CHAPTER 5:

Demographic Analysis:
the study of observable characteristics in groups of people. In any audience, you will notice traits
that group members share. You should determine your listener's general age, gender, education,
group membership, and cultural and ethnic background.

Age:
Even if your listeners are very different from you, you can still engage them by recognizing what
captures their attention. In this way, you are using audience analysis to make your message more
effective.

Gender:
Is your audience predominantly male or female, or is the group made up of both genders? Do
your listeners maintain traditional gender roles, or do their life experiences push them toward
different orientations? First, it seemed that date rape might be seen as inappropriate for a male
speaker. Second, Ted wondered how he could interest both the male and female members of his
class in the subject. Ted decided first to convince his listeners that date rape is not an issue that
affects only women. Everyone should be concerned. To reveal the extent of the problem, Ted
presented statistics showing the rising number of date rapes. Then, he told the story of a good
friend who had been raped by another student who offered to walk her back to her apartment
after a party. Using a personal example, Ted convinced his classmates that even he as a male was
legitimately concerned about the problem--and that they should be concerned, too. Ted's
awareness of gender as a demographic variable allowed him to identify with his audience
effectively.

Education:
How much do your listeners already know about your subject? Do their formal and informal
experiences allow them to bring knowledge to your speech? Obviously, people who have worked
with a particular software program, for example, will learn its new features more quickly than
people who have not, and will be ready for more advanced advice on how to use it. Knowing the
educational background of your audience can guide your language, supporting material, and
organizational pattern.

Group Membership:
 Do your listeners belong to groups that represent special attitudes or identifiable values? Are
they part of a formal organization, such as a church, chamber of commerce, or scouting group, or
have they spontaneously come together? Can the cultural climate of the organization?
you pick out common traditions or practices within the organization? What is People you'll be
talking to join social networking sites, church groups, online fan and chat sites, support groups,
websites for quilt makers and rock climbers, professional organizations such as the Public
Relations Student Society of America, hobby clubs, and workout gyms—the list seems endless.
We come together to share common interests and values, to express feelings, and to accomplish
personal goals.

Cultural and ethnic background:

Do members of your audience represent identifiable cultural groups? Do your listeners share a
special heritage? More and more, the United States is becoming a multiracial, multicultural
society. Currently, over 25 percent of all Americans identity themselves as multiracial, and that
number is expected to grow rapidly in the next ten years. Strong cultural heritages may bear on
your speechmaking experience in two ways:
(1) familial-cultural backgrounds can affect the kinds of evidence and arguments you use, and
(2) you might find it helpful to deal specifically with your own relationships with people of
varied cultural-ethnic origins
Relationally, he also reminded his listeners that he'd spent time over the past few years working
on health problems in the reservation and he'd always taken their needs seriously. Because of
these understandings, Brad was permitted to set up an immunization program, and was thanked
for his work.?

Psychological Analysis:
Careful psychological analysis of your audience may provide clues about how they think. This is
especially important when your general speaking purpose is to inform or to persuade. Before you
can hope to increase understanding, alter their thoughts, or prompt action, you need to know
what ideas your listeners already hold. To analyze your audience psychologically, you can use
psychological profiling. That is, you identify what your listeners already think and feel, much as
you would discover their demographic characteristics. Beliefs, attitudes, and values are the key
concepts in discussing the psychology of listeners and their relationships to you and what you're
advocating. After we have examined each of these concepts, we'll discuss ways in which you can
use them to tailor your message and relationship to your listeners.
Attitudes:
The second goal of psychological profiling is to identify audience attitudes. Attitudes are
tendencies to respond positively or negatively to people, objects, or ideas. Attitudes express our
individual preferences and feelings, such as "I like my public speaking class," "Hip-hop music is
better than country music," and "Prague is a beautiful city." In other words, they are emotionally
weighted. Attitudes often summarize our personal reactions to our beliefs about the world (see
Table 5.1). So, you must consider the dominant attitudes of your listeners. Audiences may have
attitudes toward you, your speech subject, and your speech purpose. Your listeners may think
you know a lot about your topic, and they may be interested in learning more. This is an ideal
situation. If, however, they think you're not very credible, you must deal with their attitudes. For
example, if you fell your listeners that they can earn extra money in their spare time by selling
unused items on eBay, they may have several reactions. The thought of extra income is enticing,
but they might be reluctant to devote much time to this project. You'll have to show them that the
time will be worth it-confront the negative thinking! Their attitudes toward the speech topic,
purpose, and you will undoubtedly influence their final decision.

Values:
the third component of psychological profiling is understanding audience val-Jes. Values are the
basic concepts organizing one's orientation to life. They underlie an individual's particular
attitudes and beliefs. For many Americans, life, freedom, family, and honesty are basic values.
These are deeply ingrained and enduring; as a result, they are very resistant to change. Imagine
trying to convince a friend to renounce his or her citizenship. No matter how noble your cause,
you will likely meet with powerful resistance, because you are attacking a fundamental value.
Values are more basic than beliefs or attitudes. They serve as the foundations from which beliefs
and attitudes may spring (see Figure 5.1). For example, a person may hold the value "Human life
is sacred." That value can be expressed in multiple attitudes, such as "Capital punishment is
wrong" or "Mercy killing is immoral." That value may also be expressed in beliefs, such as "A
fetus is a human being," "Most Americans are opposed to war," or "Religious authority ought to
be respected on questions of morality.