ADAPTING TO YOUR AUDIENCE VERBALLY

GROUP 5

Presenter: Tran Thi Ngan Giang

Adapting to Your Audience Verbally

Relevance

Your first challenge will be to adapt your speech so the audience sees its relevance to them.

Listeners pay attention to and are interested in ideas that have a personal impact (when they can answer the question, What does this have to do with me?); they are bored when they don’t see how the speech relates to them.

You can help the audience perceive your speech as relevant by including supporting material that is timely, proximate, and has a personal impact.

Some termsAudience adaptation: the process of customizing your

speech material to your specific audience.Relevance: adapting the information in the speech so that

audience members view it as important to them.Timely: showing how information is useful now or in the

near future.

Establish timelinessListeners are more likely to be interested in information

they perceive as timely —they want to know how they can use the information now.

Establish proximityYour listeners are more likely to be interested in

information that has proximity, a relationship to their personal “space.”

Psychologically, we pay more attention to information that is related to our “territory”—to us, our family, our neighborhood, or our city, state, or country.

As you review the supporting material you collect for your speech, look for statistics and examples that have proximity for your audience.

Demonstrate personal impactWhen you present information that can have a serious

physical, economic, or psycho-logical impact on audience members, they are more likely to be interested in what you have to say.

As you prepare your speech, incorporate ideas that create personal impact for your audience.

For example: In a speech about toxic waste, you might show a serious physical impact by providing statistics on the effects of toxic waste on the health of people in your state.

Common Ground

Presenter: Ngọc Cẩm

Each person in the audience is unique, with differing knowledge, attitudes, philosophies,

experiences, and ways of perceiving the world.

Yet when you speak, you will be giving one message to that diverse group.

Common ground is the background, knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and philosophies that are shared by audience members

and the speaker.

How can you establish common ground in your speech?

Use personal pronouns

The simplest way to establish common ground between yourself and the members of your

audience is to use personal pronouns

We us our

E.G in a speech given to an audience whose members are known to be sympathetic to legislation limiting violence in children’s programming on TV,

notice the different effects of using an unspecific noun and a personal pronoun:

• I know that most people are worried about the effects that violence on TV is having on young children.

• I know that most of us worry about the effects that violence on TV is having on young children.

By using us instead of most people, the speaker includes the audience members, and this gives them a stake in listening to what

is to follow.

Ask rhetorical questions

A rhetorical question is one whose answer is obvious to audience members and to which they are not really expected to reply.

• Rhetorical questions create common ground by alluding to information that is shared by audience members and the speaker.

• They are often used in speech introductions but can also be effective as transitions and in other parts of the speech.

E.G Notice how this transition, phrased as a rhetorical question, creates common ground:

When you have watched a particularly violent TV program, have you ever asked yourself “Did they really need to be this graphic to make the point”?

Rhetorical questions are meant to have only one answer that highlights similarities between audience members and leads them to

be more interested in the content that follows.

Draw from common experiences

You can also develop common ground by sharing personal experiences, examples, and illustrations that embody what

you and the audience have in common.

E.G In a speech about the effects of television violence, you might allude to a common viewing experience:

Remember how sometimes at a key moment when you’re watching a really frightening scene in a movie, you may quickly shut your eyes? I vividly remember slamming my eyes shut over and over again during the scariest scenes in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Blair Witch Project, and Halloween.

To create material that draws on common experiences, you must first analyze how you and your audience members are similar in the exposure you have had to the topic or in other areas that you can

then relate to your topic.

Speaker CredibilityPresenter: Huu Loc

• Credibility is the confidence that an audience places in the truthfulness of what a speaker says.

• Most of us, even if we are given a formal introduction to acquaint the audience with our credentials and character—will still need to adapt our remarks to build audience confidence in the truthfulness of what we are saying.

Three adaptation techniques can affect how credible we are perceived to be: 1) demonstrating knowledge and expertise2) establishing trustworthiness3) displaying personableness.

Demonstrate knowledge and expertise

• When listeners perceive that you are a knowledgeable expert, they will perceive you as credible.

• You can demonstrate your knowledge and expertise through direct and indirect means.

• You directly establish expertise when you disclose your experiences with your topic including formal education, special study, demonstrated skill, and your track record.

• Audience members will also assess your expertise through indirect means, such as how prepared you seem and how much firsthand involvement you demonstrate through personal examples and illustrations.

• Similarly, when your ideas are developed through specifi c statistics, high-quality examples, illustrations, and personal experiences, audience members are likely to view you as credible.

Establish trustworthiness

• Your trustworthiness is the extent to which the audience members believe that what you say is accurate, true, and in their best interests.

• The more your audience sees you as trustworthy, the more credible you will be.

• As you plan your speech, you need to consider how to demonstrate your character: that you are honest, industrious, dependable, and a morally strong person.

• How trustworthy you appear to be will also depend on how the audience views your motives.

• If people believe that what you are saying is self-serving rather than in their interests, they will be suspicious and view you as less trustworthy. Early in your speech, then, it is important to show how

audience members will benefi t from what you are saying.

Display personableness

We have more confidence in people we like. Personableness is the extent to which you project an agreeable or pleasing personality. The more your listeners like you, the more likely they are to believe what you tell them.

Besides dressing in a way that is appropriate for the audience and occasion, you can also demonstrate personableness by using appropriate humor.

Information Comprehension and Retention

Presenter: Minh Sang

Appeal to diverse learning styles• A learning style is a person’s preferred way of receiving information.

• You should present your ideas in ways that make it easy for all audience members to understand remember what you are saying.

• Kolb’s (1984) cycle of learning cycle of learning conceptualizes learning style preferences along four dimensions: feeling, watching, thinking, and doing. Because your audience is likely to have people with a diversity of learning styles, you will want to adapt your ideas so that they can be understood and remembered by people who prefer different styles

Appeal to diverse learning styles

Adapt your speech in ways that address all four dimensions

Appeal to diverse learning styles• To address the feeling (concrete experience) dimension, you can offer personal stories or examples that appeal to the senses and emotions

• To address the watching (reflective observation) dimension, you should include visual materials to reinforce important points.

• To address the thinking (abstract conceptualization) dimension, you should support your ideas with

detailed definitions, explanations, facts, and statistics.

• To address the doing (active experimentation) dimension, you can identify ways that the audience can become personally involved in doing something related to your ideas

Orient the audience with internal reviews

• Listeners who are confused or have forgotten previous information from your speech lose interest in what is being said

If your speech is more than a couple of minutes long, you can use internal reviews to remind and orient your audience

• Internal review to summarize the first phase and to preview phase two

Choose specific and familiar language• Words can have many meanings, so you want to make sure your listeners understand the meaning you intend using specific language and choosing familiar terms.

• For example, saying “a banged-up Honda Civic” is more specific than “a car.”

• Narrowing the meaning encourages your listeners to picture the same thing you are

• Choosing specific language is one way to make sure your listeners understand the

precise meaning you intend.

Choose specific and familiar language• Using familiar terms is just as important as using specific words.

• Avoid jargon and slang unless you define them clearly the first time you use them and they are central to your speech goal.

• For example, you should avoid using these jargons while making your speech :

1. BTW - By the way

2. LOL - Laugh out loud

……

Use vivid language and examples• Because listeners cannot reread what you have said, you must speak in ways that help them remember your message.

Using sensory language that appeals to the senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling.

• Sensory language and examples help audience members understand and remember abstract, complex, and novel material.

• A vivid example can help us understand a complicated concept.

Compare unknown ideas with familiar ones• Compare your new ideas with ones the audience already understands.

• For example : if you wanted an audience of 18- to 24-year-olds to feel the excitement that was generated when telegrams were first introduced, you might compare it to the public response when cell phones became widely available.

ADAPTING TO CULTURAL DIFFERENCESPRESENTER: DINH QUOC MINH DANG

ADAPTING TO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

When you address an audience composed of people from ethnic and language groups different from your own, you should make three adaptations: being understandable when you are speaking in your second language showing respect by choosing bias-free language creating common ground by choosing culturally appropriate supporting material

WORK TO BE UNDERSTOOD WHEN SPEAKING IN YOUR SECOND LANGUAGE

When you are speaking in a second language, you have an additional responsibility to make your speech as understandable as possible.

You can help your audience by speaking more slowly and articulating as clearly as you can. By slowing your speaking rate, you give yourself additional time to pronounce difficult sounds and choose words whose meanings you know. You also give your audience members additional time to adjust their ears so that they can more easily process what you are saying.

You can also use visual aids to reinforce key terms and concepts as you move through you speech. Doing so assures listeners that they’ve heard you correctly.

WORK TO BE UNDERSTOOD WHEN SPEAKING IN YOUR SECOND LANGUAGE

One of the best ways to improve when you are giving a speech in a second language is to practice the speech in front of friends and associates who are native speakers.

Ask them to take note of words and phrases that you mispronounce or misuse. Then they can work with you to correct the pronunciation or to choose other words that better express your idea.

The more you practice speaking the language, the more comfortable you will become with the language and with your ability to relate to the audience members.

CHOOSE NONOFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

Some words, phrases and references may be offensive to some cultural groups. When you use these in a speech, you are being disrespectful of the feelings of your audience. Respectful language choices are those that will not offend any of your listeners.

Disrespectful language includes expressions that some people perceive as sexist, racist, demeaning, insulting, or offensive. Any words, examples, or stories that belittle a person or a group of people based on their race, sex, religion, age, class, education, or occupation are disrespectful.

CHOOSE NONOFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

Profane or vulgar language can also offend some audience members and should be avoided in a public address.

Although casual swearing—profanity injected into regular conversation—occurs more today than in the past, research has shown that people who pepper their formal speeches with it are often perceived as abrasive, as well as lacking in character and emotional control.

CHOOSE NONOFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

Respectful language is also gender neutral and avoids stereotypes. Firefighter rather than fireman, server rather than waitress, and flight attendant

rather than stewardess are examples of bias-free language choices.

CHOOSE NONOFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

You will also want to avoid offensive examples and stories. Dirty jokes and racist, sexist, or other -ist examples show your disregard for the feelings of some of your audience members and are likely to turn off not only those who you are demeaning but also other members of the audience.

CHOOSE CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE SUPPORTING MATERIAL

Much of your success in adapting to the audience hinges on establishing common ground and drawing on common experiences.

When you are speaking to audiences who are vastly different from you, you should learn as much as you can about their culture so that you can develop the material in a way that is meaningful to them. This may mean conducting additional library research to find statistics and examples that are meaningful to the audience. Or it may require you to elaborate on ideas that would be self-explanatory in your own culture.