Week 2 — Readings & Resources · Listening & Audience Analysis

Course: Public Speaking — Fundamentals of Oral Communication (COMM 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Marchetti
Objective covered: Objective 2 — Apply effective listening strategies and conduct a thorough audience analysis to adapt messages to a specific audience.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing to download, nothing to buy.

This week's load is light: one short video + two short readings, grouped by the lecture topics. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll find the Workshop much easier. Total time is roughly 35–45 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Order that matches the lecture: ① listening: what it is, why it's hard → ② audience analysis: the three categories and how to adapt.

A habit to continue from Week 1: notice the moves in everything you read and watch — how does the author or speaker adapt to you as a reader/viewer? What choices did they make about vocabulary, examples, and structure?

① Listening: Hearing vs. Listening, Types, and Barriers

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–4. Listening is an active, multi-stage process — receiving, attending, understanding, responding, remembering — and it can break down at every stage. This chapter covers why it's hard and what the different types of listening are for.

Reading — "The Importance of Listening" (Stand up, Speak out, Ch. 4)
🔗 https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Stand_up_Speak_out_-_The_Practice_and_Ethics_of_Public_Speaking/04%3A_The_Importance_of_Listening
Why it's assigned: covers the hearing-vs.-listening distinction (4.2), listening styles (4.3), why listening is difficult (4.4), the stages of listening (4.5), and critical listening (4.6) — exactly what we built in class. Read the sections that map to the quiz concepts you want to solidify.
⏱ ~15 min (all sections) or ~6 min (4.2 + 4.5 alone for the quiz essentials)

Video — "5 ways to listen better" (Julian Treasure, TED 2011)
🔗 https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better
Why it earns the click: in under 8 minutes, sound expert Julian Treasure makes the case that we're losing our ability to listen — and gives five concrete exercises to rebuild it. Watch it twice: once for the content, and once as a delivery study. How does Treasure use his voice to make you lean in?
⏱ ~8 min

② Audience Analysis: The Three Categories and Adapting

Maps to Lecture Segments 5–7. Audience analysis is the pre-speech research that makes audience-centered speaking possible — demographic (who they are), psychographic (what they believe and value), and situational (the setting and occasion).

Reading — "Audience Analysis" (Stand up, Speak out, Ch. 5)
🔗 https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Stand_up_Speak_out_-_The_Practice_and_Ethics_of_Public_Speaking/05%3A_Audience_Analysis
Why it's assigned: covers why audience analysis matters (5.2), the three types (5.3), how to conduct it (5.4), and how to use it during the speech itself (5.5). Section 5.3 is the highest priority for this week's quiz and assignment.
⏱ ~15 min (all sections) or ~6 min (5.2 + 5.3 alone for the quiz essentials)

Optional deep-dive (free online)

• More on audience analysis — the ethics angle. Section 5.2 of Ch. 5 includes a note on the ethical obligations in audience analysis: understanding diversity, avoiding stereotypes, and respecting individual differences within a group. Worth reading if the "audience analysis vs. stereotyping" distinction feels fuzzy.
  🔗 https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Stand_up_Speak_out_-_The_Practice_and_Ethics_of_Public_Speaking/05%3A_Audience_Analysis/5.02%3A_Why_Conduct_an_Audience_Analysis

Pick-one quick path (≈16 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Read sections 4.2 and 4.5 of "The Importance of Listening" (Ch. 4) — hearing vs. listening + the stages.
2. Read sections 5.2 and 5.3 of "Audience Analysis" (Ch. 5) — why it matters + the three types.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Marchetti and use the Stand up, Speak out table of contents or a search for the title in the meantime.