Informative presentations serve one of two functions. One function is to raise awareness about a topic for listeners (Rowan, 2003). For instance, suppose you’re the treasurer of a youth soccer league. At monthly meetings, you might give a routine financial report on the costs of running the league. Since board members are already familiar with these costs, your presentation simply functions to keep them up to date.

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A second and different function for informative speeches is to provide an in-depth explanation of a topic (Rowan, 2003). Imagine that the soccer league received a large monetary donation. In this case, you’d probably prepare a presentation that gives board members detailed information about the gift—such as options for spending the money or investing it.

As you prepare an informative talk, ask yourself, Do I just want to raise my listeners’ awareness about a topic? Or should I provide a deeper explanation so that they can better understand the issue? Your answer will depend on what you discover about your listeners’ information needs during your audience analysis. As Chapter 13 explains, an audience analysis is the process of identifying important characteristics about your listeners, and using this information to prepare your speech. Understanding your listeners’ prior knowledge about the topic and other characteristics about them—such as their demographics and their attitudes, beliefs, and values—will help you determine your specific purpose.