Audience,%20Purpose,%20

1
Audience, Purpose, Context

• Who?
• Why?
• What?

2
Analyzing the Audience

• Who will be reading, listening to, or using this
  material?
• What particular characteristics do they have?
• What are their backgrounds and attitudes towards
  the subject?

3
Typical Business Audiences

• Subordinates
• Co-workers / peers
• Supervisors
• Investors
• The Public

4
General Audience

• The Public isnt a general audience.
• The general audience does not exist.
• When writing for the public, you are actually
  writing to interested members of the public. Or
  those you hope will become interested.

5
Mixed Audiences

• Many business documents have a mixed audience
• Memos to subordinates may be read by superiors in
  a performance review
• A document written for investors may be posted on
  the corporate web site
• An internal email may be subpoenaed

6
Analyzing the Purpose

• Why is this communication important?
• Why is it needed?
• What will users do with this information?

7
Typical Business Purposes

• Informational
• Persuasive
• Analytical

8
Mixed Purpose

• Purpose, like audience, is often mixed
• An advertisement is often at least partly
  informational
• An analytical report must persuade the reader
  that the analysis is valid

9
Analyzing the Context

• What are the organizational settings in which the
  document will be used?
• Are there legal issues to consider?
• How much time do the users have to perform a
  task?
• Are the readers of this document members of a
  larger professional community?
• Are the readers from one culture only or
  cross-cultural?

10
Using Audience Analysis

• The results of your audience analysis will affect
• Word choice
• Examples
• Document format
• Document length
• Document genre
• Included or excluded information

11
Relevance

• Relevant information is useful to the audience.
• What do they already know?
• What do they need to know?
• Why are they reading this document?