 Our keys describe an aspect of communication that must be considered when writing and analyzing a speech, an advertisement, an essay, or other type of non-fiction communication

The first Three keys are:  The Speaker—who is writing or talking & what do we know about him or her? What credibility does he have? What is his connection to us and to his topic?  The Audience—to whom is the speaker or writer addressing the communication? How are they connected to the speaker? What kind of people are they?  The Topic or Content: what is the speech or advertisement or writing about? Is this something controversial or important? Obvious or obscure?

 Here is Tone—what is the speaker’s attitude toward the topic—and even the audience. Tone is often indicated by word choice and the sound of the voice in speaking

 Expectation is what the audience thinks it will hear, see or read from the author about this particular topic. For example, if I watch a car ad, I expect to see a sexy, powerful car driving on a curving road in a beautiful place.  Purpose is why the speaker or writer is engaged in this communication. Go beyond the basics— purpose is more than just inform, persuade or entertain—inform about what? Persuade to do or believe what?

The immediate cause of the communication is called the EXIGENCY —think of it like a catalyst in chemistry The bigger set of events going on in the world, the country, the community or the special event is called the CONTEXT —and it surrounds the whole communication event, and can create the exigency Finally, each communication event has a GENRE —a category that the type of communication fits into— speech, essay, illustration, tweet, argument.

Topic AudienceSpeaker Genre Context expectation Tone Purpose exigency

 Some Superbowl TV commercials from this year Some Superbowl TV commercials from this year  Here’s an editorial cartoon on a current event Here’s an editorial cartoon on a current event  and another on popular culture and another on popular culture