Recognizing that the audience for his graduation speech would be packedinto a non-air-conditioned gymnasium during the hottest week of the year,Kane decided to keep his speech at the low end of his 10- to-15-minutetime limit. In making this decision, Kane was adapting to which element ofthe speech communication process?location

a. feedback
b. message
c. channel
d. situation

Adaptability is one of the most crucial factor in a speech communication process as the speaker is required to be flexible and versatile enough to adapt to the various elements like message, location, feedback, or situation, etc. during the speech in order to leave an impact on the audience and elicit intended response.

In the given situation, Kane is attempting to adapt to the 'situation' as he analyzes that the audience would not be able to pay attention to his speech for a very long time due to the discomfort they would suffer in a non-air-conditioned room and as per the demand of the situation, he restricts the time-limit of his speech and decides to convey his ideas briefly and precisely in that very limited time to create the desired impact. Therefore, option D is the correct answer.