Audience and Purpose Technical Writing for Success
• Meeting the Audience’s Needs
• Planning Your Document’s Purpose, Scope, and Medium Audience and Purpose
• Determine how to meet the needs of a
specific audience and a multiple audience • Plan a document’s purpose, scope, and medium Meeting the Audience’s Needs
• Aristotle identified four ways to communicate
with an audience: 1. Logos: appeal to logic; use of evidence and a well-reasoned argument 2. Ethos: appeal to ethics; use of the speaker’s or writer’s credibility and good character 3. Pathos: appeal to emotion; identification with or sympathy for an audience or cause 4. Kairos: appeal to the opportune moment; the best time to deliver a message Meeting the Audience’s Needs
• Technical writers must know their audience and consider
different types of readers: – Lay reader—lacks technical knowledge – Technician—has skilled knowledge; reads manuals, schematics, blueprints, and technical reports; implements the expert’s ideas or plans – Expert—an authority or a leader in a field; highly skilled and professional; designs equipment, conducts research, and creates new products; learns from and contributes to journals – Manager—responsible for daily operations and long- range planning; may read feasibility reports, research reports, financial reports, or professional articles Meeting the Needs of a Specific Audience
• A specific audience is a person or a group
with a common interest and the same point of view. To meet the needs of a specific audience, consider: – Knowledge level – Interest – Role – Cultural background – Personality Audience Characteristics
• To analyze knowledge level, ask:
– What does my reader already know? – Is my reader an expert, a technician, or a lay reader? – What does my reader need to know? – What does my reader want to know? Audience Characteristics
• To analyze interests, ask:
– How strong is my reader’s interest in my topic? – Are my reader’s priorities different from mine or the same as mine? – Is my reader likely to agree with my point of view? Audience Characteristics
• To analyze role, ask:
– Is my reader’s role • To make decisions or implement a plan? • To operate equipment, encode data, or train others? • To create, design, or invent? – Is my communication going to management, to a peer, or to a supervisee? Audience Characteristics
• To analyze cultural background, ask:
– What is my reader’s cultural background? – What are my reader’s beliefs? – Are my reader’s beliefs different from mine or the same as mine? Audience Characteristics
• To analyze personality, ask:
– What kind of personality does my reader have? – Is my reader analytical, quiet, or outgoing? – Does my reader prefer having details or seeing the big picture? Meeting the Needs of a Multiple Audience
• A multiple audience contains readers with
differing points of view. Your first responsibility is to your primary audience, readers who – Asked for or authorized the document – Will make decisions based on the information in the document – Will request or take action based on the information in the document – Will likely read the entire document Meeting the Needs of a Multiple Audience
• You are responsible to your secondary
audience after you meet the needs of the primary audience. A secondary audience – Will be affected by the document in some way – Is interested in decisions or information in the document – May use some information for a different purpose – May read selected portions Meeting the Needs of a Multiple Audience
• Focus on the primary audience, but take
steps to meet everyone’s needs—including audiences you do not anticipate: – Avoid stereotypes and biased language – Think of the readers’ needs and roles – Develop a plan for each possible reader: • Write different parts for different readers • Rewrite short documents Plan a Document’s Purpose, Scope, and Medium • Early in your writing process, determine – The purpose of your document – The scope of your document – The medium for your document Plan a Document’s Purpose, Scope, and Medium • The purpose of technical writing is to inform or persuade, or both. To determine your purpose, ask: – What do I want to inform my readers about? – What do I want to persuade or convince them of? – What do I—or the person asking me to write—want to happen as a result of this document? Plan a Document’s Purpose, Scope, and Medium • Scope is what the writing will and will not cover. – To determine scope, ask: • How thorough will my coverage be? • What information do I include and leave out? Plan a Document’s Purpose, Scope, and Medium • The medium is the means by which information is conveyed. – Traditional media such as print, television, and radio mostly play to passive consumers – Online media such as websites or cell phone apps appeal to more active consumers who seek out information Plan a Document’s Purpose, Scope, and Medium • To determine which medium (or media) to use, ask: – What media are available to me? – What media do my audience typically use? – Is the medium appropriate for my audience, message, and purpose? – Are the time and money required to produce the medium worth the possible outcome?