Persuasive Speech Audience Analysis

General Purpose: to persuade

Specific Purpose: to persuade my audience that not taking action against human-induced climate
change is immoral.
Central Idea: It is immoral to not take action against human-induced climate change because by
doing so we would be presenting major obstacles to future generations and we would be
significantly harming the Earths biodiversity.
Survey Questions
1. Are you aware of the current developments in climate change? If so, from what
resources have you learned about climate change?
Responses: Respondents stated that they know of climate change from
geography class, environmental science class, news, school, various
documentaries, word of mouth, or from a visiting climate scientist who spoke at
their high school. Two of the nine respondents stated that they are unaware of
recent developments in climate change.
2. In your opinion, who is the most qualified to inform us about climate change?
o Politicians
o Religious leaders
o Scientists
Responses: Eight answered Scientists, One answered Politicians.
3. Please indicate the degree to which you agree to the following statements.
I.

Climate change is cyclical and not caused by human activities.

Responses: 5 strongly disagree, 1 disagrees, 2 neutral, 0 agree, 1 strongly agrees

The health of Earths environment is important to me.

II.

Responses: 1 strongly disagrees, 1 disagrees, 2 neutral, 2 agree, 3 strongly agree

4. How would you feel if you knew that humanity is destroying the planet on which we
live?
Responses: Among the responses were sad and ashamed, disappointing,
terrible, scared, disheartening, upset and mad.
5. In your opinion, who is most responsible for the health of the earths environment?
o Politicians
o Religious Deity
o Businesses/ Corporations
o Everyone
Responses: All nine responded Everyone.
Survey Analysis
`The responses to the survey suggest that my audience does not have a technical
understanding of the scientific interpretation of global warming. The responses to number 1
suggest that the majority of the audience is knowledgeable of climate change to the extent of
public news or does not know about climate change. Therefore, it is critical that I establish my
credibility as a climate scientist and briefly explain the physics of climate change. The responses
to question 2 suggest that the majority of the audience would be highly receptive to a climate
scientist speaking to them about climate change. The responses to question 3I suggest that the
majority of the audience is not dismissive of human-induced climate change. The responses to
question 3II suggest that roughly half of the audience is indifferent or dismissive of climate
change as a societal issue. Therefore, an attempt to persuade the audience that human-induced

climate change is immoral (a question of value) is a worthwhile specific purpose for my

audience as opposed to an attempt to persuade regarding the policy of climate change. The
audience would be more interested in the impacts of climate change rather than the science of
climate change or how to fix it. The responses to question 4 provide a general guideline for
pathos techniques that would be effective in my speech. The responses to question 5 suggest that
the audience believes that we are all somewhat responsible for climate change. Therefore, the
audience is not likely to deflect the moral burden of climate change solely on politicians or a
religious deity.