SOAPSTone: Speech Analysis

SOAPSTone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone) is an acronym for a series
of questions that you must first ask yourself in order to fully understand the speech youre studying.
The basic premise of a speech is that a speaker wishes to take a stand concerning a given topic.
The speakers goal is to introduce the topic, describe a particular way a listener should respond to the
topic, and finally, encourage the listener to adopt the speakers philosophy or pursue the speakers
intended course of action.
The degree to which a speaker is effective depends in a large way on the choices made in the six
features analyzed using SOAPSTone.
If you know or can make inferences about the Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, and
Tone of the text, you can reach educated conclusions based on how the text was planned.

Speaker
The speaker is voice that tells the story/gives the speech.
While you definitely want to identify the speaker, there is more you need to do when analyzing the
speaker. What you know about a speaker may impact an argument the speaker makes. A speakers
race, class, gender, nationality, religious affiliations, or membership in any identity group may lead
you to make inferences about the speakers argument. Of course, more localized identity groups
(jazz musician, football player, high school student) are just as important as larger identity groups like
female or American.

Occasion
The occasion is time and the place of the piece; the context that prompted the writing. You
want to look at the larger occasion and the immediate occasion when analyzing a speech.
All speakers are influenced by the larger occasion: such as an environment of ideas, attitudes, and
emotions that swirl around a broad issue.
Then there is the immediate occasion: an event or situation that catches the speakers attention and
triggers a response.
The occasion of a speech refers to the circumstances that necessitated the delivery of the speech. If
you know what incident or event motivated the speech, you have a great deal of information to guide
your reading.
Does the speaker respond to an unexpected death or trumpet some new beginning? Is there some
current event of which most of the audience would be aware that the speaker references?

Audience
The audience is the group of listeners to whom the speech is directed.
Audience is a significant element in understanding a speech. Writers and speakers tailor their
arguments to the interests of their perceived audience. The evidence or support that a speaker
employs to make an argument might change based on the audienceeven if the speaker has made
the same argument to a different audience in the past. The reasons that a politician might give to
support the same proposed law might differ greatly, depending upon if the audience is college-aged
or elderly; yet to each audience, the politician advances the same argument.

Purpose
The purpose is the reason behind the speech.
Knowing the speakers purpose is also important. How does the speaker want the audience to react?
Does the speaker call for some specific action, or is the purpose of the speech to convince the
listener to think, feel, or believe in a certain way? The purpose of speaking affects what the writer will
offer as support or evidence for her or his argument.

Subject
You should be able to state the subject, or main idea, in a few words or phrases.
The subject of an effective argument should be clear to the reader. The listener should be able to
state the subject or main idea with a few words or phrases.

Tone
The tone is attitude of the speaker.
Tone is the final element in SOAPTone. The degree to which an argument is effective may ultimately
hinge upon the speakers attitude toward the subject or audience. Here again is an area where
audience is significant. Speakers adopt different tones to further the same argument as the audience
changes. The presence of anger, sarcasm, or guilt can affect an overall argument significantly.

After your SOAPSTone analysis, youre ready to write a three- to five-sentence summary of the
speech. Your summary should include all elements of your SOAPSTone analysis and should
demonstrate a clear understanding of the speech you just heard.