Mcom 320: Analyzing your Audience

Overview

As a business communicator, communicate so your audience can understand you. The message, whether written or oral, is not about YOU; it's about your audience, so consider them over anything else you may want to write or speak.

In 2 Nephi 25, Nephi discusses how some are confused by Isaiah's prophecies. Why? They do not understand Isaiah's words. Nephi then says this:

"But I give unto you a prophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn."Even though Nephi and other righteous people understood Isaiah's words, not all audiences understood those words. Therefore, Nephi spoke plainly so the people could understand, learn, and act on his words.

As you consider your potential audiences, consider whether they "speak your language." If they do not, nothing you write or speak will have an impact--and business communicators need to make an impact.

Reflect on a time when you sat through a boring presentation or even a school class lecture that was "way above your head." Or reflect on a time when you were trying to read a complicated textbook that uses language you did not understand. Did you "stick with it?"

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Photo by <em>Audience Needs Map by Nancy Duarte</em>

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