Audience Recognition and Involvement Technical Writing Audience Recognition and Involvement

Audience recognition Determining whether your audience is high, tech, low tech, no tech, lay, or multiple helps you write effective correspondence. The audience any piece of writing is the intended or potential reader or readers. This is the most important consideration in planning, writing, and reviewing a document. You "adapt" your writing to meet the needs, interests, and background of the readers who will be reading your writing.

What about the audience? Lack of audience analysis and adaptation is one of the root causes of most of the problems in professional, technical documents—particularly in instructions. It's much the same as telling someone, "Talk so the person in front of you can understand what you're saying." It's like saying, "Don't talk rocket science to your six-year-old."

Determine your levels of audience. Who is your audience? What does this reader or listener know? Audience may not know your jargon or acronyms. What does this reader or listener not know? What must you write or say to ensure that your audience understands your point?

Determine your levels of audience. How do you communicate to more than one person (multiple audiences)? What is his or her position in relation to your job title? Tone of memo may be inappropriate. What diversity issues (gender, sexual orientation, cultural, multi-cultural) must you consider? Factor in your audience’s unique culture, language, and level of understanding.

Knowledge of Subject Matter Audience Variables Knowledge of Subject Matter High tech Low tech No tech/lay Multiple Issues of Diversity Age Gender Race and/or religion Sexual orientation Language and/or culture of origin— multicultural or cross-cultural

Audience variables Experts: These are the people who know the theory and the product inside and out. They designed it, they tested it, they know everything about it. Technicians: These are the people who build, operate, maintain, and repair the stuff that the experts design and theorize about. Theirs is a highly technical knowledge as well, but of a more practical nature.

Audience variables Executives: These are the people who make business, economic, administrative, legal, governmental, political decisions on the stuff that the experts and technicians work with. knowledge about the subject as non-specialists. Non-specialists: These readers have the least technical knowledge of all. They want to use the new product to accomplish their tasks; they may just be curious about a specific technical matter and want to learn about it—but for no specific, practical reason.

Multiple audiences Provide background information, if necessary. Define jargon, abbreviations, and acronyms. Define terms by using phrases, sentences or glossaries Must have a matter-or-fact, business-like tone.

Biased Language—Issues of Diversity Diversity includes Race Gender Religion Ethnicity Age Sexual orientation class

Multiculturalism Writing for a global market poses many concerns for the technical writer. Which words to use Which terms to define What a word might mean in different languages Cultural biases Effects of graphics and humor

Multiculturalism Define acronyms and abbreviations Avoid jargon and idioms Distinguish between nouns and verbs Watch for cultural biases/expectations Avoid humor and puns Leave space for translation Avoid figurative language

Sexist Language Sexist language offends many readers. Omission Biased When setting up his experiment, the researcher must always check for errors. Unbiased When setting up experiments, the research must always check for errors.

Sexist Language Sexist language offends many readers. Unequal treatment Biased Mrs. Acton, a statuesque blonde, is Joe Granger’s assistant. Unbiased Jan Acton is Joe Granger’s assistant.

Sexist Language Sexist language offends many readers. Stereotyping Biased The manager is responsible for the productivity of his department; the foreman is responsible for the work of his linemen. Unbiased Management is responsible for departmental productivity. Supervisors are responsible for their personnel.

Audience involvement When you focus the tone of a document and appeal to the readers’ needs, you can involve them in the technical documentation. Use a personalized tone Reveal benefits to readers Use positive words and power verbs

Audience involvement A user-centered approach to document design requires detailed knowledge of the target audience, as this provides information about user constraints and preferences on which the design must be based. Information on the motivation, habits, preferences, cultural context, technological capacities, and physical capabilities of the target audiences is required before a single piece of text can be written. http://www.bogieland.com/ucd_techcom.htm

Audience involvement An easy-to-use document is one that people will return to, enhances the organization's reputation, and permits further development of business functions. User-centered design is crucial to the success, and the measurement of success, of all documents: paper and electronic. http://www.bogieland.com/ucd_techcom.htm