How to Incorporate Audience into Your Writing
A vidcast brought to you by Gracemarie Mike and Daniel Liddle
in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab
In most cases, you won't be interacting face-to-face with your readers.
So it is important to convey to your readers that you have them in mind as you write.
We can demonstrate our attention to audience by paying attention to the following areas in writing:
genre, stance, language, tone, purpose, and medium and design.
Often, we can think about the genre we are writing in to determine who our audience will be
and what expectations they will have
For example, you know that if you are writing a resume or a cover letter
your audience is probably a potential employer or an admissions committee
If you are writing an annotated bibliography your audience may be a professor or readers of an academic journal.
In many cases, the audience is somewhat predetermined by the type of writing you produce.
However, your readers can also influence the genre you choose.
Stance can be defined as the angle that the writer takes towards the topic of his or her message.
The stance that you take will greatly determine the tone of your message and the words that you choose.
Depending on your audience's position on a topic or views towards what you are writing
you might find yourself being more or less authoritative, opinionated, critical, or passionate in your writing.
The kind of language that you choose to use largely depends on the type of audience that will read your work
Therefore, before you start writing, think about your readers and their knowledge.
How much do you think they know about the topic you are going to write about?
Are they insiders or outsiders with regard to the area you are describing?
In other words, would they understand technical terminology you may use?
If they are insiders, the answer may be yes.
If they are outsiders, perhaps you need to provide definitions and additional explanations.
On the other hand, if your readers have a good deal of knowledge about your topic,
there is no need for you to explain the concepts that they may well be familiar with.
We can think about language in terms of formality.
Formality will largely be based on your relationship with readers
Are your readers friends or classmates? Professors? Employers?
The genre in which you are writing can also help you determine appropriate language use.
Just as the language you use depends on your reader, the tone of your writing should be appropriate for your audience as well.
Your tone reflects your attitudes towards the subject you are writing about.
and the readers you are writing to.
For example, if you are composing an email to your professor
you should not be rude or persisting, but rather polite and formal.
And you should use language that shows your respect toward the professor and his or her status.
You wouldn't use slang and informal expressions when talking to your professor in class, would you?
Follow the same principal in your written communication with them
In addition, you should also consider the context in which your audience will be receiving your message
and use the appropriate tone accordingly.
For instance, when submitting a scholarship application or a grant proposal
You should remember that it will be reviewed by several readers in an academic setting.
So you do not want to sound funny, unserious, or sarcastic.
On the other hand, these types of tone may be quite appropriate for certain audiences
like magazine or blog readers.
The purpose of your written work should be clear to those who will read it.
Ask yourself what it is you want to communicate to your audience
and check your draft to see if you achieved your goal.
For example, if your purpose was to instruct your reader how to change a light bulb.
check how well you did it.
Perhaps by following the instructions yourself, or by asking a friend to follow them.
At the same time, you should also think about what you want your audience to take away from your written work.
Do you want to raise their awareness of a certain issue?
Or help them see a different point of view?
Do you want to engage them in a discussion?
Is your purpose to provoke their thoughts on the problem you are addressing?
Or, perhaps, you are trying to entertain your readers.
The way you design your written work also depends on who is going to read it.
If you are writing a lab report, it may be appropriate, or even necessary, to use charts and tables.
But you probably wouldn't use comics or funny pictures in your academic report
Or, if you are submitting a written course project or a portfolio
you need to think about helping your audience navigate the context of your materials
so perhaps a table of contents would be quite helpful
Your audience may also determine the ways you will deliver your written work.
If you are writing information of a personal nature for a particular person
then you will want to choose a personalized way to deliver it, such as letters, emails, notes, and so forth.
On the other hand, if you address a large group of people, then you have a wider range of media options
such as books, articles, presentations, reports, newsletters, posters, flyers, and so forth.
Think about what media better fits the purpose of your message
Oral presentation, electronic format, or print.
You can also use a combination of these media to reach your audience.
For more information on audience, visit the links in the video description.
This has been a presentation of how to incorporate audience into your writing
a vidcast by Gracemarie Mike and Daniel Liddle brought to you in cooperate with the Purdue Online Writing Lab.