Learn how to identify your audience and craft your writing to meet their needs.Imagine that you recently had a car accident and you were partially responsible. If you had to write and tell your parents about the accident, what might you say? Imagine how you might tell the story differently if you were telling your friends about what happened. How might this version be different from the one you tell the insurance company? What details would you emphasize? Are there some details you might tell your friends that you might not emphasize or even mention at all in your letter to your parents or the insurance company? Would the order in which you told the various details be different? As you can see, this illustrates the way that we customize our writing to appeal to a specific audience. Show
Assignments are often designed with a particular audience in mind. For example, if you are writing a business or legal memo, your intended audience is probably people with whom you work, perhaps your boss or your co-workers. If you are writing a proposal of some sort, the intended audience may be a professional but not someone with whom you are intimately acquainted. Just as what you say to your parents and friends might be different than what you say to the insurance company, what and how you report information may vary depending on the audience. Why is My Audience Important?Knowing your audience helps you to make decisions about what information you should include, how you should arrange that information, and what kind of supporting details will be necessary for the reader to understand what you are presenting. It also influences the tone and structure of the document. To develop and present an effective argument, you need to be able to appeal to and address your audience. When writing an academic paper, try to remember that your instructor is not the only member of your audience. Although the instructor is often the only person who will read the finished product, customizing a paper to his or her level of knowledge can run the risk of leaving out important information, since many instructors know far more about your topic than the average reader would. In addition, omitting information that your instructor already knows can result in a weak or unbalanced paper. However, if you assume that your reader is less knowledgeable than you, you are likely to provide more details and better explanations, which usually results in a much stronger paper. While it is important to consider your instructor's needs when writing your papers, especially if he or she specifies particular requirements that you must meet, you should consider whether there is a specific intended audience for your assignment. To effectively plan your assignment, you need to figure out who your audience is and what specific needs they might have. The best place to begin is your assignment description. Look to see if your instructor specified an intended audience. If not, you might ask your instructor if there is a particular intended reader for the assignment. Common audiences include the following:
Once you know who you are writing to or for, you can begin to consider the best way to address your audience and customize the paper meet their needs. Below are some things to consider:
Once you've identified your audience and thought about the best way to appeal to them in your writing, it's often helpful to make a very informal list of what your audience already knows, what they need to know, why they need to know it, and how you can help them. Keep this close by so you can easily refer to it as you write, since it will be useful if you get stuck or aren't sure how to proceed. Resources
What are the three factors you should consider when considering your readers attitudes and expectations?There are three main areas to consider when analyzing your audience: demographics, dispositions and knowledge of the topic. For each of these areas, there are a set of questions to answer which will help stimulate your thinking about your audience.
Which of the following mistakes did McDonald's make when it printed take out bags decorated with flags from around the world?Which of the following mistakes did McDonald's make when it printed take-out bags decorated with flags from around the world? The bags showed a Saudi flag, which depicts holy scripture from the Koran.
How do you respond to a reader who is hostile to your subject or to your approach to it?When working with a reader who is hostile to your subject or to your approach to the subject, you should first state your position or recommendation, followed by your rationale for that position or and/or an explanation of the benefits of that position.
In which phase of the writing process is it best to conduct research?In the pre-writing stage you plan and prepare your writing. This is also the stage where you research your topic and look for relevant sources.
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