Sunday, April 22, 2012
Understanding How to Reach Your Audience Effectively
Of the five common audience types discussed in this weeks reading, I think a negative or a divided audience would be the most difficult to deliver a successful persuasive speech to. With a negative audience a speaker would need to be extremely prepared, having done their research in depth on both sides of the issue. In order for a negative audience to even hear what they speaker has to say, he or she would need to establish credibility and find common ground quickly. If a negative audience does not view the speaker as being credible, they will not only not listen, but it will reinforce their position on the opposing side of the issue. In addition to being credible, the best way to get someone who opposes your position to be open enough to be persuaded is to find a common ground and build on it. With a divided audience, both of these points are still a must, however you have to be more aware and careful not to alienate either side.
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I agree with you, having an audience that is negative to the topic that you are presenting is not only going to be hard to win over because of their opposition, but it is also going to be hard on the nerves and stressful knowing what one is up against. Finding the common ground will at the very beginning of the speech will definitely get the audience to lower the wall that they put up even before you start speaking. Getting the audience to agree with you in the first part of your speech will create a good impression that will hopefully last until the end.
ReplyDeleteI think that apathetic listeners might rank right up there with the other two in regards to difficulty but in a different manner. Especially for a group of people that are already informed about the subject but to just not care it could be difficult presenting the material in a manner that will get their attention. I think that probably the best approach to doing this would be to present the subject manner in such a way as to show relevancy to this particular audience. By showing them that the subject actually affects them might get them to show interest in having an opinion about it.
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