How to Understand the Audience in Persuasive Speaking

In order to have a successful persuasive speech, you must understand your audience first. So how do you understand the audience in persuasive speaking? There are several tasks you must accomplish first before you can persuade anyone of anything.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pen
• Paper
• Survey
• Practice

How to Understand the Audience in Persuasive Speaking

1. Capture the audience's attention by finding a subject that you are passionate about. Once you have done this you are then able to begin the process of understanding your audience.

2. Take note of the audience’s body language. Body language can inform you whether or not your audience is indifferent to the subject at hand, outraged, or even objectionable. If members of the audience begin to put their head down on the table, it is commonly due to lack of interest. However, if members of the audience begin to ask questions, it shows interest. You can tell if the speaker agress with what you’re saying by the tone and scope of the question. If you find that a speaker uses a loud voice to represent his thoughts and excessive hand motions, you may have an outraged individual on your hands.

3. Provide additional writing materials to capture audience’s questions and observations. The audience will appreciate the gesture and be sure to leave original and honest feedback.

4. Create a survey on your topic and have the audience fill them out prior to the presentation. This will allow you to view their thoughts and opinions on the subject before hand. You can also use this time to create answers to possible questions that may arise.

Resources

• http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Persuasive-Speech