Week 2 — Listening & Audience Analysis
Why this matters
A shift handoff on a hospital ward, a fundraiser pitch to a neighborhood association, and an answer to a job-interview panel all land only when the speaker listens first.
In plain language
This week is about the two halves of every speech: the people listening and the person who has to reach them. You learn the difference between hearing (sound reaching your ears, which happens on its own) and listening (choosing to pay attention and make sense of what you hear). You learn the kinds of listening, what gets in the way, and the habits that fix it. Then you turn around and become the speaker, doing audience analysis (finding out who your listeners are, what they already think and know, and what situation they are in). Last, you use what you found to make adaptations (changes to your speech that fit those particular people).
- Already covered: Week 1's six-element model, noise, ethics, nerves, and the rehearsal loop.
- This week: hearing versus listening, five stages and types, barriers, and three lenses.
- How they connect: this week zooms in on Week 1's receiver and feedback.
- Where we're going next: Week 3, Selecting a Topic, Purpose & Thesis.
Focus
What does a real listener do, and who are you actually talking to?
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- [ ] trace a listener through the five stages
- [ ] name a barrier and its active-listening habit
- [ ] read an audience through three lenses and adapt to it
To-do
Plan your week
- Read Chapter 2 (about 40 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
- Do the tutorial (60–90 minutes) and the practice set (about 20 minutes).
- Do the Speech Workshop (about 90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment.
- Take the quiz.
This week's checkpoint: read one real audience through all three lenses and pair each finding with a change.
You've got this
Ask your instructor if a step snags.
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