SketchingYourAudiencesIdentity

Instructions:TohelpyouidentifyanaudienceforyourWritingProject3persuasiveessay,completethefollowing
worksheet1.Keepinmindthefollowingconcepts.
Audience:Likethetermauthor,thetermaudienceisafairlylooseterm.Audiencereferstoanyrecipientof
communication.Audiencescanread,hear,see,orfeeldifferentkindsofcommunicationthroughdifferentkindsof
media.Alsolikeauthors,audiencesarehumanswhosespecificactivitiesareaffectedbyspecificbackgrounds.
Backgrounds:Thesamesortsoffactorsthataffectauthorsbackgroundsalsoaffectaudiencesindividual
backgrounds.Mostimportantly,thesefactorsaffecthowaudiencesreceivedifferentpiecesofcommunication;what
theyassumeabouttheauthor;andthecontextinwhichtheyhear,read,orappreciatewhattheauthorstates.
Audience-TargetedClaims:Anargumentativeorpersuasivepieceofwritingmustbeginwithadebatablethesisor
claim.Inotherwords,theclaimmustbesomethingthatpeoplecouldreasonablyhavedifferingopinionson.Ifyour
claimissomethinggenerallyagreeduponoracceptedasfactthenthereisnoneedtopersuadeyouraudience.

WhatisyourprimaryclaimandsupportingreasoninginWritingProject3?

Example:___________is___________,because___________,___________,and___________.

Applesarebetterthanoranges,becausetheyareeasiertoeat,havegreaternutritionalvalue,andcomeina
greatervarietyofflavors.

Interracialadoptionislesscommoninsocietybecausetheyfacemorebarriersregardingculture,finances,andhelp
fromsocialworkersthansameraceadoption.

Completingthisworksheetwillhelpyouidentifytheprimarydimensionsofyouraudience.
DemographicAnalysis:Whoisinyouraudience?Whataretheirindividualandgroupcharacteristics?
PsychologicalAnalysis:Whatdoesyouraudienceknowandbelieve?Whatdotheythinkaboutyourtopic?What
doesyouraudienceneedtolearninordertounderstandyourargument?
ContextualAnalysis:Whenandwhereareyoupresenting?Whyisthisaudiencelisteningtoyou?

Whatisyourtargetaudiencesimplicitdemographicprofile?

Criteria AnalysisofYourAudience Howdoesthisknowledgehelpyoutweakyour

message?

Howoldarethey? Lateteenstoforties Itisdirectedtowardstheageofwherepeople

canbecomeparents.

Men?Women?Mixed? Mostlywomen Thistopicappealstopeoplethatwanttobe

nurturers.

Race,culture,orethnicity? AtfirstIthoughtitwasmostlywhite Ithelpsdebunkamythperpetuatedbysociety

peoplebutIthinkthatitwould thatthisisacommonthingbecauseitsnot.
surprisemywholeaudiencetosee
theydontreallypreferadopting
childrenofcertainraces

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Based on Six Minutes: Speaking & Presentation Skills and the OWL Purdue
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Primarylanguage? english Iamaddressinginterracialadoptionwithinthe

U.S.

Profession? Theycanbeanything.Itsprobably Thismakemehavetotakeamoreemotional

professionspopularforwomenlike stancetokeeptheminvolved.
nursesandteachers.

Religion? Theywanttohelpotherssoprobably Talkabouthowthesechildrenfacemoreneglect

religious. intheadoptionsystemthanwhatpeoplemay
think

Educationallevel? College Thesearesmartindividualsthatunderstand

racialissues

Organizational Probablysomevolunteerwork Givingthemfactsisthebestwaytoreachthem.

membership?

Personalitytype? Kind,caring,empathetic,innocentto Theyneedtobeawareofthesituationinthis

whatishappening fieldandgetinvolvedtomakeitbetter.

Otherrelevantqualities? Mostlymarriedmaybeindependant Speaktothemontheirleveltheyaresmart

e.g.maritalstatus,avid women.Activeintheircommunities. dontdumbitdown.
readers,cell-phoneusers, Accomplishedintheirlineofwork.
marathonrunners

Homogenousor Both Emphasizethatanyonecanmakeafamily.

heterogeneousaudience?

Sizeofaudience? Hopefullybig. Reacheveryone.

Keysimilaritiesor Haveaninnateneedtohelpothers, Letthemknowthatthisisanerosionsolution

differenceswithyou? probablyricherthanmeandmore wehavetoaddressthatTraditionalfamiliesare
abletodoit. changingandthatweshouldnotmakeitharder
forpeopletoraiseachildrenofadifferentrace.

Peers?Superiors? Iwanttoencouragepeoplewith Wantthemtotalkaboutthiswithotherpeople.

Subordinates? peersofdifferentbackgrounds.

Remember:Dontbedisappointediffewcriteriayieldusefulinsights.Evenonecontenttweaktoalignwithyour
audiencemaymakeyourmessagemoreimpactful.

Whatisyourtargetaudiencesimplicitpsychologicalprofile?

Criteria AnalysisofYourAudience Howdoesthisknowledgehelpyoutweakyour

message?

Whatdotheyknowabout Peopleknowwhatinterracial Emphasizetheneedfordomesticadoptionof

yourtopic?Whatdont adoptionisbutmostlythinkits kidsofminority(hispanic,black,native)
theyknow? international

Whatdotheywantto Wanttoknowcosts,needtoknow Acknowledgethatthereisracialprejudiceinthe

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know?Whatdotheyneed howmuchcheaperminoritiesgofor system.

toknow? andaddresshowthatiswrong.

Whatspecialized Race,interracial,money Continueuseofit.

terminologyarethey
familiarwith?

Whatconcepts,processes, Adoptionbeingopenorclosedin Continuetoestablishthedifferences.

ortoolsaretheyfamiliar countryoroutofcountry.
with?

Dosomeinaudience Yesperhapsparentswhoassociate Usefactstokeeptheirattention.

knowmoreaboutthe withtheadoptionsystemsomeway.
topicthanyou?

Aretheyneutral,ordo Peoplearemostlyunawareofthe Isurprisethem.

theyagreewithoroppose barriersthesekidsface
yourmessage?

Whatarethemost Ibelievethemostimportantvalueis Iwanttodrillthisintheirbrains.

importantvaluestothe thatthesekidsneedloveandweasa
audience? countryneedtomakeiteasierfor
themtogetthatlovewithoutthe
stigmathattheywillbeoutcastedin
thisworld.

Whatproblemsdothey Figuringouthowtoraiseakid Loveislovemakesurethattheyknowthat.

have? differentfromthemandstillhelping
themfindoutwhotheyare.

Istheirattendance Voluntary Thisisachoicetomakesomethinghappen

voluntaryormandatory?

Whathavetheybeen Thesamethingasme.Life Lifegoeson.Giveemsomethingtothinkabout.

throughinrecentdaysor
weeks?

Whatstyleofpresentation Anessay Givethemwhattheyexpect.

doestheaudienceexpect?
Remember:Dontbedisappointediffewcriteriayieldusefulinsights.Evenonecontenttweaktoalignwithyour
audiencemaymakeyourmessagemoreimpactful.

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Whatisyourtargetaudiencesimplicitcontextualprofile?

Criteria AnalysisofYourAudience Howdoesthisknowledgehelpyou

tweakyourmessage?

Istheirattendance
voluntaryormandatory?

Whathavetheybeen
throughinrecentdaysor
weeks?

Whatstyleofpresentation
doestheaudienceexpect?

Whatarepeoplewearing? Dressedprofessional Useprofessionallanguage.

Whattimeofdayareyou IfIweretospeakitwouldbeaftermorning Smalltalkatfirstmakethem

speaking? coffeewhentheyareawake. comfortable.

Whatdistractionsexistin Cellphones,coughing Talkloudermakemypresence

theroom(orelsewhere) known.
foryoutocontendwith?
Remember:Dontbedisappointediffewcriteriayieldusefulinsights.Evenonecontenttweaktoalignwithyour
audiencemaymakeyourmessagemoreimpactful.