Writing for Business Success/Understanding your audience/Getting to know your audience
Read Chapter 3.4 in Business Communication for Success. Meeting diverse audience expectations is key to effective communication. Getting to know your audiences’ frames of reference requires research, time, and effort. This reading gives practical guidance on how to learn more about your audience, develep successful perceptual strategies, and practice fair communication. Reciprocity, a key fairness principle, includes mutuality, non-judgementalism, respect, and honesty. Note that fair communication also includes using information from credible sources, and citing your sources.
Recommended: Do the four chapter exercises. Three of these exercises ask you to reflect on groups you belong to, how they influence your perceptions, and examples of specialized in-group language usage. The other invites you to explore ways to develop awareness of your own and others’ perceptions, and practice fair communication. When you have worked through these exercises, write a clear, concise summary (50-75 words) on any one of them. You will be asked to post your summary in the course topic discussion forum.
