Class.
b. Prevailing Rules: Assigned speeches of persuasion, 8-10 minutes long with a
question and answer period afterward. Must use at least six different, primary
printed sources, and two visual aids. Very important to cite credible evidence
to support my arguments.
c. Precedents and Consequences: Four speakers each day; all topics must be
fully arguable; personal opinion needs to be supported with studies, data,
quotes from experts, etc. there has not been a speech on this topic yet, and
from my survey, the audience know a good amount about the legal drinking
age and the violations of this law; thus I will go over briefly what the general
information on the topic of the drinking age laws and violations.
d. Physical Environment: Large classroom with rectangular tables and many
comfortable chairs, whiteboard, podium, and screen in front; room is usually
cool; relatively little disturbance, thought we an hear the class next door.
Analysis of Audience
a. Demographics:
1. Size: 19 students
2. Age: average 20.3 years old
3. Sex: Males = 11, Female = 8
4. Socio-economic: Middle = 9, Upper Middle = 8, Upper = 2
5. Political: Republican (1), In The Middle (1), Moderate (2), Liberal (5),
Independent (4), Nil (1), N/A (2), Democrat (2), Conservative (1)
b. Knowledge of Subject
1. The entire audience knows about the legal drinking age and all have
admitted to take part in underage drinking.
c. Beliefs, Attitudes and Values:
1. Most of the audience has taken part in underage drinking
2. Most student owned or own a fake ID
3. One student had an alcoholic beverage after the age of 18
d. Attitudes towards Subject:
1. Most of the audience was indifferent to the idea of lowering the
drinking age to 18.

2. Most students agreed with the idea that the US should change the law
of drinking t o18 like most countries.
Proposed Adaptation to Audience and Occasion:
a. Must make them care more about the topic because they dont feel very
strongly that this is a law that must be changed. This is why I must give a
different reason and prove that its works comparing it to Panamanian culture.
b. Must make sure not to sound like a hypocrite when talking about underage
drinking because I do so personally