The four categories (expert, manager, techician, layperson) help you get a general sense of your audience as you begin making writing decisions. But a truly effective audience analysis (e.g., one that will produce a document that quickly and easily meets your readers' needs and accomplishes your goals) goes further. The following checklist can help you more precisely define the audience, their goals, and your goals:

Your Goals

Why are you writing this document? Because your boss asked you to? because you're tired of dealing with the current situation? because you see an opportunity to improve something?

What outcomes do you want?

Your Readers' Background

Who are your primary readers?

What relationship do you have with these readers (e.g., supervisor, employee, client, supplier)?

What are your readers' positions and responsibilities?

How much do your readers know about the subject?

What are your readers' attitudes toward the subject? Why?

What are your readers' attitudes toward you? Why?

Do your readers have any specific communication preferences (e.g., terms they like/don't like, formats they prefer)?

Your Readers' Goals

Why are they reading the document - (e.g., What outcomes do they want?)?

How will your readers use the information you provide (e.g., compare options point-by-point, evaluate technical and/or financial aspects, follow instructions)?

What questions will your audience ask as they read?

How will your audience read the document (e.g., skim, read from beginning to end, read only certain sections)?

Circumstances

What circumstances bear on this document (e.g., corporate politics, budget constraints, personality conflicts, prior documents or discussions)?

Additional Readers and Stakeholders

Who else might read this document?

What factors do you need to keep in mind regarding those readers?

Who, besides your readers, will this document affect? How will they be affected?
For example, arecommendation report to a supervisor about upgrading manufacturing equipment may affect the technicians who run the current equipment; a report on the environmental impacts of a new process may affect citizens who live in the neighboring community.

*Adapted from Paul V. Anderson's book Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach, 4th Edition (Harcourt Brace 1998)

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