Assess the Speech Setting and Context

As important as analyzing the audience is assessing (and then preparing for) the setting in which you will give your speech—size of audience; location; time; length of speech; and rhetorical situation:

  1. Where will the speech take place?
  2. How long am I expected to speak?
  3. How many people will attend?
  4. Will I need a microphone?
  5. How will any equipment I plan to use in my speech, such as an LCD projector, function in the space?
  6. Where will I stand or sit in relation to the audience?
  7. Will I be able to interact with the listeners?
  8. Who else will be speaking?
  9. Are there special events or circumstances of concern to my audience that I should acknowledge (the rhetorical situation)?