A fundamental challenge that all public speakers face is getting and keeping the attention of audiences. Because audiences absorb large amounts of talk with little chance of taking the floor, the potential for inattentiveness and boredom is significant. In conversational interchanges, the brief duration of speaking turns and regular transfers of…

This article describes an exercise that involves providing students with a basic understanding and demonstration of audience adaptation and then asking them to practice and evaluate the skill. In this exercise the instructor begins by providing students with background on analyzing and adapting to audiences. Then the instructor collects several…

A case can be made for teachers to use audience-oriented teaching strategies that encourage children to write for a wide range of readers. Even so, questions remain about how writers, especially student writers, actually learn to consider an audience of readers when they write. Research suggests that a developmental trend exists in which children…

This paper presents six original in-class activities for audience analysis and adaptation before, during, and after a speech presentation in a basic public speaking course. The activities in the paper combine audience information surveys, demographic traits, situational traits, adaptation strategies, adjustment to audience feedback, and self…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to constructing and delivering speeches in the English language for a variety…