I wanted to use this blog to expand upon a few thoughts that I had about the audience chapter in our textbook. First I'll reiterate the points I made in my last blog:
1) Diversity in an audience can be advantageous or compromising depending upon the speech/speaker.
2) Appealing to one's audience can go too far.
In my last blog I started to criticize the textbook's authors for what I perceived to be an overemphasis on "appealing to one's audience." But then I thought about our class and the setting that we are speaking in; I thought about our first speech and how riddled with anxiety I felt before taking those first steps toward the front of the classroom. And I realized... the textbook, for our case, is accurate. This is an introductory class to public speaking - we're not professionals by any stretch of the word. Appealing to our audience and giving them consideration before a speech doesn't just prevent animosity and conflict from forming, but it forces us to visualize our speech and predict reactions. It helps in the structuring process as well as providing a social buffer against a diverse audience with diverse opinions. It is an ultimate good and though I still believe that my previous blog does apply to those in the professional context, I don't necessarily believe that we should be worrying ourselves with complex thoughts about authenticity, integrity, and ethics this early on in the learning process. Maybe in a couple chapters...
I think that you are right that in this specific case of being in a Public Speaking class you have to be especially aware of appealing to your audience. I know that I found myself doing it during our Culture Speech and have found myself doing so at other times in the past as well. No one wants to pander, but there are some times when giving a speech that thinking of what the audience is interested in can be more important than the integrity of your "voice" as a speaker. I have a very subtle and dry sense of humor, but when I spoke at my high school's graduation it was in an auditorium setting with a very diverse audience so I used jokes that were broad, exaggerated, and perhaps a bit ham-handed. It went over very well because it fit in that environment.
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