address the audiences’ concerns, pitch the speech at the right level and avoid offending the
audience. A good speech helps the speaker to connect to the audience, and is more likely to get
the audience’s attention, reach their hearts and produce the intended effect.
It is of course not always possible to collect comprehensive data about the target audience,
particularly when they are heterogeneous, but it pays if the speaker is conscious of the need
and makes an effort to do so.
The tactics therefore are to “customize your talk every time you give it. Each audience is
different and has different needs and expectations” (Templeton, 2010, p. 22). “Your job as a
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speaker is not to put on a perfect show, but to reach each person one by one”, as "audiences
are made up of individuals who want to be reached"
(cited in Rowh, 2009).
Task 3
Analysing a speech
Audience is undoubtedly a core element which determines the style of a speech. However, the
importance of other elements should not be downplayed. The SPAM model introduced below
alerts you to other variables that affect the style of a speech.
The SPAM model of public speaking
SPAM
is an acronym for the standard public speaking model:
Situation, Purpose, Audience,
and Method
. Consider all four factors when you are writing up your speech.
Situation
is the time and place where you deliver your speech. It includes the physical, social,
psychological, and time element in which communication takes place.
Purpose
is the goal the speaker hopes to achieve with his or her speech.
Audience
refers to the people to whom the speech is directed.
Method
is the speaker’s means of adapting the message to the audience. Method includes the
speaker’s tools and strategies, such as organization, language, and mood.
(Adapted from
Rozakis, 1999
)
It has been suggested that
Nick Vujicic
is one of the best motivational speakers in recent years.
Despite his major physical disabilities, Nick has made many world tours inspiring people with his
own thoughts on faith, hope and love and helping people overcome their own challenges and
difficulties. Now watch the video (URL:
).
(For the whole speech, you can refer to:
)
What is your general opinion or overall comment about the speech(es) given by Nick? Do you
agree with what he said? Do you find his speech(es) convincing? [
You can focus on a variety of
aspects e.g. the content, structure/organization, complexity of language of the speeches, the
use of vocabulary, body language, delivery style, audience awareness of the speakers, etc.
]
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2018-19
Task 4 Awareness of the audience and speech types
As stated in the previous tasks, the success of a speech is very much contingent on how close
the audience perceives the speech is related to them. In other words, matching the audience’s
expectation of a speech is an important key to success.
