Page 169 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

136 Part 2 Between Audience and Speaker

There’s a better than
even chance that the
student seated next
to you comes from a
different background
than you do.

Today, “The nation’s diversity increased dramatically over the past decade. . . .
There is nearly a 1 in 2 chance that two people selected at random are racially
4
or ethnically different.” We see this increasing diversity daily in the classes we
teach, and it is in these classes that our students present their speeches.
Recently, for example, one of us taught a public speaking class whose mem-
bers resembled a small United Nations assembly. There were 15 men and 9
women, although statistically most classes at our university have more women
than men. While the median age was about 20, one class member was almost
50, and another was in his 30s. Five students were from Japan. One was from
Indonesia, and two others were from Malaysia. Another student was from the
former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan. One native-born American student was
of Chinese origin, and another traced her ancestry to the Philippines. A num-
ber of students were hard-core science majors, while others were pursuing mu-
sic, public relations, and graphic design. Hobbies ranged from scuba diving and
fi shing to origami and batik. Although this class’s diversity was more dramatic
than most, we think it is a preview of a not too distant future.
Once you have recognized and accepted the fact that the people in your au-
dience are not clones of each other, you need to learn about and adapt to their
diversity. Three levels of audience diversity are depicted for you in Exhibit 6.1.
We begin at the most general level, looking at the cultures to which members
of your audience belong. Then we look at some differences in what are termed
demographics—differences such as age, sex and gender, and ethnicity. Finally,
demographics
we look at your audience members as individuals. The more you can learn about
Basic and vital data re-
your audience at each level, the better you can predict their response to your
garding any population.
speech.