From the course: Writing in Plain English

Define your audience before writing

From the course: Writing in Plain English

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Define your audience before writing

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- [Instructor] Before you start writing, it's important to define who your audience is and what they need from you. So put yourself in your reader's shoes and literally name specific groups. For example, let's say you work at a high end olive oil business. Depending on what you're writing, you may be writing for general foodies, professional chefs, retail businesses thinking about carrying your product, school groups who visit your orchards, people who are extremely health conscious, or people who are just looking for a good house warming gift and have never bought fancy olive oil before in their lives. Jot down your targets and revisit them as you write. Put them on a sticky note on your computer or write them at the top of your document. Then for each group, consider what you know about them, the questions you get by email, or what people search for on your website, for example. Ask yourself what they already know. What do they need to know? What might they find confusing? Especially interesting? In addition to looking at your own existing data and doing web searches, think about asking some people who fit in the group or even doing some formal surveys. Finally, consider what you want your audience to do or take away from your writing. It often helps to tell them why they need to know the information with phrases such as, "if you're looking for a gift, start here," or "how to complete the forms you need for a school visit." Defining your audience does take extra time upfront, but it pays off by making sure your writing meets their needs, respects their time, and doesn't leave them confused or missing information.

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