CHAPTER 1

Write for Your Readers

Consider ...

A camera manufacturer provides an instruction manual written only in French,frustrating the English-speaking buyer.

An environmental services brochure sent to purchasing managers used suchtechnical language (an "aquifer characterization" and "in situ volatilization totreat the vadose zone") that many confused purchasers chose another source.

A direct mail piece with a pro-life message sent to a pro-choice audienceactually caused those people to feel more vehemently opposed to the pro-lifeposition.

A Web page designed for college students tried to arouse a sense of activism inthe students; unfortunately, the Web page referred to famous activists likeRalph Nader, whom the students didn't recognize.

The dean of a college sent an e-mail to the chairmen of five departments. Threeof the five were women.

Coors committed a faux pas when it used its slogan "Turn it loose" in Spanish.Unfortunately, it translated as "Suffer from diarrhea."

American Airlines also neglected global manners with its campaign "Fly inLeather," that translated means "Fly Naked."

These real-life examples show what can happen when you don't know your audience.Your communication can confuse, anger, or simply fail to connect with the peopleyou want to reach. This chapter focuses on knowing your readers and how you canbetter connect with them.

Know Your Readers

The first tip to effective writing is to know your audience. The more you know,the more you can tailor or customize your message for an individual or group.

First, think of the person or persons you write to most frequently. Visualizeyour supervisor or your key customer as you write. Try to obtain informationsuch as age, education level, income, and gender.

If you can discover interests, opinions, and values, you can persuade yourreaders more effectively. And you have a great advantage knowing the readers'understanding of your topic. Let's go back to the opening examples.

If the person who wrote the instructions for the camera had known the firstlanguage of the reader, he could have avoided using the incorrect language.

Whoever created the environmental services brochure did not take into accountthe educational level of the readers or the readers' knowledge of thetopic, confusing potential purchasers.

The pro-life group ignored the values held by the people who would readits message.

The person who designed the Web page to arouse activism in college studentsignored an important demographic, age: the students were too young toremember or care about Ralph Nader.

The dean should have considered gender and addressed his e-mail to"chairs" or "chairpersons."

Coors' marketers ignored the nationality of Spanish speakers, as didAmerican Airlines by confusing or humoring customers.

You can see that if the writers of these pieces had known their audiences, theycould have avoided serious blunders.

What If You Don't Know Your Readers?

The scenario: You have 15 minutes to write an e-mail and you don't know muchabout the manager you're addressing. Here are some quick tips.

In most cases you need only spend a few minutes determining which of thefollowing categories most closely fits your reader. Then you can easily adjustyour writing.

It's helpful to evaluate whether your reader is a layperson, anexpert, an executive, a user, or a complex type.Here are some guidelines to help you categorize your readers, with some "Dos andDon'ts" and a few examples.

Layperson

A layperson by definition has little expertise in a subject matter and usuallyno particular motivation to read what you write. So to be effective, you mustmotivate or attract your reader; starting with a benefit helps. A layperson isnot knowledgeable, so you must adjust your tone, style, and vocabulary.

Do: Find a way to attract attention.

Don't: Bore your reader with detail.

For example ... If you're writing to employees (normally laypersons)about various health care plans, find an interesting fact or a reason (benefit)to catch their attention in your first paragraph, for example, how they canreceive 100 percent coverage for dependents. If you're writing to people who usecomputers but do not know contemporary software well, you might attractattention by using an easy-to-understand analogy. You might also present one ofthe benefits of using a particular software program, like the grammar- andstyle-checking feature of a word processing program.

Expert

An expert cares about process and detail. An expert who is a chemist, forexample, would want to know how to reproduce your results by using all theprocedures you followed. Give experts the specifics. The same detail would scareor bore the layperson.

Do: Focus on procedure or process.

Don't: Only give bottom-line data.

For example ... If you write to an expert in health care benefits, spellout the details of the policy. The expert will understand and appreciate thespecifics. If you're writing about computer software for programmers, you'llwant to go into particulars about how you developed a particular program and itsability to interface with other programs.

Executive

An executive audience wants bottom-line information. Detailed descriptions thatwork for experts would not work with this audience. Use straightforward languageand tone. Give a benefit and the critical information first.

Do: Get to the point immediately.

Don't: Explain in detail.

For example ... Give the executive audience a summary of the medicalbenefits package in one paragraph or less. Then proceed with other importantpoints. A sales executive will look for benefits and product value more than thenuts and bolts of the package.

User

The user must carry out your instructions. For example, users of a softwarepackage must understand your documentation in order to do their job. Users don'tcare how you wrote the software; they want to know how to make it work.

Do: Realize that this person might not know as much as you do.

Don't: Be too brief.

For example ... The user in our health care plan example wouldneed to understand the features of a complicated medical policy. Help the userby explaining...