{"id":365,"date":"2022-04-26T17:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T21:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/?post_type=chapter&p=365"},"modified":"2022-08-18T19:50:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T23:50:27","slug":"11-5-analyzing-the-audience","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/chapter\/11-5-analyzing-the-audience\/","title":{"raw":"11.5 Analyzing The Audience","rendered":"11.5 Analyzing The Audience"},"content":{"raw":"As with any type of writing, when writing formal business reports, it is necessary to know your audience. \u00a0For example, if your audience is familiar with the background information related to your project, you don\u2019t want to bombard them with details; instead, you will want to inform your audience about the aspects of your topic that they\u2019re 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.\u00a0 In addition, you don\u2019t want to use technical jargon when writing to an audience of non-specialists. \u00a0These are just a couple of examples of different audience needs you will want to consider as you write your report.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

Educational Level and Subject Knowledge<\/span><\/h4>\r\nWhile age may not necessarily be an issue in the business world\u2014your audience will almost all be adults\u2014educational level and knowledge of your subject are important to consider when writing your report. \u00a0If 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. \u00a0For 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\u2019t want to assume that your audience knows the names of all of the parts that\u00a0make up an engine; you will have to use terms they will recognize. In some cases, a glossary of terms may be appropriate.<\/span>\r\n

Expectations and Research<\/span><\/h4>\r\nWhat does your audience expect to get out of reading your report? \u00a0What is its purpose? \u00a0Make sure that you have specifically responded to the expectations of your boss, manager, or client. \u00a0If 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? \u00a0No 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). \u00a0You also want to establish a strong\u00a0ethos\u00a0in your report. \u00a0Use confident language that shows that you have done your research and present them with the research.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHere are some questions to consider about your audience as you write:<\/span>\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What does your audience expect to learn from your report?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • What type of ethos should you establish?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • How much research does your audience expect you to have?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • How current does your research need to be?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • What types of sources does your audience expect you to have?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • What is the age of your audience?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • What is the educational level of your audience?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • How much background information does your audience need?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • What technical terms will your audience need defined? \u00a0What terms will they already be familiar with?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  • What is the cultural background of your audience?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","rendered":"

    As with any type of writing, when writing formal business reports, it is necessary to know your audience. \u00a0For example, if your audience is familiar with the background information related to your project, you don\u2019t want to bombard them with details; instead, you will want to inform your audience about the aspects of your topic that they\u2019re 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.\u00a0 In addition, you don\u2019t want to use technical jargon when writing to an audience of non-specialists. \u00a0These are just a couple of examples of different audience needs you will want to consider as you write your report.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Educational Level and Subject Knowledge<\/span><\/h4>\n

    While age may not necessarily be an issue in the business world\u2014your audience will almost all be adults\u2014educational level and knowledge of your subject are important to consider when writing your report. \u00a0If 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. \u00a0For 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\u2019t want to assume that your audience knows the names of all of the parts that\u00a0make up an engine; you will have to use terms they will recognize. In some cases, a glossary of terms may be appropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Expectations and Research<\/span><\/h4>\n

    What does your audience expect to get out of reading your report? \u00a0What is its purpose? \u00a0Make sure that you have specifically responded to the expectations of your boss, manager, or client. \u00a0If 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? \u00a0No 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). \u00a0You also want to establish a strong\u00a0ethos\u00a0in your report. \u00a0Use confident language that shows that you have done your research and present them with the research.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are some questions to consider about your audience as you write:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • What does your audience expect to learn from your report?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • What type of ethos should you establish?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • How much research does your audience expect you to have?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • How current does your research need to be?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • What types of sources does your audience expect you to have?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • What is the age of your audience?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • What is the educational level of your audience?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • How much background information does your audience need?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • What technical terms will your audience need defined? \u00a0What terms will they already be familiar with?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • What is the cultural background of your audience?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":847,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-365","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":355,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1167,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/365\/revisions\/1167"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/355"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/365\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}