LISTENING WHEN YOU ARE IN THE AUDIENCE
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When you’re an audience member, listening not only helps you retain the speaker’s message but also enables you to provide the speaker with an informed speech critique—written or oral feedback offered after a presentation. Critiquing is an essential component of public speaking classes because it helps speakers learn from their experiences. Your instructor will likely specify what you should cover in a critique. The following can give you additional guidance:
- Take notes. While listening to a presentation, jot down your thoughts about the speaker’s delivery and message. By recording your impressions as you form them, you’ll be able to access your thoughts when it comes time to offer your critique.
- Identify main points. As you take notes, begin to distinguish the speaker’s main points—the two or three most important ideas the speaker wants you to remember (often called “takeaways” or the “take-home message”). Most speakers preview their main points in the introduction, signal them in the body with transitions, and restate them during the conclusion.
- Consider the speech’s objectives. To provide constructive criticism—feedback a speaker can use to improve his or her skills—strive to understand what the presenter is trying to accomplish. Identify the speech’s general rhetorical purpose—to inform, persuade, or mark a special occasion—as well as its specific purpose. Next, evaluate how well the speaker achieves his or her goal.
- Support your feedback with examples. Instead of offering overly general comments (“good eye contact” or “work on your organization”), be sure to provide specific details (“You made eye contact with people on every side of the room” or “You had a good preview, but I found the organization of your main points difficult to follow”). Specific comments help speakers know which behaviors to do more of during their next speech and which to avoid.
- Be ethical. Be courteous in your critique, and treat the speaker the same way you hope and expect to be treated when it’s your turn to receive feedback. During the speech, avoid prejudging the speaker or topic, and think critically about the message you’re hearing. Finally, make sure you hold the speaker accountable for his or her words. If you are offended by or disagree with something in the speech, tell the person while providing your critique. Do so courteously, however, and avoid making your comment sound like a personal attack. Explain why you disagree, and offer examples.