2 Analyzing Your Audience

Getting to Know Your Audience

Communication tools change quickly, but one rule stays the same: know your audience. This means understanding who they are and what they need from you.

Imagine you’re giving a presentation at work to your team. You probably know their personalities, how they think, and what kind of language they understand—like company terms or industry slang. That helps you choose the right tone and focus. But if you assume they’ll automatically care just because you know them well, you might miss the change to explain why your message matters. Knowing your audience isn’t just about familiarity. It’s about understanding what will get their attention, and keep it.

Now, imagine presenting to the board of directors. You don’t know them well, so need to prepare differently. You’d have to learn about their roles, goals, and what they expect from your presentation. This example shows why understanding your audience helps you shape the right message for the right people.

In this section, you’ll learn about three kinds of audiences: primary, secondary, and hidden. You’ll also use a tool called the AUDIENCE acronym to help you gather key details before you speak or write. Knowing your audience helps you plan a message that can persuade, inform, or entertain—and do it well.

Understanding Your Primary, Secondary, and Hidden Audiences

Your audience is anyone you’re trying to reach with your message. The more you know about their interests, needs, values, and background—the easier it is to connect with them.

Good communicators shape their message to suit the situation and the people involved.

• Primary audience: This is the main person or group you are talking to. They are the ones you think about first when you create your message.

• Secondary audience: These are people who may also see or hear your message, even if they weren’t your main focus. For example, if you email a customer and copy your boss, your boss becomes the secondary audience.

• Hidden audience: This includes anyone who might come across your message without you planning it—like a colleague who gets a forwarded email.

Once you send a message, you can’t always control where it goes. That’s why it’s important to consider all possible audiences before you write or speak.

Check Your Understanding

A Tool for Analyzing Your Audience

To help you connect with your audience, you’ll use a tool called AUDIENCE. Each letter stands for a step that helps you ask the right questions, gather key details, and shape a message that gets through.

Table 1.1: AUDIENCE Acronym Description 

These steps offer a useful way to analyze your audience. As you review each part, think about how it applies to your own situation—at school, at work, or in your personal life. You can also reflect on ways to learn more about your audience before you speak or write.

The Purpose of Your Message

When you communicate, you usually have one or more goals in mind. Most messages aim to do at least one of the following:

• Persuade—You want your audience to agree with you or take action.
• Inform—You want to share facts or ideas or help your audience understand something.
• Entertain—You want to capture attention and make your audience feel engaged, amused, or inspired.

Check Your Understanding

When to Do an Audience Analysis

Analyzing your audience helps you communicate more clearly and effectively. Here are two key moments when it’s especially useful:

• Before you write or speak—Understanding your audience from the start helps you create a message that makes sense to them and feels relevant.

• After you’ve created a message—Reviewing your audience again can help you adjust your tone, language, or content to make a stronger connection.

Can you think of other times when analyzing your audience would help?

Whether you’re planning, reviewing, or improving your message, the AUDIENCE tool can guide you through what matters most.

Now, try it out. Read the three scenarios below and practice identifying the audience for each one.

https://h5p.org/h5p/embed/265399

In this section, you learned what an audience is and why it’s important to consider their needs and expectations when you communicate.

You learned about three types of audiences—primary, secondary, and hidden—and how to shape your message to persuade, inform, or entertain. You also used the AUDIENCE tool to think more deeply about who your audience is and how to adjust your message to fit.

With these skills, you’re now better prepared to plan clear, purposeful messages that be able to create messages that  connect with the people you’re trying to reach. Keep practicing as you move forward—each time you do, your communication will get stronger.

Attribution

This section contains material taken from Chapter 1.3 “Audience” in Remix: Professional Communications Foundations and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.