Building Rapport

Get to know your readers

Your aim is a document planned so you can give the same answer to each of these three questions

* Who is able to read this?

* Who is likely to read this?

* Who needs to read this?

Working with limited funds or public funds, you may try to write for “the widest possible audience“. “Everybody” or “anybody” is a difficult audience. There is no “general public” for plain language writing. Just try to picture a member of the general public. Some probing questions and basic investigation will help you narrow the focus of your project and get your real readers in mind.

You need to explore your intended audiences’ characteristics, needs and expectations. With the information you gather, you can write and design your document to

* reflect the readers’ concerns and daily life

* use familiar words, phrases and ideas

* use an acceptable tone that suits the reader and the message

You want to discover these features of your audience:

age range gender issues

first language family structure

education cultural traditions

reading abilities math abilities

familiarity with the subject matter biases, sensitivities

familiarity with any special language self-image

attitude toward topic motivation

physical, mental or emotional challenges specific interests and concerns

So, I have discovered that whenever I say that I am going to write a series of articles on a topic, I had better do drafts or an overall outline immediately. Why? Because after my previous post, my mind went blank. I could not figure out where to start–or go next.

So, first I will share with you some of the clippings I have collected on the subject of diversity in communication and information-processing styles.

See this article from Cognitive Edge, East is East and West is West

“Over the years a series of experiments have shown differences between American and Asian in terms of the way the brain works. Two examples I give on our accreditation courses are

1. the multiple experiments with show a difference between a focus on content, and one on context when scanning pictures,
2. the cow, chicken & grass test from The Geography of Thought. If you have not done this before, then before you read further thick quickly: which if the three is the odd one out?”…more