Writing for an Audience:

1
Writing for an Audience

• Building on What You Know to Communicate Better

2
Goals

• Learn five main questions for considering your
  audience
• Identify key elements in a syllabus for insight
  into your teachers expectations
• Discuss your questions and concerns

3
Five Key Questions

• Do you have a specific intended audience?
• Who is your intended audience? What are their
  personal characteristics?
• What is their job, profession, or field of
  expertise?
• What does your audience know about your topic?
  What could they NOT know about your topic,
  considering their personal characteristics?
• What is their level of need/interest regarding
  your writing? How will your audience use your
  writing?

4
Intended Audience?

• BEFORE you write, ask yourself who you are
  writing for.
• Profile the people who will be reading your
  writing.
• The more specific the audience, the more focused
  your writing.

5
Who Is Your Audience?
6
Who Is Your Intended Audience?

• Personal characteristics
• Where they live
• When they went to school (age)
• Gender, class, ethnicity
• Language proficiency
• Time constraints

7
Job, Profession, Expertise?

• Where does your audience work?
• What field is your audience in?
• What subject(s) is your audience an expert in?

8
What Does Audience Know?

• No one is 100 knowledgeable or 100 ignorant
• Allow for a range of abilities and knowledge
• Balance accuracy of terms or complexity with
  explanations

9
Audience Needs?

• Making informed decisions
• Intellectual challenge
• Emotional investment
• Entertainment/Diversion

10
Clues to Audience in a Syllabus Key Words

• Required
• Course Description, Goals, Methods
• Expectations, Attendance, Participation
• Format
• Pace, Schedule
• I statements
• Note
• Grade/Rubric

11
Required

• Textbooks set the tone, tell a lot about the
  teachers philosophy/mood
• Thick, dry tomes standardized for the subject,
  not personal
• Novels, nonfiction essays personal, intimate,
  emotional connections demanding self-investment

12
Required II

• Materials individual preferences of the
  teacher, i.e., audience!
• Listen in class for what to buy and when
• Vocal stress or exclamation points emotional
  value placed on these preferences

13
Course . . .

• Description/Methods the overall style or layout
  of the class, the general way to achieve the
  goals
• Goals/Outcomes/Objectives/By the end of the
  course you should . . . The point of the class,
  the skills instructors will expect you to know
  when you take a higher-level class
• Requirements the specific tasks of the
  particular instructor, i.e., the audience
  expectations

14
Expectations

• Course participation, attendance critical to
  success in any course
• School/Division policies, e.g., no plagiarism!
  and absence limits affect grades
• Behavior in class turn cell phones off, remove
  hats and earbuds, respect others (Your
  classmates are your audience, too, and they can
  have strict expectations!)

15
Format

• Style of class, but more often . . .
• Audience expectations of your writing!
• Appearance MLA or APA, font, point size
• Feel stapled, manageable, smooth

16
Pace/Schedule

• Self-paced personal responsibility to be on
  schedule, meet the mileposts
• Fast-paced personal responsibility to be well
  prepared before each week begins
• Schedule identify due dates, exams, days of no
  classes, dates readings to be discussed

17
I statements

• I expect . . . I require . . .
• I do not . . . I will not . . .
• I collect . . . I will look for . . .
• I am here to help/I am on your side
• I can be reached at/My office hours are . . .

18
NOTE

• Note signals very important information or an
  intricately detailed explanation
• N.B. (Latin) nota bene note well

19
Grade/Rubric

• Grade level to which you met audience
  expectations
• Rubric the ruler used to measure and
  calculate your grade

20
Audience Pet Peeves

• Speeling Errors
• If you want to be taken seriously, spell well!
• 2. Youyouyou Huh? I was never there.
• Own your personal experiences!
• 3. Overwrought, overdone, overcooked verbiage
• K.I.S.S.Keep It Simple, Silly!

21
To Summarize

• Ask yourself the five questions to conceptualize
  your audience
• Review your syllabus and lecture notes for your
  teachers expectations
• You are an expert on your own experiences, so be
  your audiences informant while respecting their
  intelligence

22
Bibliography

• Audience. Writing_at_CSU. 1993-2009. The Writing
  Center at Colorado State University. 19 Feb. 2009
  lthttp//writing.colostate.edu/guides/processes/aud
  modgt.
• Audience Planner. Online Technical Writing. No
  date. No organization. 19 Feb. 2009
  lthttp//www.io.com/hcexres/itcm/planners/aud_pla
  n.htmlgt.
• Winter 2009 Classes English. Arts
  Humanities Student Info. Bellevue College. 7 May
  2009 lthttp//bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/material
  s/Winter2009/ENGL.htmgt.
• Hale, Stephen. Writing for an Audience. Georgia
  Perimeter College. 19 Feb 2009 http//facstaff.gpc
  .edu/shale/humanities/composition/handouts/audie
  nce.htmlgt.