1 Audience Recognition

Course Instructor:Engr. Sana Ziafat

What is Audiencegroup of readers who reads a particular piece of

writingYou need to know your audience before you start

writing

ANALYZING THE AUDIENCE

Good Speakers/ Writers Are Audience Centered

Good Speakers Understand The Psychology Of Audiences.

A Speaker’s Task Is To Make

This Audience Want To Hear

This Speech At This Time.

ANALYZING THE AUDIENCE

Every Speech Contains Two Messages:

Message Sent by Speaker

Message Received By The Audience

ANALYZING THE AUDIENCE

Audiences Are EgocentricPay Attention to Messages That

Affect Them DirectlyThey Take The Approach: “Why

Is This Important To Me?”

Types of Audience

Determining Your Audience TypeWriters determine their audience types by considering: Who they are (age, sex, education, economic status,

political/social/religious beliefs);

What Level of Information they have about the subject (novice, general reader, specialist or expert);

The Context in which they will be reading a piece of writing (in a newspaper, textbook, popular magazine, specialized journal, on the Internet, and so forth).

Audience Recognition Determine whether your audience is

1. High tech

2. Low tech

3. Lay

4. Multiple

1. High Tech AudienceWork in your field of expertise

Same department or similar capacity in other company

Can be termed as colleagues because they haveSame educational backgroundSame work experienceSame level of understanding

Writing to high tech audience is easy.

Characteristics of High Tech Audience

1. Are experts in the your field.

2. High tech jargon, acronyms and abbreviations can be used.

3. Minimal details about standard procedures or technical theories

4. Little background information about a project’s history.

2. Low-Tech AudienceFamiliar with your field’s technology but do not know

the details.

Include BossesSubordinates Co-workers in other departments.Colleagues in other companies.

Characteristics of Low-tech Audience

1. Familiar with your field’s technology without knowing details.

2. Preferable to define jargon, abbreviation and acronyms.

3. Define technical concepts.

4. Need for providing background information

3. Lay AudienceDo not work for the company and have no

knowledge about your field of expertise.

IncludeCustomersClientsEnd users

Writing to lay audience is difficult and demanding.They expect more definition and description

Characteristics of Lay Audience1. Unfamiliar with your field’s technology.

2. Avoid jargon, abbreviations and acronyms or define them thoroughly.

3. Avoid high-tech terms or define them thoroughly.

4. Lay readers need background information.

4. Multiple AudienceCorrespondence is not always sent to just one type of

audience.

Challenging to write for multiple audience with different levels of understanding.

Characteristics of Multiple Audience

1. Provide background data as some of the readers will be unfamiliar with the subject matter. ( Use references )

2. Define jargon, acronyms and abbreviations. (Within parenthesis or in a glossary)

3. Use a matter-of-fact business like tone.

1. High Tech Audience Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation alone HTTP

2. Low Tech Audience Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation with parenthetical definition. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

3. Lay Audience Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation with extended definition. Extended definition = Term + Type + Distinguishing

Characteristics. A car is a vehicle that contains four wheels and is driven on land. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a computer access code

providing secure communications on networks.

Effective communication with multicultural audienceDefine abbreviations and acronymsAvoid Idioms

- we use “ on the other hand” what will this mean in global market?

Distinguish between noun and verbsWatch for cultural biases/ expectationsBe careful when using slash marks Avoid humorAvoid figurative language

Issues of Diversity

When your are involved in technical writing omit pronouns like his , her as it depicts gender based biasing

If your writing implies that only men can do one kind of job and only women can do other type of job, you are stereotyping.

For example: The teacher must be sure her lesson plans are filed

Avoid Biased Language Radium was discovered by a woman, Marie Curie. Radium was discovered by Marie Curie. When setting up his experiment, the researcher must always check

for errors. When setting up experiment, the researcher must always check for

errors. Mrs Acton, an attractive blonde, is Joe’s assistant. Mrs Acton is Joe’s assistant. The manager is responsible for the productivity of his department. Management is responsible for departmental productivity. A good lawyer will make sure that his clients are aware of their

rights. A good lawyer will make sure that clients are aware of their rights.

Words to avoidMankindManpowerBusinessmenPolicemenFiremenChairmanWaiter / Waitress

PeopleWorkers , personnelBusiness peoplePolice officersFirefightersChairpersonServer

What we studied today?Recognize the types of audience as high-tech, low-tech,

lay or multiple.

How to define terms for different audience.

Avoid gender biased language.

Q & A