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In publishing, the audience is the group of people who are expected to
read, see or listen to your publication. Sometimes you will accurately
know the nature of your audience, which makes publishing a heck of a lot
easier.
Mr Bozo, the clown is not going to lose sleep trying to figure out the
sorts of things he can do at that 4 year old girl's party tomorrow. Neither
will Mr Bozo be in much doubt about how he should present his material.
Most of the time, it isn't that easy. Audiences can be categorised by
many characteristics, and it is important that any document you produce
keeps the characteristics of your audience in mind.
Some factors that differentiate audiences:
- knowledge levels - obviously if you are publishing a technical
piece for surgeons, you will not have to explain what a scalpel is,
nor will you refer to the "tummy" and the "red icky thing"
inside the tummy.
- interest levels - some publishers have the luxury of knowing
that people must read their work, e.g. exam writers don't have
to worry much about making their IPM papers funny and exciting so students
don't say "This is lame. I'm not reading this" and tossing
it away. Most publishers have to fight to keep audiences engaged - making
your publication suitable for your intended audience is an important
first step.
- language skills - as mentioned in the electronic
publication section (especially the problems
of writing for international audiences), not everyone speaks a particular
language well. Even some Australians don't know words that don't appear
on the back of a Corn Flakes packet. You can't assume all members of
your audiences speak fluent English, or know big words.
- age - people of different ages have different things that will
attract and keep their attention. Some topics are unsuitable for people
of certain ages.
- sex - no, not that. The "being male or female" kind.
Men and women can respond differently to different arguments and types
of presentations. Many women prefer publications with more emotion and
relevance to people and relationships. Many men respond better to less
emotional arguments. Yeah, I know. I'm going to have half the female
population on my back about this paragraph. Just let me say that - in
my humble opinion - women and men are different physically (duh!), and
tend to be different emotionally, neurologically and psychologically.
- information needs - different types of people need to know
different things, in different levels of detail. If you wanted to know
how to how to insert a picture, you wouldn't want a three hour lecture.
If you're learning to fly jets, you'd need more than "Well, you
sit here, wiggle this and that's really about it. Don't worry about
the dials and buttons. You probably won't need them. Off you go."
- special needs - colour blind, vision-impaired, hearing-impaired,
intellectually-impaired, having Attention Deficit Disorder, poor coordination
... you might have audience members with all sorts of special needs.
It may be impossible to cater to them all, but you shouldn't make it
unnecessarily hard for them either.
- culture and background - some words or concepts are hateful
to some groups. Joking about some issues - especially politics, sex
and religion - can alienate some people quicker than the plague. Hint:
don't crack jokes about Momammed in a mosque, and don't request "God
Save the Queen" during a singalong in a Dublin pub. Things you
take as "normal", e.g. date formats, commas in numbers, abbreviations,
slang terms may either confuse or antagonise your audience. e.g. Why
do Australians roll around on the floor laughing during the theme song
from 'The Nanny' when it describes her being thrown out on her fanny?
Or is that just me? Similarly, instructing American learner drivers
to always keep left will result in many more deaths than you probably
anticipated.
- roles - people need to behave in certain ways when they play
certain roles. When you deal with people as they play those roles, you
must respect the required protocols and etiquette required. While the
Queen of England may privately enjoy a joke, you would not yell out
"Hey, Betty. Hear the one about the dwarf, the bishop and the elephant
seal?" when you were lining up for your knighthood. This is what
people mean when they say they're putting a different hat on - they
are indicating that they are changing roles and you need to respond
appropriately. Those of you whose mother teaches at your school know what I
mean.
So what's the moral of the story? Before producing a publication you
need to establish, as far as you can...
1) Who is your audience?
2) What are the information needs of this audience?
3) How can you best present the information for that audience?
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