Question

What role does the audience play in ethics?

Answer 1

Audiences require engagement from their speakers and in doing so, influence the behavior that the speaker exhibits, being highly variable as the speaker addresses another audience. This means that the audience plays a larger role in determining the ethical implication of the actions of the speaker than we assume.

They influence the factor of trustworthiness in the speaker requiring them to select material that is true to the cause and relevant to the situation, and in doing so, are able to generate the necessary integrity in the subject matter they choose to address. This is especially true in the case of political speeches, where highly nuanced variables exist between different audiences and how the speaker chooses to address this represents the truthfulness in their image and can be used as a means to show dignity in their conduct. The knowledgeable audience requires a higher level of engagement and therefore, the speaker is forced to revisit their speeches or material in terms of information, facts, message, beliefs, and removal of any biases or stereotypes that might be present because the audience has the power to directly address it through their engagement and behavior. It provides a higher level of preparedness to be conducted in order for the speaker to make better use of ethics to relate to the risks from all the different perspectives, not just their own.