Apathetic Audiences

  I paid particular attention to the section in our chapter about speaking to an apathetic audience because I think that is one of the most common audience types to encounter. It is an especially common audience type to encounter as a student, because in classes you are often required to give presentations to the other students in your class who could probably care less about the subject matter of your speech. Forging the link between yourself as a speaker and an apathetic audience can be challenging, but the reading offered helpful advice toward achieving that end. The first thing the book said is to gain their attention and pique their interest, which is generally a good idea when beginning any speech to any type of audience. I think that the second tip of showing how your topic affects your audience specifically is probably the most useful. It can be hard in a mixed demographic audience, but if you can find a commonality or universal reason why they should find an interest in your topic then you really need to emphasize that point to them after you have gained their interest.

  It also stood out to me that the book said when giving a persuasive speech to an apathetic audience you should take a one-sided approach to the topic. You still have to be fair when presenting the information, but in this type of speech it said you need not address all perspectives on the issue. If you follow those tips as well as gaining credibility, showing that you care about the topic, and using some form of presentation media, you should be successful in creating a good speech.