Audience Analysis (Part - B)

Analysing Individuals and Members of Audience:

In order to communicate effectively the communicator should have information about the audience:

1. How much the audience knows about the topic, i.e., their knowledge.
2. Demographic factors, i.e.,age, income, number of children, etc.
3. Personality.
4. Values and beliefs.
5. Past behavior.

• Knowledge: The Communicator should be very tactful and careful about the knowledge of the audience.

           Sometimes people in the same organisation do not have upto date knowledge. Most of the time you do not exactly know what your audience knows. However if u told the readers before, they may not remember the old information when they read the new message. In such a situation, the speaker should be very tactful and careful. 

He Should :

1. Preface the statement with such an expression "As you know..."
2. Space out acronyms, the 1st time he uses them e.g., University Grants Commission instead of U.G.C.
3. Give brief definitions e.g., work culture - performing the assigned duty with a sense of devotion.
4. Put the information  the readers are expected to know in a subordinate clause e.g., "Since the college has not functioned for the scheduled days..."

• Demographic Factors: 

Demographic factors should be measured objectively before approaching the audience.
Demographic factors are measurable features that can be counted objectively i.e.,  age, sex, race, religion, educational level, income and so on. Normally these demographic information is not much relevant, but with regard to specific messages it becomes very important. For example, age normally does not matter. But, if you are explaining a change in your company's pension scheme, you would expect older workers to be more concerned than the younger ones. Again, if the message concerns the latest models of air-conditioned cars, people of low income group would be much interested in it. Big business organizations get demographic data by surveying their customers, clients and donors.

• Personality: 

Personality of the dominating individual(s) of the audience should be properly judged. Following are the desired examples:

1. If the audience is an introvert person (a person who likes to be alone and gets energy from within), write a memo/ letter and let him/ her think before responding because written message will give him/her time to think through a proposal activity.
2. If the audience is an extrovert person (a person who likes to interact with other people), try out the idea in an informal setting.
3. If the audience is sensing type individual (who gathers information step by step through his/ her senses), present the proposal through systematic reasoning.
4. If the audience is intuitive type individual (who sees relationship among ideas and omits the logical steps while arriving at conclusions), present him/ her the overall or big picture first and stress the innovative and creative aspects of the proposal.
5. If the audience is thinking type person (who uses logic to reach the decisions), use logic not emotional appeal.
6. If the audience is feeling type individual (a person who trust their feelings than logic), show that the proposal meets the emotional needs of the people as well as profit needs of the organization.

• Values and benefits:

Before designing the message, values and beliefs of the audience are to be  considered. The writer/ speaker should design the message in such a manner that it does not hurt the values and belief system of the audience. Otherwise, the message is likely to provoke reaction and will defeat the purpose of the communication. Therefore, the speaker/ writer should carefully analyze the values and beliefs of the audience.

• Past Behavior:

Past behavior of the audiences shows a lot about their preferences. How people have behaved in the past often predicts how they will behave in future. Examining the records of the purchases of customers in the past, one can understand how they are going to spend their money.