{"id":48,"date":"2018-05-28T00:03:08","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T04:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/chapter\/2-10-adapting-messages\/"},"modified":"2019-05-08T14:11:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T18:11:06","slug":"3-10-adapting-messages","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/chapter\/3-10-adapting-messages\/","title":{"raw":"3.10 Adapting messages","rendered":"3.10 Adapting messages"},"content":{"raw":"Let's say you've analyzed your audience until you know them better than you know yourself. What good is it? How do you use this information? How do you keep from writing something that will still be incomprehensible or useless to your readers?\r\n\r\nThe business of writing <i>to<\/i> your audience may have a lot to do with in-born talent, intuition, and even mystery. But there are some controls you can use to have a better chance to connect with your readers. The following \"controls\" mostly have to do with making information more understandable for your specific audience:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Add information readers need to understand your document.<\/span> Check to see whether certain key information is missing\u2014for example, a critical series of steps from a set of instructions, important background that helps beginners understand the main discussion, or definitions of key terms.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Omit information your readers do not need.<\/span> Unnecessary information can also confuse and frustrate readers\u2014after all, it's there so they feel obligated to read it. For example, you can probably chop theoretical discussion from basic instructions.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change the level of the information you currently have.<\/span> You may have the right information but it may be \"pitched\" at too high or too low a technical level. It may be pitched at the wrong kind of audience\u2014for example, at an expert audience rather than a technician audience. This happens most often when product-design notes are passed off as instructions.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Add examples to help readers understand.<\/span> Examples are one of the most powerful ways to connect with audiences, particularly in instructions. Even in non-instructional text, for example, when you are trying to explain a technical concept, examples are a major help\u2014analogies in particular.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change the level of your examples.<\/span> You may be using examples, but the technical content or level may not be appropriate to your readers.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change the organization of your information.<\/span> Sometimes, you can have all the right information but arrange it in the wrong way. For example, there can be too much background information up front (or too little) such that certain readers get lost. Sometimes, background information needs to be consolidated into the main information\u2014for example, in instructions it's sometimes better to feed in chunks of background at the points where they are immediately needed.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Strengthen transitions.<\/span> It may be difficult for readers, particularly non-specialists, to see the connections between the main sections of your report, between individual paragraphs, and sometimes even between individual sentences. You can make these connections much clearer by adding <i>transition words<\/i> and by echoing <i>key words<\/i> more accurately. Words like \"therefore,\" \"for example,\" \"however\" are transition words\u2014they indicate the logic connecting the previous thought to the upcoming thought.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Write stronger introductions\u2014both for the whole document and for major sections.<\/span> People seem to read with more confidence and understanding when they have the \"big picture\"\u2014a view of what's coming, and how it relates to what they've just read. Therefore, make sure you have a strong introduction to the entire document\u2014one that makes clear the topic, purpose, audience, and contents of that document. And for each major section within your document, use mini-introductions that indicate at least the topic of the section and give an overview of the subtopics to be covered in that section.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Create topic sentences for paragraphs and paragraph groups.<\/span> It can help readers immensely to give them an idea of the topic and purpose of a section (a group of paragraphs) and in particular to give them an overview of the subtopics about to be covered.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change sentence style and length.<\/span> How you write\u2014down at the individual sentence level\u2014can make a big difference too. In instructions, for example, using imperative voice and \"you\" phrasing is vastly more understandable than the passive voice or third-personal phrasing. Passive, person-less writing is harder to read\u2014put people and action in your writing. Similarly, go for active verbs as opposed to <i>be<\/i> verb phrasing. All of this makes your writing more direct and immediate\u2014readers don't have to dig for it. Sentence length matters as well. An average of somewhere between 15 and 25 words per sentence is about right; sentences over 30 words are often mistrusted.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Work on sentence clarity and economy.<\/span> This is closely related to the previous \"control\" but deserves its own spot. Often, writing style can be so wordy that it is hard or frustrating to read. When you revise your rough drafts, put them on a diet\u2014go through a draft line by line trying to reduce the overall word, page or line count by 20 percent. Try it as an experiment and see how you do. You'll find a lot of fussy, unnecessary detail and inflated phrasing you can chop out.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Use more or different graphics.<\/span> For non-specialist audiences, you may want to use more graphics\u2014and simpler ones at that. Graphics for specialists are more detailed and more technical.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Break text up or consolidate text into meaningful, usable chunks.<\/span> For non-specialist readers, you may need to have shorter paragraphs.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Add cross-references to important information.<\/span> In technical information, you can help non-specialist readers by pointing them to background sources. If you can't fully explain a topic on the spot, point to a section or chapter where it is.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Use headings and lists.<\/span> Readers can be intimidated by big dense paragraphs of writing, uncut by anything other than a blank line now and then. Search your rough drafts for ways to incorporate headings\u2014look for changes in topic or subtopic. Search your writing for listings of things\u2014these can be made into vertical lists. Look for paired listings such as terms and their definitions\u2014these can be made into two-column lists. Of course, be careful not to force this special formatting\u2014don't overdo it.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Use special typography, and work with margins, line length, line spacing, type size, and type style.<\/span> You can do things like making the lines shorter (bringing in the margins), using larger type sizes, and other such tactics. Certain type styles are believed to be friendlier and more readable than others.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThese are the kinds of \"controls\" that you can use to fine-tune your messages and make them as readily understandable as possible. In contrast, it's the accumulation of lots of problems in these areas\u2014even seemingly trivial ones\u2014that add up to a document being difficult to read and understand.\r\n<h2 id=\"critique\">Attribution<\/h2>\r\n<div class=\"row\">\r\n\r\nThis chapter is an adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/aud.html\">\"Audience analysis\"<\/a> in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/acctoc.html\">Online Technical Writing Textbook<\/a> by D. McMurray and is used under a <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC-BY 4.0 International license<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s say you&#8217;ve analyzed your audience until you know them better than you know yourself. What good is it? How do you use this information? How do you keep from writing something that will still be incomprehensible or useless to your readers?<\/p>\n<p>The business of writing <i>to<\/i> your audience may have a lot to do with in-born talent, intuition, and even mystery. But there are some controls you can use to have a better chance to connect with your readers. The following &#8220;controls&#8221; mostly have to do with making information more understandable for your specific audience:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Add information readers need to understand your document.<\/span> Check to see whether certain key information is missing\u2014for example, a critical series of steps from a set of instructions, important background that helps beginners understand the main discussion, or definitions of key terms.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Omit information your readers do not need.<\/span> Unnecessary information can also confuse and frustrate readers\u2014after all, it&#8217;s there so they feel obligated to read it. For example, you can probably chop theoretical discussion from basic instructions.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change the level of the information you currently have.<\/span> You may have the right information but it may be &#8220;pitched&#8221; at too high or too low a technical level. It may be pitched at the wrong kind of audience\u2014for example, at an expert audience rather than a technician audience. This happens most often when product-design notes are passed off as instructions.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Add examples to help readers understand.<\/span> Examples are one of the most powerful ways to connect with audiences, particularly in instructions. Even in non-instructional text, for example, when you are trying to explain a technical concept, examples are a major help\u2014analogies in particular.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change the level of your examples.<\/span> You may be using examples, but the technical content or level may not be appropriate to your readers.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change the organization of your information.<\/span> Sometimes, you can have all the right information but arrange it in the wrong way. For example, there can be too much background information up front (or too little) such that certain readers get lost. Sometimes, background information needs to be consolidated into the main information\u2014for example, in instructions it&#8217;s sometimes better to feed in chunks of background at the points where they are immediately needed.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Strengthen transitions.<\/span> It may be difficult for readers, particularly non-specialists, to see the connections between the main sections of your report, between individual paragraphs, and sometimes even between individual sentences. You can make these connections much clearer by adding <i>transition words<\/i> and by echoing <i>key words<\/i> more accurately. Words like &#8220;therefore,&#8221; &#8220;for example,&#8221; &#8220;however&#8221; are transition words\u2014they indicate the logic connecting the previous thought to the upcoming thought.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Write stronger introductions\u2014both for the whole document and for major sections.<\/span> People seem to read with more confidence and understanding when they have the &#8220;big picture&#8221;\u2014a view of what&#8217;s coming, and how it relates to what they&#8217;ve just read. Therefore, make sure you have a strong introduction to the entire document\u2014one that makes clear the topic, purpose, audience, and contents of that document. And for each major section within your document, use mini-introductions that indicate at least the topic of the section and give an overview of the subtopics to be covered in that section.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Create topic sentences for paragraphs and paragraph groups.<\/span> It can help readers immensely to give them an idea of the topic and purpose of a section (a group of paragraphs) and in particular to give them an overview of the subtopics about to be covered.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Change sentence style and length.<\/span> How you write\u2014down at the individual sentence level\u2014can make a big difference too. In instructions, for example, using imperative voice and &#8220;you&#8221; phrasing is vastly more understandable than the passive voice or third-personal phrasing. Passive, person-less writing is harder to read\u2014put people and action in your writing. Similarly, go for active verbs as opposed to <i>be<\/i> verb phrasing. All of this makes your writing more direct and immediate\u2014readers don&#8217;t have to dig for it. Sentence length matters as well. An average of somewhere between 15 and 25 words per sentence is about right; sentences over 30 words are often mistrusted.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Work on sentence clarity and economy.<\/span> This is closely related to the previous &#8220;control&#8221; but deserves its own spot. Often, writing style can be so wordy that it is hard or frustrating to read. When you revise your rough drafts, put them on a diet\u2014go through a draft line by line trying to reduce the overall word, page or line count by 20 percent. Try it as an experiment and see how you do. You&#8217;ll find a lot of fussy, unnecessary detail and inflated phrasing you can chop out.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Use more or different graphics.<\/span> For non-specialist audiences, you may want to use more graphics\u2014and simpler ones at that. Graphics for specialists are more detailed and more technical.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Break text up or consolidate text into meaningful, usable chunks.<\/span> For non-specialist readers, you may need to have shorter paragraphs.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Add cross-references to important information.<\/span> In technical information, you can help non-specialist readers by pointing them to background sources. If you can&#8217;t fully explain a topic on the spot, point to a section or chapter where it is.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Use headings and lists.<\/span> Readers can be intimidated by big dense paragraphs of writing, uncut by anything other than a blank line now and then. Search your rough drafts for ways to incorporate headings\u2014look for changes in topic or subtopic. Search your writing for listings of things\u2014these can be made into vertical lists. Look for paired listings such as terms and their definitions\u2014these can be made into two-column lists. Of course, be careful not to force this special formatting\u2014don&#8217;t overdo it.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"runin_heading_bold\">Use special typography, and work with margins, line length, line spacing, type size, and type style.<\/span> You can do things like making the lines shorter (bringing in the margins), using larger type sizes, and other such tactics. Certain type styles are believed to be friendlier and more readable than others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are the kinds of &#8220;controls&#8221; that you can use to fine-tune your messages and make them as readily understandable as possible. In contrast, it&#8217;s the accumulation of lots of problems in these areas\u2014even seemingly trivial ones\u2014that add up to a document being difficult to read and understand.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"critique\">Attribution<\/h2>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<p>This chapter is an adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/aud.html\">&#8220;Audience analysis&#8221;<\/a> in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/acctoc.html\">Online Technical Writing Textbook<\/a> by D. McMurray and is used under a <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC-BY 4.0 International license<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-48","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":26,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/320"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48\/revisions\/267"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/26"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/48\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/professionalcomms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}