AUDIENCE ANALYSIS WORKSHOP

PAGE 7: TURN IN YOUR TICKETS HERE
Put your summaries together for a whole look at your audience.
Given the audience analysis example, below, what can you guess about the document this writer will produce?
Note: The following case is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to anyone is coincidental.
Put your summaries together for a whole look at your audience.
Given the audience analysis example, below, what can you guess about the document this writer will produce?
Note: The following case is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to anyone is coincidental.
Audience Identity: Store manager

Steve Cantenberry (a friend of a friend). Possible secondary audience: store regional supervisor. Cantenberry's relationship to my documents is that of interviewer, a position of power to hire me or not. He is about 40, has a college education, and has been in his job for two years. He rose through the ranks in the store. He's worked there about five years so knows the store well. I don't know where else he has worked.
Audience Needs: Reliable department manager

Steve islooking for a manager of his software department and wants someone who won't flake on him or steal from the store like the person he had to fire last week. He's gone through 3 software managers in the last 4 months—he needs a reliable person in that job!
Audience Attitudes: Hopeful & Skeptical

My friend recommended me to Steve, and Steve called me and invited me to apply. He is eager to get someone reliable into the job and hopes it will be me. His attitude will be hopeful but skeptical because he's had three duds in the last 4 months and they looked as good on paper as I do. He wants to trust me but will need some proof. That's got to be my recommendations from David and from Carol. They can tell him about the "Blaisdale" incident. I can sketch in my cover letter my experience dealing with employees who caused trouble and suggest that he call my references for verification and more details.
Audience Knowledge: Varied

He knows from Maria that I've got experience and am reliable. Does he know David? I should call David and ask. If Steve knows about the Blaisdale thing, then I might word things differently in the cover letter. He knows retail and software because he became store manager through the ranks and started in software. Jargon is ok. Questions he will ask as he reads:
a. Do I have education, experience, skills, and references? These will be covered in the resume.
b. Do I have enough retail experience? Yes, that's covered in the resume.
c. Do I have enough software experience? Yes, that's covered in the resume; in the cover letter I'll not talk about specific programs but about software developers and distributors to show that I know how the field works.
d. Do I have managerial skills? Yes, that's covered in the resume; in the cover letter I'll relate, as one problem I faced and how I solved it, an employee theft ring.
e. Am I to be trusted? Yes, I'll cover that in the cover letter by making the problem/solution do double duty as an example of managerial skill and trustworthiness.
f. What's my availability and when I can start? I'll include that in the cover letter. Since I'll be handing this to him, I don't need to put in interview set up information, but I should thank him for the interview opportunity.
g. What's my contact information? This will be in both resume and cover letter.
h. (This is an afterthought) Do I know the store layout and culture? I can do something with that in the cover letter. Maybe I should mention that I have tan slacks like all the employees wear? Maybe not. That doesn't sound like a cover letter topic. I could mention that I'm used to building window displays and end caps according to company guidelines like their recent ones for the new Playstation.
a. Do I have education, experience, skills, and references? These will be covered in the resume.
b. Do I have enough retail experience? Yes, that's covered in the resume.
c. Do I have enough software experience? Yes, that's covered in the resume; in the cover letter I'll not talk about specific programs but about software developers and distributors to show that I know how the field works.
d. Do I have managerial skills? Yes, that's covered in the resume; in the cover letter I'll relate, as one problem I faced and how I solved it, an employee theft ring.
e. Am I to be trusted? Yes, I'll cover that in the cover letter by making the problem/solution do double duty as an example of managerial skill and trustworthiness.
f. What's my availability and when I can start? I'll include that in the cover letter. Since I'll be handing this to him, I don't need to put in interview set up information, but I should thank him for the interview opportunity.
g. What's my contact information? This will be in both resume and cover letter.
h. (This is an afterthought) Do I know the store layout and culture? I can do something with that in the cover letter. Maybe I should mention that I have tan slacks like all the employees wear? Maybe not. That doesn't sound like a cover letter topic. I could mention that I'm used to building window displays and end caps according to company guidelines like their recent ones for the new Playstation.
Audience Reading Conditions: Inside Office

He'll be reading the resume and cover letter while I'm sitting there in his office. Or will he? Does he want these just for the files (and to cover himself if I don't work out) or will he be using them to find out about me before interviewing me? How do I know? Should I call and ask?
Once you have your analysis laid out in front of you, consider letting it rest for a day. That will give your mind time to percolate ideas about how this information will influence your format, register, and content. Jot down all your ideas as they come to you, and then take the final step: making those format, register, and content decisions.
Once you have your analysis laid out in front of you, consider letting it rest for a day. That will give your mind time to percolate ideas about how this information will influence your format, register, and content. Jot down all your ideas as they come to you, and then take the final step: making those format, register, and content decisions.

Rodgers' Writing Tips by tips.rhettime.net is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
Copyright Ida L. Rodgers, 2004
Updated January 16, 2012
Updated January 16, 2012