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Slide 2 A NALYZING AND P ERSUADING THE A UDIENCE Slide 3 AUDIENCE Every audience expects a message tailored to its own specific interests, social conventions, ways of understanding problems, and information needs (Lannon 17). PURPOSE WRITERS: inform, instruct, influence AUDIENCES: decide, learn, act Slide 4 Primary Audience Secondary Audience Tertiary Audience Slide 5 Who is the main audience for this document? What is your relationship with the audience? What information does the audience need? Are multiple types of relationships involved? Do the readers have varying levels of expertise? How might cultural differences shape readers expectations and interpretations? Which culture(s) does your audience represent? How familiar might the audience be with technical details? Who else is likely to read it? Slide 6 Experts want highly technical communication with just the facts. Informed readers want semi-technical communication with an explanation of the facts. Laypersons want non- technical communication with facts explained in the simplest terms. What audiences want: length detail format medium tone timeliness Slide 7 EXAMPLE AUDIENCE AND USE ANALYSIS Whats my (the authors) purpose? Whats the audiences purpose? Who are the primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences? What does the primary audience need? How will the audience use the document? What is the audiences technical background? What is the audiences attitude toward me? Toward the information? What does the audience expect from this type of document (format/medium, tone, due date/timing)? What questions might the audience have? What cultural, ethical, or legal considerations should I make? Slide 8 PERSUADING YOUR AUDIENCE influence opinions enlist supportsubmit proposal change behavior Slide 9 HOW THE AUDIENCE YIELDS compliance internalization identification Slide 10 PREDICT AUDIENCE REACTION Says who? So what? Why should I? Whats in it for me? What will it cost? What are the risks? What are you up to? Whats in it for you? Will it mean more work for me? Will it make me look bad? Slide 11 PRESENTING YOUR CLAIM 1.Identify persuasive goal. 2.Predict audience reaction. 3.Promote your view and respond to opposition. 4.Ask for a specific response (but dont ask too much). 5.Recognize all constraints. (organizational, time, legal, ethical, social/psychological) 6.Support your claims convincingly. 7.Appeal to common goals/values. 8.Consider cultural context. Slide 12 WORKS CONSULTED Johnson-Sheehan, R. Technical Communication Strageties for Today. 2011. Lannon, J. M. & L. Gurak. Technical Communication. 2011. Markel, M. Technical Communication. 2010.