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Chapter 2. Adapting Your Message to Your Audience. Identifying Audience Audience Analysis Organizational Culture Discourse Communities Group members. Channels Adapting Message Audience Benefits Multiple Audiences. Identify Your Audiences.
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Chapter 2 Adapting Your Message to Your Audience • Identifying Audience • Audience Analysis • Organizational Culture • Discourse Communities • Group members • Channels • Adapting Message • Audience Benefits • Multiple Audiences
Identify Your Audiences • Gatekeeper – may stop message or send it on • Primary - decides or acts on basis of message • Secondary –comments on message or implements ideas A person can be in two audiences
Identify Your Audiences, continued… • Auxiliary – encounters message but does not interact with it (read-only) • Watchdog – may exert economic, legal, political, or social power later
Analyze Your Audiences • Individuals • Group members • Demographics • Psychographics • Organization members • Culture • Discourse community
Analyze Individuals • People you work closely with • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator – preference test that shows 4 types • Introvert-Extrovert • Sensing-Intuitive • Thinking-Feeling • Perceiving-Judging Take Myers-Briggs at your campus career center!
Myers-Briggs Personality Types • Introvert – gets energy from within • Extrovert – gets energy from inter-acting with others • Sensing – gets information from 5 senses • Intuitive – sees relationships Whichtypeare you?
Myers-Briggs Personality Types, continued… • Thinking – uses objective logic to make decisions • Feeling – makes decisions that feel right • Judging – likes closure, certainty • Perceptive – likes possibilities Whichtypeare you?
Analyze Group Members • Focus on common features • Map profile of group features • Demographic (quantity) features • Age – Education – Income – Race – Sex • Psychographic (quality) features • Values – Beliefs – Goals – Lifestyles • VALS (Values & Lifestyle) profile used
Analyze Organization Members • Organizational culture – set of values, attitudes, and philosophies • Shows in myths, stories, heroes, & documents • Shows in use of space, money, and power
To Analyze Organization Culture, Ask • Is organization tall or flat? • How do people get ahead? • Is diversity or homogeneity valued? • Is sociability important? • How formal are behavior, language, and dress? • What does the work space look like? • What are the organization’s goals?
Analyze Organization Members, continued… • Discourse community - people who share assumptions about: • What media, formats, and styles to use • What topics to discuss and how • What constitutes convincing evidence
To Analyze Discourse Community, Ask • What channels, formats and styles are preferred for communication? • What do people talk about? • What topics are not discussed? • What kind of evidence and how much is needed to be convincing?
Channels • Communication channels – means by which you convey your message • Channels vary by • Speed, accuracy, and cost • Number of messages carried • Number of people reached • Efficiency and goodwill • Choose channels based on the audience, purpose, and situation
Channels Pick the best channel for each situation: • Instructor who wants to cancel class • Small non-profit organization who needs to reach contributors • Product recall notifications • Notice to all employees about new smoking policy outside corporate offices
Six Questions to Analyze Audiences 1. How will audience react at first? • Will they see message as important? • What is their experience with you? 2. How much information do they need? • What do they already know? • Does their knowledge need to be updated? • What do they need to know to appreciate your points?
Six Questions to Analyze Audiences, continued… 3. What obstacles must you overcome? • Is audience opposed to your message? • Will it be easy to do as you ask? 4. What positives can you emphasize? • What are benefits for audience? • What do you have in common with them? • Experiences – Interests – Goals – Values
Six Questions to Analyze Audiences, continued… 5. What does audience expect? • What writing style do they prefer? • Are there red flag words? • How much detail does audience want? • Do they want direct or indirect structure? • Do they have expectations about length, visuals, or footnotes?
Six Questions to Analyze Audiences, continued… 6.How will audience use document? • Under what physical conditions will they use it? • What purpose will document serve? • Reference • Guide • Basis of lawsuit
Audience Benefits • Advantages audience gets from • Using your services • Buying your products • Following your policies • Adopting your ideas
Audience Benefits, continued… • In informative messages • Benefits = reasons to comply with announced policies • In persuasive messages • Benefits = reasons to act • In negative messages • Benefits not used
Four Criteria for Audience Benefits • Adapt benefits to audience • Stress intrinsic and extrinsic ones • Intrinsic– built in • Extrinsic – added on • Use clear logic to prove and vivid detail to explain • Phrase benefits in you-attitude
Three Ways to Identify & Develop Audience Benefits • Identify feelings, fears, and needs of audience • Identify objective features of your product or policy that could meet needs • Show how audience’s needs can be met with those features
Writing to Multiple Audiences • When not possible to meet everyone’s needs, analyze gatekeepers and primary audience to determine • Content and choice of details • Organization • Level of formality • Use of technical terms and theory