1.0 Analyze Your Audience

ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE 

The only way to write successfully in business is to understand your audience. It is a simple theory that is put into practice in the one million subtleties of our everyday lives. If you are in a restaurant where the server takes great care to get your individual order right, makes all the changes you requested, and even makes you feel like he is tending to you alone—you won’t notice the 15 other tables he’s waiting on—you will probably give him a great tip. You both come away happy. Or, if a doctor really listens to you, carefully collects all your information, and treats you with respect, you will not only remain loyal to that doctor, but you will refer every friend you have to him or her. These are both examples of successful business relationships that exist because someone took the time to understand his or her audience.

As a writer, you want to get your point across first and foremost, so make it easy for the reader. If you are able to put yourself in your reader’s shoes, you will have a mutually successful relationship, and your correspondence will be well received.Your reader will feel comfortable building a relationship with you, and you will have earned that reader’s trust, loyalty, and most definitely his or her business. This applies to clients, colleagues, supervisors, and subordinates—everyone. Always keep in mind the common business principle that telling is not selling. Listen, learn, and succeed.

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

Audience analysis deserves serious attention, regardless of the size and scope of your audience. And it entails more than just learning a few bland statistics, such as your reader’s company and position. But you can make it easy on yourself by simply creating a bulleted list of possible questions:

■ What is the reader’s age, sex, present job, educational level, and past experience?

■ What is the reader’s primary spoken language?

■ How does the reader prefer to be addressed?

■ What form of business communication does the reader use most? An executive from a leading computer company says she does not look at anything but electronic correspondence—e-mailing her would be your best bet. ■ What type of clientele does the reader serve?

■ What is the reader’s demeanor—conservative or moderate?

■ At what level of authority is the reader? Can he or she act on your letter?

■ What matters most to the reader in a written document? Does he prefer brevity to details? Does he have disdain for unwarranted attachments? Or, does he prefer to have everything possible sent to him? ■ Does the reader have a sense of humor?

■ What type of business language is the reader accustomed to? Technical lingo, medical lingo, legalese, and so on? 

These are just examples of questions that will help you understand your audience. As you build your professional relationships, you will be able to dig into even finer details about your reader that will personalize and enhance your communication.

COMMUNICATION STYLE AND TONE

It is critical to use a communication style and tone that fits your audience.You wouldn’t write the same thing to your best friend from college as you would to a prospective client. But, you do need to remember the human element in your business writing. In today’s technical age, it is more important than ever to personalize and warm up your messages. So, once you have analyzed your reader, try to strike the balance between professional and too cozy. And whatever you do, err on the side of warmth—don’t be stuffy and cold. That will only impress you. Use simple, direct communication that is geared straight to the reader. No one will ever complain that your letters are too easy to read, or that they understood them too well. An executive for a high-tech company says this about getting in touch with your audience:

As a company, we make a conscious effort to cut back on the technical jargon when writing or speaking to our clients. Using jargon only makes your clients feel inferior and self-conscious. People want to be around those who make them feel good. Therefore, if we want to build lasting client relationships, we need to understand our audience and communicate at their level.

An executive vice president of a leading medical malpractice insurance company offers an excellent illustration of how important it is to understand your audience. We have a beautiful office building in the wine country of Northern California. We also had a serious peacock problem on the grounds outside of our beautiful building. What began as two lonely peacocks turned into a flock of cousins, uncles, aunts, and young peacock offspring. The employees took to the budding peacock family, and began feeding them and treating them as pets. Before long, we had peacocks flying to our outdoor lunch tables, even disrupting some lunch meetings. Have you ever seen a peacock fly? We knew we had to do something.

So I wrote a company-wide letter, asking all employees to please refrain from feeding the peacocks, as they were not our pets. I realized halfway through my letter that, in a company of more than 300 employees, there were some who were sensitive to animal rights issues. So, I had to gear my letter to the most sensitive person. If I was too blunt or careless in my tone, it could have affected employee morale and caused bigger issues than flying peacocks. In the end, a letter that I thought would be simple to write—easy issue, not a million-dollar deal— turned out to be a good lesson in understanding my whole audience. 

ANALYZING AUDIENCE CHARACTERISTICS

It is just as important to understand the thinking style of your reader as it is to understand your own. Many different theories have been studied over the years about individual personalities and how people think. And, in an age where understanding the people behind the machines is becoming increasingly important, we need to pay special attention to this subject. Carl Jung theorized that there are four basic styles of communication: 1. Sensor/Action Style: These people are action-oriented, very hands-on. They are driven, determined, tough, competitive, confident, and assertive. They can also be domineering, arrogant, and impersonal. Typical careers for this person include doctor, athlete, executive, pilot. 2. Thinker/Process Style: These people are information-processors. They organize and strategize, gather information. They are analytical, logical, critical, methodical, organized, persistent. They can also be insensitive and judgmental or inflexible. Typical careers for this person include lawyer, engineer, scientist, financier. 3. Feeler/People Style: These people are socially geared, communicative, team-oriented, warm, friendly, persuasive. They can also be subjective, overly sensitive, and overly cautious. Typical careers for this person include teacher, psychologist, sales associate. 4. Intuitors/Idea Style: These people are creative, theory-oriented, driven by ideas. They are reflective, serene, “dreamers,” adventurous, flexible. They can also be undisciplined with time, unrealistic, and manipulative. Typical careers for this person include artist, professor, researcher, writer. It is important to note that these are simply theories that Carl Jung used to try to categorize certain personality traits that he observed. You or your reader could be a combination of any of these descriptions—or, you could seemingly not fit any particular category. So, pay close attention to your reader, and be careful not to make personality assumptions based solely on occupation.

STYLE AND TONE WITH AUDIENCE IN MIND

Once you understand what type of communication style your reader uses, then you can decide what kind of tone and correspondence is appropriate to the situation: Informal note: Hey, Jacob, did you hear Perry’s on board? We think his business development experience at R & G Corrugation will really help us acquire new busi
ness partners—especially in manufacturing. He’s already presented some awesome ideas.

Company newsletter:

Please join us in welcoming Perry Taft to Fitch’s business development team. Perry’s experience at R & G Corrugation, Inc., contacts in the manufacturing business, and infectious enthusiasm were central reasons for bringing him on board. Welcome, Perry! We know you will be a valued new asset at Fitch Corporation.

Press release:

Fitch Corporation, the nation’s leader in corrugation manufacturing, announced today the hiring of Perry Taft to the position of Vice President of Business Development. Taft brings more than 15 years of business development experience from R & G Corrugation, Inc.

SUMMARY

With the pace of business today, you no longer have the time for fluff—you need to write so that people can understand you. You need to get into the mind of your reader and really tap into what will make a difference and what will solicit a positive response. This requires listening, learning, and thinking about what you want to say, and to whom you are saying it, before you write. If you put yourself in your reader’s shoes, you will both enjoy strong communication and a better business relationship. So, you need to get personal. Learn what makes each person tick. Who are they? Where are they coming from? What is most important to them? When you have gathered what you need to know about your reader, use a tone and a communication style that are audience appropriate. Then decide what type of correspondence fits the situation—personal note, formal letter, press release. Remember that listening breeds trust. Once you are clear about to whom you are writing, it is time to be clear about what you are writing