Thou Shalt Know Thy Audience

Do you watch NCIS? I sure do. It's one of my all-time favorite shows, next to The Office and Dexter, but I digress. If you watch NCIS as religiously as I do, then you know about Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his list of rules. Well, I have my own list of rules. They aren't rules like, "Never go anywhere without a knife" (Rule #9, for those of you who are keeping tabs), but more like, "Rule #4: Thou shalt know thy audience." You'll know more about the rest of the rules as time goes on, but for now, don't forget Rule #4. 

Does It Really Matter?

Yes. It really, really, really matters. When it comes down to it, reaching your audience is one of the main purposes for writing. Sure, sometimes the things you write are for your eyes only— for cathartic purposes— and in those cases, by all means, don't think about an audience. When you plan, or even consider, to share your writing with others, audience is crucial. 

Think of it this way: If you're writing on a topic that could be highly technical and you write it that way for people who don't know anything about the topic, what's the point? They won't understand a thing you wrote. And vice versa, if you write a technical piece in layman's terms for other experts, you insult their intelligence; that's certainly no bueno. 

Things to Consider

My professor for Advanced Writing when I was at Etown College (whose name I got from the heading of a paper I wrote for him— Professor Fellinger) gave us a great way to remember the important considerations regarding audience; just turn it into an acronym! Bear in mind that your audience will be very different depending on the type and purpose of writing you're doing.

• A: Analyze- On the most basic level, who are you trying to reach? Your teacher or professor? The general public? Experts on the topic? Your best friend? Yourself? (Yes, you can be your own audience.)

• U: Understand- What does that audience already understand about your topic? Do they know a lot, do they know a little, or somewhere in between? How much do you need or want them to understand? Would you rather your message be more vague or very clear? Keep in mind that, if you want your message to be vague, your audience should not be a professor or teacher, unless you're into getting a bad grade for not completely covering your topic.

• D: Demographics- This is the most nitty-gritty aspect of audience to keep in your head. What's the age range of the person or people you're writing for? What sort of education do they have? If it's a gender-related piece, what gender are you targeting? 

• I: Investment- How interested are they in your topic? Are they super into it and want all the information they can get? Or are they more likely to be looking for a brief overview? How in depth do you need to go? 

• E: Environment- What's your relationship to the audience? Have you thought about any cultural differences that need to be considered? What's their attitude toward what you're writing? (These things can have large impacts on the way you approach your subject.)

• N: Needs- How much and what kind of information to they need? 

• C: Customize- In what ways can you specifically tailor your words to your audience? Are there particular words that hit home more? Hot button points that can be added in to get their attention? Are there phrases you should avoid? (For example, if your target audience is the older generation, they may not understand words and phrases like "on fleek," or "yeet.")

• E: Expectations- What are they expecting from your writing? To feel something? To learn something? To give you a grade? Are they expecting you to be very informed, or simply exploring your topic?

But When?

There are basically two schools of thought in terms of when you should really get into analyzing your audience. One of them is that you should do it right off the bat, when you're outlining and planning what you're about to write. That way, you can be pointed and concise as you're writing.

The other school of thought, however, is that you shouldn't think about it until you're editing. (See? I told you editing is important.) Proponents of this method think that waiting until you edit keeps you from getting overwhelmed as you prepare to write and helps you to get into the flow of your writing process before you get too technical with yourself. 

Which approach you ultimately choose is totally up to you— it is your writing, after all— but can you guess which one I ascribe to? The answer actually might be somewhat surprising. 

It depends on the piece. When I was in college and wrote academically, I always thought of the audience first, when I was outlining my points and gathering my sources. When I write poetry, however, I don't think about who's reading it until after I've written it. Poetry is perfect place to use tactic #2, since I consider it to be much more sensory and based in emotion, which can be interrupted by thinking too much. 

Here's one final quote by good ol' John Steinbeck to mull over as we part: "Your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person— a real person you know, or an imagined person— and write to that one."

Now, get to it. ;) 

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