Lesson 4. Question Analysis: Who’s the Audience?

KEY CONCEPTS

  • There are multiple audiences for most mass communication messages and different audiences must be considered at different stages in the information strategy.
  • Communicators must understand the characteristics and expectations of their audience(s) as they start their information strategy.
  • Key to identifying the most “high-value” audience is understanding the hoped-for result of creating the message.
  • Developing a list of questions that can be asked about the audience is the first step of the message analysis process.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • brainstorm the variety of potential audiences for a message.
  • consider the different attributes or expectations that specific audiences might have and how they affect the development of your information strategy.
  • articulate message “purpose” and understand how the intended message outcome informs the choice of message audience.
  • develop a set of questions that will help identify “high-value” potential target audiences for a messages.

License

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Information Strategies for Communicators Copyright © 2015 by Kathleen A. Hansen and Nora Paul is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.