3.2: Who is your audience?

Who is your audience?

One of the biggest problems with learning to write in an academic setting is the way academic writing tasks limit students and makes them forget about one of the most important challenges in communication: connecting with the audience.

The problem with Instructor-focused writing

All students know that their instructor will be evaluating their work, and this often creates a problem with their writing.

Thinking only as your teacher as your audience will lead to a narrow perspective.  Instructors are experts in the subject matter, and writing exclusively for them may result in a failure to communicate effectively with a broader, non-specialized audience. In professional and personal life, you will communicate with diverse groups; by adapting your writing style to effectively engage with different readers, you’ll build stronger communication skills.  Your academic writing should help you to build dynamic, real-world communication skills.  Move away from boring writing that lacks engagement and real-world relevance and work on producing content that resonates and captures the interest of readers beyond the classroom.

Your audience is never “everyone”

Writing for a universal “everyone” audience tends to water down your message and bores your readers,

Imagine an article with financial advice, written “for everyone”. The result is something that doesn’t satisfy the financial experts, nor will it provide clarity to people with no experience.

To truly engage and connect, focus on your audience’s specific interests, knowledge, and expectations.  Shaping your writing to speak directly to your audience’s unique needs ensures a more engaging and impactful message.

Watch Writing with your Audience in Mind (3 mins) on YouTube.

Remember that decisions about style depend on audience, purpose, and content. Identifying your audience’s demographics, education, prior knowledge, and expectations will affect how you write, but purpose and content play an equally important role.

For most college writing assignments: Write for your Peers

In many ways, academic writing’s unclear audience (either instructor or “everyone”) makes your writing tasks seem more difficult.  In business writing, you may find it easier to focus a message that’s either directed to a supervisor, customer, or colleague.  A focused audience helps you know how to direct your message, and even guides you on what content to include.

Directing your work towards an audience of your peers is a sound approach.  College Communication classes bring together students from a variety of backgrounds, from all program areas; however, there are many ways to find common ground.

To understand the audience, their needs, and their expectations, ask questions about your intended readers or listeners. You will have an incomplete picture of your audience’s personal values and social identity, but you can likely predict many things about them.

Profiling your Audience

To understand your audience, answer six questions:

1. Who is your primary audience? The primary target is the decision maker(s), the person or persons that will act on the information you deliver. In a job interview, the selection committee is the primary audience.
2. Who is your secondary audience? The secondary audience may not make the final decision, but they may influence the decision. For example, the selection committee may ultimately decide which candidate is right for the position, but the receptionist may influence the decision based on the interactions with the candidate.
3. What do you know about the audience? First, consider your relationship with the audience and their relationships with each other. For example, are they strangers to you and each other? Are they workmates who share common knowledge? Also consider their position in the organization, their experience, age, culture, language, and education– anything that might affect your audience’s view of your message. If, for example, you are writing to an older audience of business leaders, your message may be formal in language and tone, but if you are trying to convince younger first-year students to join your society, a more casual approach would be appropriate.
4. How much does your audience know about your topic? Consider how much your audience knows or needs to know. In writing a stock performance report for a new investor, you will need to explain why you are using the TSX as a benchmark for your evaluation of the stock performance. When you write a progress report to your supervisor, a financial analyst, you will not need to add this explanation.
5. What are the audience’s preferences and expectations? You will not always know your audience’s preferences, but you can often make educated guesses. If you are writing a professor to ask for a recommendation, your email will need to include information about the job you are applying for and a copy of your resume. The email will also maintain a formal tone in a politely-worded request to meet your audience’s expectations of professional behaviour.
6. How is the audience likely to react to your message? Audiences may react positively to your message; other audiences may be more ambivalent; others may react with anger or hostility. Predicting their reaction helps craft your message. If you know that a customer will be unhappy that you cannot replace a broken part, you can plan in advance to mitigate dissatisfaction by offering an alternative.

Successful businesses, employees, and students anticipate audience needs and expectations. For example, Lululemon [New tab] uses social media, advertising, and brand ambassadors to satisfy the needs of a young audience that identifies with the lifestyle the company promotes. Lift & Co. [New tab] uses inventive names for board rooms because “they make an office seem more enjoyable and employees feel the time spent there is less of a chore.” These companies know their audiences, and this knowledge brings success.