Lesson 8 — Activity 2: Communicating with an Audience
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Lesson 8 — Activity 2: Communicating with an Audience
In the last activity, you thought about the purpose for communicating. Now you will think about your audience.
Audience
What if you went to a concert that had Drake performing? Drake has been described as a rapper and singer with pop appeal. Then think about going to a concert of classical music by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Would the same audience be at each concert? While some people might enjoy both types of music, it is likely that you would see quite a difference in the two audiences. Why? Clearly, each audience is looking for something quite different musically than the other audience.
Audience
- refers to the person or people you are writing for, speaking to, or representing: who is the target you want your message to reach?
What if you went to a concert that had Drake performing? Drake has been described as a rapper and singer with pop appeal. Then think about going to a concert of classical music by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Would the same audience be at each concert? While some people might enjoy both types of music, it is likely that you would see quite a difference in the two audiences. Why? Clearly, each audience is looking for something quite different musically than the other audience.
In
the same way, you have to think about your audience when you are
writing, speaking, or representing. You will be more successful if you
use a tone and style that the audience will respond to and understand.
You should think about the following —
Is the situation formal or informal?
Is the situation formal or informal?
- Formal situations require more careful use of language, grammar, spelling, etc. than informal situations.
Does the audience know a lot about the topic?
- If you are talking about the latest computer technology with people who know a lot about computers, you can use technical language and jargon. You would have to use simpler language with someone with no experience with computers.
- You might use some humour in your communication if you want to amuse your audience. You would use a serious tone when you are trying to tell your audience some important facts.
Is the audience older with a good attention span or younger with limited attention?
- You might use a greater variety of sentences with the first group and very short, simple sentences with the second group.
To get your message across, you need to take some time to think about who your audience is and what kind of situation it is.
Then you should think about how to approach your audience. You want them to listen to your message and be able to understand it.
Then you should think about how to approach your audience. You want them to listen to your message and be able to understand it.