Deck 5: Audience Analysis

Question 1

Public speaking is an activity that is:

A) academically-centered.
B) audience-centered.
C) delivery-centered.
D) information-centered.
E) research-centered.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Students should choose a topic that:

A) is already very familiar to the audience.
B) is interesting both to them and the audience.
C) they already know a great deal about.
D) will be simple enough for any audience.
E) will surprise and titillate the audience.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

You should adapt your speech to audience needs.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

People's beliefs, attitudes, and values are elements of ________________ information.

Question 5

A good audience analysis will contain ____________ information.

Question 6

Stereotyping is the tendency to assume that the members of groups are all the same.

Question 7

The term "frame of reference" refers to a:

A) person's individual outlook as influenced by his or her unique life experience.
B) speaker's research strategies, including specific reference materials.
C) standard way of understanding things in an academic or professional field.
D) strategy for identifying the right audience for a particular speech.
E) written code to which you can refer in order to decide your topic and approach.

Question 8

A person's _____________________ is influenced by her or his unique life experiences.

Question 9

Psychographic information refers to:

A) a person's degree of willingness to consider alternative points of view.
B) beliefs, attitudes, values, and opinions that might be difficult to predict.
C) descriptive information about social realities that impact mental health.
D) perceptions about what topics are considered "fit for discussion."
E) statistics concerning patterns of community mental health.

Question 10

Controversial topics:

A) are inappropriate topics because there is no universal agreement.
B) are inappropriate topics because they are too boring.
C) are too dangerous and difficult for student speeches.
D) often confront people's fundamental beliefs and values.
E) should be left to the experts.

Question 11

Public speaking is an idea-centered activity.

Question 12

Audience analysis gathers information about the audience in order to:

A) decide how to get them to agree with you.
B) figure out how to impress them with your perspectives.
C) find a topic that will be entirely new to them.
D) learn something deeply personal about them.
E) understand their needs, values, and expectations.

Question 13

Diversity refers to:

A) beliefs and superstitions that conflict with modern scientific standards.
B) factors of difference, including race, sexual orientation, religion, and wealth.
C) groups that are unable to conform to American patterns of behavior.
D) groups that do not conform to the American model of society.
E) respect for people who are disadvantaged through no fault of their own.

Question 14

_______________ is the tendency to assume that all members of a given culture or social group are alike.

Question 15

Controversial topics are to be avoided at all costs.

Question 16

Demographic information refers to:

A) characteristics such as income, social influence, and prestige.
B) the degree to which the audience will agree with the views expressed by a speaker.
C) measures such as gender, age range, marital status, race, and ethnicity.
D) religious, educational, and political affiliations.
E) whether or not the audience members are citizens in good standing.

Question 17

Respecting your audience means:

A) avoiding comments that offend, exclude, or trivialize them or their values.
B) being aware that they want to express their beliefs as much as you do.
C) knowing that they are teachable, and challenging them to learn.
D) making a statement that specifically expresses your respect.
E) trusting them to understand and agree with your message.

Question 18

The perception that a speaker is honest and trustworthy is:

A) adaptation.
B) convergence.
C) credibility.
D) persuasion.
E) sensitivity.

Question 19

Credibility is not important as long as the facts in the speech are accurate.

Question 20

The perception that a speaker is honest, knowledgeable, and trustworthy is _______________.

Question 21

What is credibility, and how is it created?

Question 22

When you prepare an audience analysis, you should try to:

A) find out whether they would be willing to pay to hear your speech.
B) ignore responses that don't make sense or are irrelevant to your topic.
C) learn what the audience already knows or believes about your topic.
D) make sure all survey questions are neutral and non-threatening.
E) quote something from the responses at least once during your speech.

Question 23

Demographic analysis is concerned with:

A) culture, education, gender, age, occupation, and the like.
B) generational groups, such as boomers, Xers, and so on.
C) the pattern of political opinions in a particular region.
D) patterns of relocation of families from one region to another.
E) perceived occupational and pay equity between the sexes.

Question 24

What is a controversial topic?

Question 25

Why is audience diversity a consideration in topic selection?

Question 26

What kinds of information do we seek when gathering demographic information?

Question 27

Psychographic information addresses how intellectually talented audience members are.

Question 28

How do we show respect for the audience?

Question 29

To what does the term "diversity" refer, and why is it important?

Question 30

Demographic information usually reveals deeply personal information about audience members.

Question 31

Why should we conduct an audience analysis?

Question 32

When you speak to an audience that is cognitively complex, you must:

A) acknowledge the complexity of the topic but state you will focus on one dimension.
B) apologize for dragging them through all the definitions and extended explanations.
C) find a new, unique way to express the concepts and facts while still being accurate.
D) give listeners an opportunity to leave if they already know a lot about your topic.
E) make sure that your topic is sufficiently complex that listeners won't get bored.

Question 33

If you are called upon to deliver bad news in a speech, you should:

A) be honest and give accurate, concrete information.
B) downplay the seriousness and consequences of the bad news event.
C) emphasize the seriousness of the news and instruct listeners to stay calm.
D) promise that you will answer their questions after the speech.
E) tell everyone to remain calm and remain calm yourself.

Question 34

Cultural differences within an audience mean that:

A) some audience members will be unable to understand concepts.
B) some audience members will not listen to a female speaker.
C) the speaker should emphasize the views of the dominant culture.
D) speakers should share the same cultural origins as the audience.
E) there is no general sharing of values, assumptions and beliefs.

Question 35

Religion is included in demographic analysis because:

A) if there is a wide range of religious believers, religious topics must be avoided.
B) listeners might have widely varied religious values, beliefs, and attitudes.
C) the speaker must focus his or her remarks toward Christians in the audience.
D) the speaker must focus his or her remarks toward non-Christians in the audience.
E) you should not try to present a scientific topic to devout religious followers.

Question 36

The purpose of psychographic analysis is to:

A) decide how simple you must make your presentation aids.
B) judge the level of language they will be able to understand.
C) know how formal your presentation is expected to be.
D) predict the probability of heckling and psychotic behavior.
E) understand audience beliefs, attitudes, values, and opinions.

Question 37

Gender is an important consideration because:

A) gender is a topic that appeals to men more than to women.
B) married and unmarried women have very different outlooks.
C) men will understand facts and women will understand concepts.
D) women have a different cultural experience from that of men.
E) women should be the speakers to audiences that are mainly women.

Question 38

Situational analysis is concerned with such things as:

A) current social realities like immigration and the economy.
B) voluntariness of the audience, occasion, and audience size.
C) whether or not your speech will treat audience members fairly.
D) your motivations behind your choice of your topic.
E) your speech's position on a list of many presentations.

Question 39

The age range in an audience is also an important consideration because:

A) as a speaker, you must decide who to address and who to ignore.
B) audience members prefer to listen to speakers of their own age group.
C) elderly people with hearing loss might not get much out of the speech.
D) people of different ages have experienced different world events.
E) you must paraphrase your remarks to accommodate each age grouping.

Question 40

What do we mean when we say that speakers jointly create meaning with audiences?

Question 41

Information about an audience's attitudes and opinions is called ________________ analysis.

Question 42

Why should you consider preexisting notions about your topic? Use an example.

Question 43

Daniel has been asked to complete a survey. What role in the survey process has Daniel taken on?

A) subject
B) audience member
C) respondent
D) source
E) feedback provider

Question 44

What does the physical setting of a speech have to do with your preparation?

Question 45

A ____________ audience is an audience required to be present at a speech.

Question 46

What kind of information are you seeking in a psychographic analysis?

Question 47

Penelope is sitting in a small circle with six other people who are responding to questions asked by a researcher. What is Penelope participating in?

A) direct observation
B) existing data
C) a focus group
D) an interview
E) a survey

Question 48

You should prepare to entertain the captive audience.

Question 49

Which of the following is NOT a strategy for using interviews and surveys?

A) make sure the questions directly relate to your speech topic.
B) create and use a standard set of questions.
C) avoid telling respondents the real purpose of your interview or survey.
D) keep interviews and surveys short.
E) don't rely on just a few respondents.

Question 50

Explain what psychographic analysis is and why it's important to a speaker.

Question 51

Jose wants to determine if students in his class take effective notes as an attempt to determine if note taking would be a good speech topic. What form of audience analysis is Jose conducting?

A) direct observation
B) existing data
C) a focus group
D) an interview
E) a survey

Question 52

A ______________ expresses one's judgment of what is desirable and undesirable, right and wrong, or good and evil.

Question 53

What is a one-on-one exchange in which you ask questions of a respondent?

A) direct observation
B) existing data
C) focus group
D) interview
E) survey

Question 54

Why does a listener's education matter to a speaker?

Question 55

The "melting pot" metaphor misrepresents the American culture.

Question 56

Audience size is a consideration in _____________ analysis.

Question 57

Demographic information helps a speaker better serve the needs and interests of the audience.

Question 58

Tika is preparing for a speech. As part of her audience analysis, she asks her potential audience members to go online and answer a series of written questions with multiple-choice answers. What have Tika's potential audience members completed?

A) direct observation
B) existing data
C) a focus group
D) an interview
E) a survey

Question 59

Why is culture an important element of audience analysis?

Question 60

Differences in cultural experiences and ________ can be attributed to gender difference.

Question 61

Using preexisting data about an audience is not appropriate for an audience analysis.

Question 62

People are sometimes less than honest in describing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

Question 63

If you use information from the US Census Bureau to learn more about your possible audience members, what type of audience analysis technique have you utilized?

A) direct observation
B) existing data
C) a focus group
D) an interview
E) a survey

Question 64

Explain how focus groups can help a researcher learn about her or his potential audience.

Question 65

Which of the following is NOT a benefit of conducting surveys discussed in the text?

A) you can conduct surveys online.
B) you can conduct surveys over the telephone.
C) you must manually tabulate your results.
D) it increases respondents' willingness to answer personal questions.
E) it increases respondents' willingness to answer/participate.

Question 66

A ___________ is someone who responds to a survey, questionnaire, interview, or focus group.

Question 67

Explain how existing data can help a researcher learn about her or his potential audience.

Question 68

You've been asked to work on the senatorial campaign for a politician. One of your tasks is conducting an audience analysis for an upcoming speech on jobs. What method of audience analysis would you think is the most useful given this speaking context?

Question 69

__________ __________ occurs when someone intentionally portrays herself or himself in a favorable light.

Question 70

It's ok to "ad lib" when conducting an interview.

Question 71

_________ __________ __________ occurs when people are less than honest in describing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

Question 72

Which of the five ways for conducting audience analyses discussed in this chapter do you think is the most useful? Why?

Question 73

According to the text, which of the following is NOT a factor of a good audience analysis?

A) preparation
B) processing
C) systemization
D) thought
E) time

Question 74

Explain how direct observation can help a researcher learn about her or his potential audience.

Question 75

Explain how surveys can help a researcher learn about her or his potential audience.

Question 76

Explain how interviews can help a researcher learn about her or his potential audience.

Question 77

Careful interpretation is not necessary as long as you are observing nonverbal patterns of behavior.

Question 78

Using material from someone else's research about your audience is referred to as using _________ ________.

Question 79

Focus group researchers should never start with a prepared list of questions.

Question 80

__________-__________ __________ occurs when someone exaggerates her or his good qualities, often unconsciously.