Strong Writing Starts With One Question: Who Is Your Audience?

Diana thought it would be easy to write a science book for children about how to stay healthy. After all, she was an expert on infectious diseases and had published papers in scholarly journals, along with occasional articles for medical websites. But her book publisher was not impressed with the first draft of her manuscript.

“The publisher said my manuscript was written at a high school level–it was too hard for elementary school kids,” Diana recalled. “I needed to use simpler language and shorter sentences. I also had to explain certain terms in ways that kids from nine to twelve years old could understand. In other words, I had to start all over again and rewrite the whole book!”

A lot of professionals find themselves in a situation like Diana’s. They know how to write well. They know their material. But they run into problems because they don’t know their audience.

Whether you’re writing a brief email or an entire book like Diana, always ask yourself this one important question:

Who will be reading this?

In this article, we will look at strategies to help you tailor your writing to fit your audience. We’ll also include some tips for spoken English, in case you’re giving a speech or presentation.

Step One: Define your reader (or listener)

Here are some basic factors to consider when you think about your audience:

Age: How old is your audience? How well will they be able to understand your subject? Will this age group be familiar with any slang or pop culture references you’re using? Do people this age have any specific needs you should address?
Let’s say you’re writing an article about personal finances. If your target audience is in their fifties and sixties, they will be interested in issues related to retirement. But if they’re in their thirties, they are more likely to be concerned about buying a house or whether they can afford to have children.

Language Background: Does your audience include people whose first language isn’t English? How fluently can they speak English? Do they use American English, British English, or some other kind of English?

Cultural Background: This includes nationality, race, religion, ethnicity, and much more. Your audience may be a mixture of many different cultures. You’ll want to make sure your writing or speech makes sense to them.

Relationship: Are you communicating with your team members, your boss, your professor, or someone else you already know? Or are you communicating people you have never met?

Level of Education: Does your audience consist of professionals with university degrees? If so, they are used to reading lengthy, complicated academic writing. But almost everyone else will need a simpler, more straightforward form of writing.

Professional Background: Is your audience familiar with the jargon and terminology used in your field? If they work in a different field, they might need you to explain the special terms you are using.

Previous Experience With This Topic: What does this audience already know something about this topic? Are you introducing them to something completely new? Or are you building on what they have already learned?

Time: How much time does your audience have to read your text or listen to your speech?

 

Step Two: Make the necessary adjustments

Now that you have taken a closer look at your audience, think about how well they will be able to understand your message. Here are some areas where you may need to make some changes:

Formality: Do you need to be more formal, or less formal? Our TextRanch blog has an article to help you with that! Just click here.

Tone: Do you sound too harsh? Or are you too polite? You may need to make some adjustments to your tone. (Check out this article for some tips.)

Language: Like Diana, you may need to simplify the language you are using. If you’re using too much jargon for your target audience, try writing in Plain English. If you’re writing for an audience from different cultures, Global English might be the right choice for you.
On the other hand, your audience might already be experts on your topic. If so, they will expect you to use field-specific terms. They might get bored or feel insulted if you simplify things too much!

Purpose: What is the purpose of your communication? Are you providing this audience with the solution to a problem? Are you trying to sell something to them? Are you trying to persuade them to take action? Do you want them to hire you or admit you to their university? You may need to adjust your text so it fits your purpose.

Length: Everyone’s attention span has limits. Yes, your book might need to be 1000 pages long, but break it into chapters (and maybe sections within chapters) so your readers can easily take a break and come back to it. If something is too long, your audience might stop reading/listening.

Level of Detail: Avoid going off on tangents, over explaining, or giving too many irrelevant details. Stick to your main idea. Otherwise, your audience will get confused.

Response: Is your audience expected to respond to your message? If so, in what way? For example, if you’re writing an email, do you want your recipient(s) to send you a reply, click a link, or forward your information to someone else? If you’re giving a presentation at a conference, do you plan to take questions from the audience afterward?
Whatever kind of response you’re looking for, you’ll want to make sure your audience is prepared for it.

Some tips for spoken English

Audience awareness is just as important when you are speaking. So here are a few extra tips for speeches and presentations:

• Use shorter sentences than you would in writing.
• Pause after key points.
• Check for understanding (e.g., “Does that make sense?” or “Should I clarify that further?”).
• Watch your audience’s body language. If they keep fidgeting or checking their phones, you’re losing them.
• Unless it’s a really formal context, use plain, everyday speech.
• It’s usually okay to show a little humor, but be sure your audience will “get” it.
• Only mention music, movies, TV shows, video games, and other aspects of pop culture that are familiar to your audience.
• Prepare in advance for any questions your audience members might ask, or points they might bring up during a discussion.

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If you need one of our TextRanch editors to help you adapt your writing to your target audience, click the blue box below. Select our Quick Text option for something short, like an email. For longer pieces, we recommend our Document Editing service.

Be sure to leave a note for your editor with some details about your audience. That will help us decide what style of writing is the best fit for them.