Topic Selection and Audience Analysis

Question 1

In order to select an appropriate topic for you and your audience:

Answer 1

a) Brainstorming
b) Surveying your interest
c) Assessing your knowledge of the topic
d) Committing to the topic
e) Considering the age of the topic and of the audience
f) Determining your topics’ importance to the audience

Question 2

a) Brainstorming

Answer 2

• creative procedure for thinking of as many topics as you can in a limited time.

Question 3

b) Surveying your interest

Answer 3

• consider the following:
  => What you like best & least
  => What causes take up your time & energy
  => What particular issues bother you personally that you bring to the attention of others.

Question 4

c) assessing your knowledge of the topic

Answer 4

• determining what you and your audience know about the chosen topic.

Question 5

d) committing to the topic

Answer 5

• measure how much time and effort you put into a cause
• passion and concern about the topic

Question 6

e) considering the age of the topic and of the audience

Answer 6

• be careful what topic to discuss in front of your audience
• look for topics that aren’t too old which might bore the audience and topics that match the age of the audience.

Question 7

f) determining your topics’ importance to your audience

Answer 7

1) stick to vital topics
2) beware of overused topics
3) do not demonstrate with visual resources that are banned on campus.

Question 8

Practice Narrowing your Topic

Answer 8

1- Concept Mapping
2- Broad to Abstract ( take a broad and even abstract category, and list as many smaller topics as you can)
3- Specific to Concrete
4- Previous Successful Topics

Question 9

How to know when your topic is narrow enough

Answer 9

a- consider the amount of information available about it
b- consider the amount of information you can convey within the time limits of speech.
c- consider whether you can discuss the topic in enough depth to keep your audience members interested.

Question 10

1- Concept Mapping:

Answer 10

• From the general topic go into subtopics.
• then check the specific areas in each subtopic

=> concept mapping helps with seeing important dimensions of a particular topic area as well as connections between several dimensions of the topic.

Question 11

Analyzing your Audience

Answer 11

=> audience analysis is the collection and interpretation of audience information obtained by:
- observation
- inferences
- research
- questionnaires

Question 12

1- Active observation:

Question 13

2- Inferences:

Answer 13

• a tentative generalization based on observation
• a tentative generalization based on deliberately gathered data

Question 14

3- Research your audience

Answer 14

• best inside information is from the -person who invited you to speak

Question 15

4- Questionnaires:

Answer 15

a) finding demographic characteristics
b) finding attitudes, beliefs, and values.

*Questionnaire: a set of written questions developed to obtain demographic and attitudinal information

Question 16

• Demographic analysis:

Answer 16

• the collection and interpretation of data about the characteristics of people.

Question 17

Attitude:

Answer 17

• (Way of thinking or feeling with regards to something)
• a pre disposition to respond favorably, or unfavorably to a person, an object, an idea, or an event.

Question 18

A Belief:

Answer 18

• (Idea that is accepted as true without facts)
• a conviction, often thought to be more enduring than an attitude and less enduring than a value.
  -(lasting over a period of time)
  -(firmly held opinion)

Question 19

A Value:

Answer 19

• (person’s own set of principles which are considered of great importance)
• a deeply noted belief that governs our attitude about something.

Question 20

• Adapting to the Audience:

Answer 20

1) adapting yourself
2) adapting your language
3) adapting your topic
4) adapting your purpose & goal

Question 21

4) adapting your purpose & goal (adapting to the audience section):

Answer 21

1) Immediate purpose: in the moment what should your audience be able to do or understand?

revealing the purpose from your audience’s POV

2) Long-range goal: the larger goal or end you have in mind for your presentation.