11.5 Analyzing The Audience

As with any type of writing, when writing formal business reports, it is necessary to know your audience.  For example, if your audience is familiar with the background information related to your project, you don’t want to bombard them with details; instead, you will want to inform your audience about the aspects of your topic that they’re unfamiliar with or have limited knowledge of. In contrast, if your audience does not already know anything about your project, you will want to give them all of the necessary information for them to understand. Age and educational level are also important to consider when you write.  In addition, you don’t want to use technical jargon when writing to an audience of non-specialists.  These are just a couple of examples of different audience needs you will want to consider as you write your report.  

Educational Level and Subject Knowledge

While age may not necessarily be an issue in the business world—your audience will almost all be adults—educational level and knowledge of your subject are important to consider when writing your report.  If you are writing for someone outside of your specific field, you will either need to exclude technical jargon or provide in-text reminders or indications of what specific terms mean or items are.  For example, if you work for an automotive company, and you are writing on behalf of mechanical engineers but for an audience of business professionals, you don’t want to assume that your audience knows the names of all of the parts that make up an engine; you will have to use terms they will recognize. In some cases, a glossary of terms may be appropriate.

Expectations and Research

What does your audience expect to get out of reading your report?  What is its purpose?  Make sure that you have specifically responded to the expectations of your boss, manager, or client.  If your audience expects you to have research, make sure you know what type of research they expect. Do they want research from scholarly journal articles? Do they want you to conduct your own research?  No matter what type of research you do, make sure that it is properly documented using whatever format the audience prefers (MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style are some of the most commonly-used formats).  You also want to establish a strong ethos in your report.  Use confident language that shows that you have done your research and present them with the research.

Here are some questions to consider about your audience as you write:

• What does your audience expect to learn from your report?
• What type of ethos should you establish?
• How much research does your audience expect you to have?
• How current does your research need to be?
• What types of sources does your audience expect you to have?
• What is the age of your audience?
• What is the educational level of your audience?
• How much background information does your audience need?
• What technical terms will your audience need defined?  What terms will they already be familiar with?
• What is the cultural background of your audience?