Fundamentals of Extension Education (1+1)

Audience

V. AUDIENCE
The audience or receiver of message is the target of communication function. An audience may consist of a single person or a number of persons. It may comprise men, women and youth. An audience may be formed according to occupation groups such as field crop farmers, fruit growing farmers, dairy men, poultry keepers, fish farmers, homemakers etc. Audience may also be categorised according to farm size such as marginal, small, medium or big farmers or according to farm size whether belong to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe etc.
In addition to knowing the identity of an audience and some of its general characteristics, there are other somewhat more specified aspects that help to classify the exact nature of an audience and how to reach it.
The following are some of these.
1. Communication channels established by the social organisation.
2. The system of values held by the audience-custom, tradition etc.
3. Forces influencing group conformity- custom tradition etc.
4. Individual personality factors – susceptibility to change etc.
5. Native and acquired abilities
6. Educational, economic and social levels.
7. Pressure of occupational responsibility how busy or concerned they are
8. People’s needs are as they see them, and as the professional communicators see them.
9. Why the audience is in need of changed ways of thinking, feeling and doing.
10. How the audience views the situation.