Picture this: you’re standing behind a stage waiting for your turn to give a hilarious, knee-slapping stand-up comedy bit. Since the stage is inside a high school auditorium, you assume your audience will consist of grungy, bored teenagers. You've diligently researched and prepared an action-packed bit full of colorful stories and funny noises. As your turn is announced, you confidently walk on the stage, ready to blow the audience away and earn their respect. The curtain opens, exposing the many eyes on you. Your jaw drops. Instead of seeing a bunch of restless teenagers, you’re faced with a large group of older folks, and I mean OLDER folks. In the front row, there’s a sweet old lady wearing a shirt with a local nursing home name on it. The group sits patiently, waiting for you to begin.
Now, let’s regroup. Though this story is fake and (hopefully) won’t ever happen to you, we can learn one important lesson from it: focusing on the audience. You might think, well the person in that story did focus on who they thought were their audience. That’s right, but they had the real audience all wrong. Sometimes we have the best intentions and make educated assumptions without actually doing the research. How can we avoid this in our work as technical writers? Let’s talk about determining who our audience is and how we can write for their needs.
How can I Determine the Audience type?
Audience type plays into every aspect of your projects as a technical writer. "For most technical communicators, audience is the most important consideration in planning, writing, and reviewing a document" (Texas A&M University). You might think that since you are a technical writer, you will write about tech for tech-understanding people. Don't make the stand-up comedy mistake. There are typically four main audience types in technical writing:
- Experts
- Technicians
- Executives
- Non-specialists
Experts
The word pretty much explains itself, but the experts are the people who know everything about your project subject. They usually have advanced experience and degrees. They'll use and understand technical language. At OIT, they might be senior technicians, engineers, or directors.
Example document types for this audience:
- Scientific papers
- Medical case studies
- Legal case reviews
- Annual business report
Technicians
Technicians build and maintain products. They have advanced technical experience and knowledge. They will be the most likely to use heavy technical language, including slang and abbreviations. At OIT, they might be the CSRs or software engineers.
Example document types for this audience:
- KB articles
- Technical descriptions
Non-specialists
Non-specialists are usually your user group. They will have little to no technical knowledge and require clear and simple writing. At OIT, they might be students, faculty, or staff.
Example document types for this audience:
- Step-by-step guides
- Website text
- FAQ pages
Dig Deeper into Audience-type
Once you know your focus audience type, you’ll need to take some time to consider these important characteristics:
- Knowledge-level
- Experience
- Needs
- Pain points
- Age group
It is oftentimes helpful to create a persona or several personas when trying to better understand your audience. You can do this by creating a profile of a fake person with a name and similar demographics to your target audience. Then, you can put yourself in their shoes and write out pain points and needs they might have. When you actually start writing, you then have an actual picture in your head of your audience and what they need from you.
Other Important Considerations
Now that you know how to focus on your audience, here are some other tips to help keep you centered and enhance your writing skills:
- Multiple audiences: Sometimes you will find yourself in a situation where more than one audience is your audience type. In this case, you can organize your document in a way that both audiences can find what they are specifically looking for, or you can write to the lower knowledge level so everyone can understand.
- Slang: Many experts and technicians will know and use slang terms and abbreviations when talking tech. Avoid using slang, even if your audience regularly does. If you want to use slang or an abbreviation in your text, explain what it is the first time it is mentioned and then you can continue to use it for the rest of the writing.
- Purging the audience: This refers to separating your audience and speaking to them directly. For example, saying “All software engineers will relate to the following story...” purges out anyone who is not a software engineer and makes it less likely for them to continue reading. This is acceptable when applicable, but be careful not to purge an audience away that you might need.
As you apply these principles, remember that YOU are the bridge to your audience. Your focus on them is essential in the writing process and will only bring you greater knowledge and success. Think about that first story with the comedy bit again. Now imagine that you walk on the stage, but this time you have a whole bit prepared just for the nursing home folks. You deliver it flawlessly and walk off the stand with a standing ovation. Now that’s focusing on the audience.