Academic Connections, International

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What to do when you cannot do audience analysis research?

       It’s probably good to say at the beginning that it is a great benefit to be able do audience analysis research. It can help you better relate to your audience (pathos), shows you have the intelligence to speak to them in a way where they can identify what it is you are speaking about that interests them and meets real and felt needs that they likely have (logos), and your sensivity to getting their wave length may also convey you’re sincerity and good will (ethos).

     Ceteris paribus we’d expect the greatest communication results when those things mesh.  

     However, having the best situation possible is not always the case. So, of the three things we mention, probably the thing you'd likely not have in a situation would be the ability to relate to your audience on their level (pathos), and your stronger suits would likely be first, ethos--you ethical appeal and logos--the intelligence you display in your presentation.  Your introduction in those situation by a gifted MC is critical in bridging those gaps. For instance, if you have an earned doctorate in a field that relates direclty to the content of your talk, being introduced as such can help you establish "logos" at the start of your talk instead having to earn it (so to speak) once you got some ways into the content.  

     I remember speaking after dinner to the actives of a fraternity at the University of Kansas on the topic of "Why Couples Break Up." To my surprise it seemed the whole house came in great hall to hear what I had to say. A colleague of mine who what I would call the gift of relating to others introduced me to the group in such a way I immediately felt accepted by the members. He explained my background as a fraternity member at the University of Missouri and a former scholarship athlete in a way that transferred their respect for him to some extent to me. The bottom line, that only got my foot into the door a little more than if it was "cold turkey" and I trusted God to use the content of my talk, my experiences with breaking up and wanting better, and the bridge I made between the reasons given for why couples break up and how the gospel of Jesus Christ could make a difference for them.  The "results" of the meeting were extraordinarly positive.