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The demographics of the audience give the speaker one type of picture based on variables such as age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, culture, race, and ethnicity; however, there is another equally important picture based on the overall psychological makeup of the audience or the psychographics of the audience.
Psychographics can be used to describe and develop a profile of the individuals in a given audience. Speakers can also use psychographics to select an audience that meets a certain profile and tailor a message specifically to that profile.
Psychology is the study of human behavior and mental processes. The speaker can look at the psychology of the individual audience members to determine how they might respond as a group to their ideas. The speaker wants to look at the current state of values, beliefs, attitudes, and needs and not consider how the person developed them.
What is the current disposition of the audience toward the speech's topic and purpose? If the speaker is attempting to persuade the audience to accept a particular idea or take action, it is important to understand the starting point.
What are the audience's dominant values, beliefs, attitudes, and needs? The speaker must know how to use that knowledge to tailor the speech to the audience. Consider values, beliefs, attitudes, and needs as factors in the psychological makeup of the audience.
Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person's sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be.
EXAMPLE
"Equal rights for all," "Excellence deserves admiration," and "People should be treated with respect and dignity" are statements of values. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior.EXAMPLE
Someone who values equal rights for all goes to work for an organization that treats its managers much better than its workers. They may form the attitude that the company is an unfair workplace; consequently, this person may not produce well or may leave the company. If the company had a more egalitarian policy, their attitude and behaviors would have been more positive.Something that the speaker perceives as good may not be perceived as very good by audience members. Something that the speaker perceives as beautiful may not appear the same to the audience. A course of action that the speaker believes is right may not be endorsed by the audience. It is important to consider what the audience values as part of the overall psychological makeup of the audience.
The speaker should consider how close the audience's beliefs in something or someone or about the world, both physical and spiritual, are to their own beliefs.
Members of the audience may believe that certain things exist or certain ideas are true. The speaker should attempt to identify and build upon shared beliefs to get the audience to consider or accept a particular belief that may differ from the one they hold.
The speaker can often build upon shared beliefs to establish common ground with the audience before advancing a new idea.
Attitudes can play a significant role in speech preparation. An attitude is a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, events, activities, ideas, or anything in the environment.
If the speaker knows the audience's attitude toward the topic or thesis before the speech, they can make sure to address these attitudes during the speech preparation.
Some ways to find out the audience's attitude beforehand include rating scales or direct statements from audience members.
If members of the audience need certain things either physically or psychologically, the speaker should consider how to satisfy those needs.
One classical breakdown of needs is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If the speaker understands where the audience members are on Maslow's hierarchy, they can show how their ideas help the audience satisfy those needs.
National opinion polls are conducted regularly to report on the favorability of celebrities and politicians.
IN CONTEXT
In 2012, regular reports were created based on changes in favorable and unfavorable ratings for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Pollsters used surveys to sample the nation to determine how people rated the candidates on several different questions and reported the favorability of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama as it changed based on the survey results.
You may not be a prominent speaker or politician who is the focus of opinion polls, but your audience is likely to have an opinion about you prior to the speech. Quintilian, a classical rhetorician, insists that the speaker is "a good man speaking well." The speaker should strive to be a morally and ethically good man or woman and strive to be viewed by others as such.
When preparing your speech, consider how your audience might rate you. Do you need to do "damage" control or repair your reputation before or while you are speaking? What is your favorability rating with your audience? How many thumbs up would you get from your audience?
You will also notice that opinion pollsters report on the attitudes of large groups of people about different topics of national interest.
EXAMPLE
Consider Congress or particular pieces of legislation, such as health care. Does Congress have a high favorability rating? What is the favorability rating for the Health Care Act? The overall favorability rating may be good nationally and better in some regions than others but particularly bad among members of the Republican Party in Congress.If you are speaking about a currently popular topic with the media, you are likely to find different opinion polls to assist you.
If your topic is more local and personal, you may want to collect your own data. You can conduct a simple survey with rating scales to find out exactly how your audience views the topic or thesis for your speech. You might also want to informally data mine by checking your followers or friends who may be similar to your audience; how many "likes" are expressed?
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