MODUL: AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

Written by Elsa Krisanti, Ph.D. Only for

Communication Skill Classes at FTUI

Audience Analysis 1
 AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

Describe an audience by

• identifying audience characteristics

• assessing its objectives and needs
• planning for sub-groups within audience

Audience Analysis 2
 Conducting the audience analysis
Formal Audience Analysis

• conduct surveys
• use structured interviews
• gather questioners

Informal Audience Analysis

• talking with people who will read now and then.
• reading notes, reports and other publications

Audience Analysis 3
 Audience Characteristics
Seven classes of people

• Family
• Friends
• Fellow-travellers
• Fence-sitters
• Foes
• Fools
• Fanatics

Audience Analysis 4
 Audience Characteristics
• important characteristic of the audience
– educational and professional background
– English-language ability
– knowledge and experience levels
– reading situations

Audience Analysis 5
 Audience Objectives and Needs

• Objectives will reflect what the audience wants to do

after reading a document or attending a seminar.

• Needs will indicate questions the audience will have

that document should answer. Eventhough readers
may not even know they will ask that questions, the
writer must anticipate them.

Audience Analysis 6
 Diverse Audience
To satisfy a diverse audience’s needs
addressing both different experience levels and different goals.

Use the audience

characteristics, audience profile
objectives, and needs
No one type of audience wants to hear all
you know about the subject. They expect you
to select
Audience Analysis 7
Identifying audience’s questions and needs

“WHY” approach: to convert ill-defined situations

 into definitions of the “real” problem

• Diverge (generalize)
– to make the situation more general

• Converge (narrower option)

– To make the situation more specific

Audience Analysis 8
Example 1: Use “why” and “why don’t”
questions
Scenario:
• You have had a hectic day at the office. You have to rush off
to the airport to meet your boss who is coming in on the
14:00 flight from Singapore. She is flying out on the 15:30
flight to Sydney. However, in between flights she wants to
meet with you to over the results of meeting in Singapore,
to give you the computer disk for the new design program
that you are to run tomorrow, and to pick up from you the
computer disk of a CADCAM program that she promised to
take to our client in Sydney. Indeed, that’s the main reason
she is making the Sydney trip.
• You put the disk and the client files form both Singapore and
Sydney in your briefcase, get in your car and head toward
the airport with one hour to spare. (The trip to the airport
is 60-minute trip and you left for the airport at 12:00).
Audience Analysis 9
 Cont….
• On the way to the airport you notice the wayside park
with small creek. You decide to turn off and relax by
having a short walk trip in the park. After you have walked
for about 40 minutes, you return to your car. You left
important things in the locked car, including the keys.
What do you do? It is now about 13:10 you have a 30
minutes trip to get to the airport.
• Lets assume that our initial statement “what do you do?”
is interpreted to be “How might I get to the airport?”.
Note:
• Use “Why” questions to broadens the problem definition
and “Why don’t you do it” to narrow it. Write the result
and share it with the class.

Audience Analysis 10
 Use “why” to broaden the problem
HOW MIGHT I GET TO THE AIRPORT?

So I can meet my boss Why should I meet my boss?

So I can hand the material Why should I hand the material to my boss and
to my boss, and receive receive the material and talk to my boss?
something from her.

So I can ensure my boss to Why should I ensure my boss to keep the clients
keep the client happy happy?
So I can do something for Why should I do all of this for the company?
the company
So I can get a salary Why should I get a salary increase?
increase
So I can get happiness and
bliss.
Audience Analysis 11
 Use “why don’t” to narrow the problem

How might I get to the airport?

Why do I have to get to the airport?
I should meet my boss there Why don’t you do it?

I can not drive the car to the Why don’t you get to the car and drive it to the
airport airport
I can not open the car door Why don’t you open the door?

The key is left inside the car Why don’t you find a gadget to lift the lock?
and it is locked.
I can not find any gadget, I Why don’t you try to find spare key in your wallet
should use the spare key or pocket?
Key is left at home, it will Why don’t you try to break the window shield?
take some time to go back
home.
So I should break the
window shield. Audience Analysis 12
 Activity 2: Audience analysis
You are a Chemical Engineer who works in a Polymer Plant.
This plant consists of several units which produce raw
polymers material and polymer pipes. As a senior
engineer you have been working in most all units in this
plant. Few days ago you are appointed by the top-level
manager to give an oral presentation to several groups of
people. You are conducting audience analysis to prepare
the speech. What questions or concerns do you think
would be most pertinent to each ...
Audience Analysis 13
 Activity 2: Audience analysis
1. Group of people who live close by the plant and
also group of people from local government
employees?
2. Group of people who are very concern on
environmental issues, Non-Government Agencies
(NGO) and also people from the Ministry of
Environmental Affair.
3. Group of production managers, R&D managers
and future buyers.
4. Group of chemical engineering students and
university lecturers who are in their excursion.
Note:
Have a group discussion of 4-5 people. Write the
characteristics, needsAudience
andAnalysis
objectives of the audience.14
 Characteristics, objectives and needs of
audience
Audience Characteristics Objectives = want to Needs = questions to
do afterward be answered
Group 1 Low to middle So they can keep the Will the presence of
educational environment clean the plant endanger
background, and healthy. their lives?
- - -
- - -
Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Audience Analysis 15
 Activity 3: Audience analysis
• You are preparing an oral presentation on topics on
“crude palm oil (CPO) *“ with audience from

1. Group of people who live close by and work in the palm

plantation,
2. Group of people who work in the crude palm oil
manufacturers
3. Group of high school students and teachers who are in
their excursion to CPO plant.
4. Group of people from local government employees and
journalist who has interest in CPO plant.

* Minyak kelapa sawit

Audience Analysis 16
 Summary
• The analysis of the audience is the most critical
task we have in developing effective
communication

• When we have a communication task we need to

ask:
– Who is the audience?
– What questions does the audience have about the
subject that I should answer?
– What action do I want the audience to take because of
my communication?
Audience Analysis 17