I’m often asked what I consider the main problems in workplace writing. Excess detail? Poor grammar? Heavy jargon? Those all apply, but a critical one would be not considering your audience enough.
No message will misfire more than the one stacked with facts your reader doesn’t care about.
Examples I’ve seen of not considering the audience in workplace writing include:
- Board reports packed with granular details, not a constructive overview of how teams are delivering on the business strategy.
- Business cases that read like a list of gripes about what’s not working, burying any ideas for strategic change far too deep within the document.
- Mile-long emails from enthusiastic team members to their managers, sharing complex ideas that don’t respect anyone’s time.
This led to some great discussions recently with several corporate training groups. None had worked with an audience analysis checklist before. After working through the one shared in the workshop, several had insights they said would achieve their desired action much more quickly.
After all, the reason we write anything in the workplace is to get stuff done – not as a kind of flex.
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Identify your audience types
Start by identifying your primary reader – the person who will action your ideas. Tailor everything to their needs, from the document angle to its length and tone.
Identify your secondary reader next. This person is invested in the piece, but won’t be making the final decision. Apply courtesies for them, such as jargon-free language or links to background information. But don’t add entire slabs of information for their benefit. That would make the piece too long – and unsuited for the primary reader.
As an example, one business leader in the emergency services space overhauled his report after completing the audience checklist. It helped him understand that while his proposal would be approved by the primary reader, it could get blocked by a more senior secondary audience if the objectives were misaligned.
He decided to consult with this secondary reader before finalising the document, to ensure that his argument would ultimately support the primary decision-maker. He expects the final piece will be approved quickly, given the groundwork he’s done to align stakeholder expectations first.
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Address audience concerns
The next step is to address the audience’s priorities and avoid their pet peeves.
For example, how well do they understand this topic? If they’re knowledgeable you can open your piece with the current angles. These might include the projected returns on an investment, or likely benefits of a strategic change. By contrast, if they’re new to the topic, you might open with a backgrounder.
Or, what’s their decision-making style? Perhaps they’re risk-averse or precedent-driven, and will need evidence that your idea has been done before. Perhaps they’re big on team harmony and need evidence that consultation has taken place.
Similarly, get to know their personal quirks. There’s always that manager who detests reading more than three bullet points. Or the one who is a stickler for correct grammar.
One team I worked with wrote a business strategy that had to avoid the language of ‘restructuring’, due to negative associations among their secondary audience.
Get to know your readers well, either through direct conversations or by listening to those they work with.
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Use AI as a thought partner
Still not 100% sure you’ve addressed all audience concerns? This can happen if you’re new to the role, or can’t gain access to the primary reader. Here, artificial intelligence (AI) makes a wonderful thought partner.
A schoolteacher friend of mine uses AI to help resolve the high volume of emails she receives from parents.
For example, one child regularly disrupts the class but their parents get defensive about criticism. How to deal with this situation tactfully? Another child is often involved in playground conflicts, but behaves in a way that seems to attract the trouble. How to deal with parents that are convinced it’s not the child’s fault?
While AI won’t beat a trained psychologist, for an overstretched and well-meaning schoolteacher its suggestions in this case have proved tactful, clear and constructive.
Address your audience needs, and you’ll make their decision-making much easier – and achieve the outcome you’re after.
