Listeners and Speakers

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CHAPTER 4

What would it be like to give a speech that no one heard? Merely posing this question points to the central role of listeners in a speech. In fact, all successful communication is two-way, including that of public speaking. Listeners and speakers are interdependent: As speakers, we need an audience, and as listeners, we need someone to whom we can listen. But the relationship between speaking and listening goes deeper than this. Connecting with audience members requires that we know what they care about, which in turn necessitates our taking the time to learn about, or listen to, them. We do this by analyzing the audience before preparing the speech (see Chapter 6), and by being responsive to listeners during it.

As a listener, connecting with a speaker also takes focus. We can decide to tune out the speaker and ignore the message, uncritically accept or hypercritically reject whatever is said, or bring our full attention and critical faculties to bear. Thus it is listener and speaker together who truly make a speech possible.