Knowing your audience is imperative when writing a well written professional message. Your writing will reflect on you and your knowledge and may determine the recipient's perspectives of you. Not adjusting your message and its tone in accordance with your audience can have a negative impact on your future career or current employment. Therefore, it is very important to analyze your audience before writing a message. We have previously discussed how to troubleshoot miscommunication. Determining the proper tone and content of your message based on the audience is the first step in avoiding miscommunication. In future chapters, you will learn the next steps of the writing process: how to draft your message, and how to revise it to create the four Ps: your perfectly polished professional presence.
"Audience" by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Analyze primary and secondary audiences using common profiling techniques (CO#2)
- Identify techniques for adjusting writing style according to audience size, position relative to you, knowledge of your topic, and demographic. (CO#2)
- Distinguish between communication channels to determine which is most appropriate for particular situations. (CO#1 and 2)
- Plan, write, revise, and edit short documents and messages that are organized, complete, and tailored to specific audiences. (CO#2)
To achieve these objectives:
- Read the Module 2 Introduction
- Read and view the materials in Chapter 2 of Strategies for Effective Business Communication
- Complete the interactive activities at the end of the Chapter which can be found under "Test Your Knowledge."
Module Pressbooks Resources and Activities
You will find the following resources and activities in this module at the Pressbooks website. Click on the links below to access or complete each item.