Adapting to Your Audience’s Expectations

Listeners’ cultural background, age, values, and other characteristics all affect how they perceive a special occasion and what they expect from a speech delivered during that occasion. For example, a community of Christian Arab immigrants living in Chicago would likely want to attend a church funeral service after one of their community members died. Moreover, they probably would expect a mostly religious service with only a brief discussion of the deceased, including comments focused on how he or she cared about the community and shared its traditions. At a community dinner in honor of the deceased later in the day, speakers may share more personal stories.

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On the other hand, an audience of amateur comedians might expect a fun and lighthearted presentation at a roast for a fellow entertainer, with speakers revealing funny stories about the individual being roasted. At this kind of event, it would run against audience expectations to bring up painful events from the person’s childhood and thus bring an overly serious turn to the proceedings.

The lesson? Before giving any special-occasion speech, be sure you’re familiar with your audience’s expectations regarding what should be said during the speech and how it should be said.