102.23 23. IDENTIFYING AUDIENCE DISPOSITION

The way your listeners feel about your topic influences whether they will embrace or reject your appeals. Persuasion scholar Herbert Simon defines four audience types and suggests reasoning and organization strategies for each.

AUDIENCE TYPE

POSSIBLE PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES


Hostile or strongly disagreeable

  • Address opposing viewpoints with the refutation pattern.

  • Emphasize points of agreement.

  • Use inductive reasoning.

  • Seek only a minor change in audience attitude.

  • If you must ask your audience to do something, hold off until the very end of your speech.


Skeptical or conflicted

  • Address opposing viewpoints with the refutation pattern.

  • Present strong arguments supported by unbiased evidence.


Receptive

  • Consider a narrative organization.

  • Reinforce audience sympathies with emotional appeals.

  • Stress commonality with the audience.

  • Clearly offer a call to action.


Uninformed or apathetic

  • Capture the audience’s attention.

  • Emphasize the topic’s relevance to the audience.

  • Emphasize speaker credibility.