Audience Analysis and Accommodation

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Audience Analysis and Accommodation

• Dr. Anne Watt
• Rose-Hulman Inst of Tech

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Introduction

• Rhetorical Situations (the rhetorical triangle)
• Importance of analyzing who your audience(s)
  is/are, and then crafting your communication to
  best meet their needs as well as your goals

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Communication Situations
Writer/Purpose
Context
Context
Genre
Audience
Topic
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First, analyzing your audience

• Consider reader types.
• Consider readers use for document.
• Consider readers attitudes and motivations.
• Consider readers educational and technical levels

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Consider reader types

• Initial Reader
• Primary Reader
• Secondary Reader
• External Reader

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Consider readers use for document

• Why does this reader want this document?
• What purpose will this document serve for the
  reader?

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Consider readers attitudes and motivations

• How does this reader feel about you or your team?
  
• How does this reader feel about the subject
  matter?
• How receptive or resistant is this reader likely
  to be?

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Consider readers technical level

• Educational level?
• Professional experience?
• Expert? Professional nonexpert? Technician?
  Equipment operator? Student?
• What level of material can this reader handle
  without difficulty?

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First, analyzing your audience. Second,
accommodating your audience.
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Accommodating your audience

• Consider arrangement.
• Consider choice of voice.
• Consider use of questions.
• Consider politically correct language.
• Consider control of emotional responses.

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Consider arrangement

• Make useful for and appealing to audience
• Easy to follow and clearly revealed through
  forecasting, transitions, and review.
• Careful placement of thesis Up front? In
  middle? At end?

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Consider choice of voice

• First person singular I
• First person plural we
• Second person you
• Third person/ objective voice he/she, they, it,
  one, people, engineers, patients.
  

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Consider use of questions

• Rhetorical questions
• Structuring questions
• To build dialogue

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Consider politically correct language

• Avoiding stereotypes (re race, gender, sexual
  orientation, region, socioeconomic status, etc.)
• Choosing least offensive terms
• Using gender-neutral language

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Consider control of emotional responses

• Appeals to emotions and values
• Might wish to avoid certain emotional responses
  and/or evoke others.
• Possible need to frame examples

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Review Analyzing your audience

• Consider reader types.
• Consider readers use for document.
• Consider readers attitudes and motivations.
• Consider readers educational and technical levels

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Review Accommodating your audience

• Consider arrangement.
• Consider choice of voice.
• Consider use of questions.
• Consider politically correct language.
• Consider control of emotional responses.

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In conclusion Questions to ask

• 1) What image do I want to create of myself or my
  team as the writer?
• 2) What image do I want to create of my audience?
• 3) What image do I want to create of the
  relationship between myself as writer and my
  audience?