Why consider audience? Writers who fail to understand their readers may also fail to reach their goals. Their writing may seem unfocused or inappropriate. It is important to provide the context, tone, and language suitable to the audience you are addressing. It is also important to know your audience because it will help you determine how and what to write.

Who will ultimately read your work? While in the university classroom, your audience is often your instructor; however, some assignments are designed so that you are also writing to a secondary audience, for example, to an expert in your field or to the general public. Your instructor may designate an audience, or you may have to imagine one that you feel is most appropriate for your topic or thesis. Even when your audience is your instructor, you have to tailor your writing to meet expectations. Your instructor may expect you to demonstrate knowledge or critical thinking or to write in a certain style.

How does an analysis of audience affect my writing? When you tailor your writing to a specific audience, you also tailor features of the text. Audience affects the following:

your message (What do readers care about? What are they likely to act upon?);

your argument (What would be convincing? What kinds of evidence are normally used for this type of reader?);

your word choice (Should you use jargon/slang or formal/professional language ?);

your sentences types or lengths (Can you use fragments? Long, complex patterns or short simple ones, or a combination?);

your tone (Is it personal, friendly, distanced, humorous, serious?).

Together, these elements constitute your style. Style should be adjusted appropriately to your audience.

Do I have to analyze audience before I begin writing? You should consider audience early in the writing process, but not necessarily as the first step. The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor your message. However, thinking too much about accommodating an audience can inhibit you. Try doing some prewriting and research first. When you are confident that you are knowledgeable about your topic and have something to say about it, consider how to make it interesting and significant for specific readers.

Below are some questions you might consider in an audience analysis:

How much does the audience know about your subject?
Gulf Coast fishermen might know a great deal about saltwater fishing regulations, but might not be receptive to an intellectual, academic tone. Chemistry professors would probably know little about saltwater fishing, but would expect a more restrained, academic approach. Level and type of knowledge determines how much background or history you will have to provide, what terms might need definition or explanation, and whether to use an academic or familiar tone.

How does the audience feel about your subject?
Are they indifferent? Do they need to be convinced? Your paper may have to engage indifferent readers and convince them that your topic has some merit. If the audience is biased against your view, you’ll have to find ways to argue effectively for your position. For example, citing some common ground between your beliefs and theirs might be one place to start.

What new information can you provide for readers?
Why is what you are saying valuable to your readers? What can they take away from your paper? Can you motivate them to think more about your issue?

What is your relationship to the audience?
Are you an equal, an authority, or a subordinate? Are you giving order, suggestions, or friendly advice? You might be more colloquial or personal with a peer and more distanced and careful with a subordinate. As an authority, you’ll want to sound sure of yourself; a peer or subordinate might be more tentative or suggestive.

How is knowing my audience related to writing my introduction? A reader expects the introduction of any text (letter, report, essay, and so on) to clarify whether the piece is worth reading. Is the reader part of the text’s intended audience? The features of the text will provide clues.

Example 1

How would you characterize the audience for the following introduction?

Natalie, 11, is a timid kid, and her parents, though possessing the best of intentions, aren’t making it any easier for her. The Portland, Maine, sixth grader says, “I hate it when Mom and Dad get all supercheery and say, ‘Don’t be shy. See how your sister Tracy does it? Just go up to that kid and say hi.’ But I’m not Tracy. It’s really hard for me. I feel like everyone is watching me and waiting for me to mess up.”

This is from a Good Housekeeping article, “10 Smart Ways to Help a Shy Child” (March 2001, p. 89). The audience is middle-class American women, probably with at least a high school education; the writer is presenting herself as their peer, and her purpose is to convey news and ideas from the experts. Many of the readers will have children, and many will know something about dealing with children, even shy ones, but they expect to read something new here as well; in other words, most are somewhat familiar with the topic.

What features of this text are appropriate to this audience?

The topic is introduced with a story about a particular child (human interest). Direct quotes are used to show that child’s feelings. The language is everyday (colloquial): “kid” replaces “child”; “are not” is contracted (”aren’t”); phrases like “any easier” replace the more formal “are not making it easier”; and “supercheery” is slang. The writer uses active voice and a casual style. The paragraph is fairly short.

Example 2

How would you characterize the audience for the following introduction?

A fundamental problem in recording continuous and rapidly varying physiological signals such as the electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram (EMG), or electroencephalogram (EEG) from freely-moving subjects over extended periods of time is the large volume of data that must be collected. This problem is further exacerbated when a number of signals and/or subjects are monitored simultaneously. In animal welfare studies researchers often wish to record multiple signals from multiple animals while the animals are subjected to various stressors over periods of several weeks (Krantz and Falconer, 1995; Rollin, 1997). The volume of data being recorded poses a number of technical difficulties; any storage medium on the subject is soon filled, the capacity of a radio data channel is soon exceeded, constant transmitter operation soon drains battery power, and the volume and subsequent processing of raw data after the experiment becomes formidable. A solution to these problems is to provide the ability to analyze the raw data at the subject as it is recorded, with only the summary results being sent back to the researcher.

The text above is from “An Ambulatory Physiological Monitor for Animal Welfare Studies” (Phillip J. Harris, Peter N. Schaare, Christian J. Cook, and Jon D. Henderson, in i>Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 32 (2001) 181-1

What features of this text are appropriate to this audience?

The audience is expecting to hear from fellow researchers who have gained some authority on a subject with which they are very familiar. They want to know what the writers have discovered that advances knowledge of their subject or that solves a problem (“A fundamental problem”; “A solution to these problems”). They also want to be reassured that the writers have the most recent literature on the topic, so the writers provide careful documentation. The writers use passive voice (“data must be collected”), jargon (“stressors”); and acronyms (“ECG”). The language is a bit wordy and elevated (“extended periods of time” instead of “a long time”; “further” instead or “also”; “exacerbated”). Sentences tend to be long, with many modifiers. For example, the opening sentence has 26 words separating the subject from the predicate. One sentence uses a semi-colon to link two long clauses. The paragraph is also long.

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