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Importance of Audience Analysis in Technical Writing

Ugur Akinci

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Audience analysis is an important issue to which all writers should pay a lot of attention.

Why?

Because if your writing (whether it’s an article, a report, a book, or a technical document) is not appropriate for its intended audience, then it’ll turn into a waste of time, energy, and resources.

So, in theory, you have to make sure what you are writing fits the intended audience well.

A Big Problem

But here is a problem, a BIG problem: most of the time a writer is not 100% sure who his or her audience is.

Especially if you are working for a corporation or are a part of a writing team, you’d have an approximate idea about the nature of your audience but not a perfect one.

So what do you do?

Approximation Methods

My answer: you apply approximation methods to increase the chances that your writing would be appropriate for your audience. It’s a matter of degrees.

You may never create something that is 100% appropriate for your audience but by applying the time-tested approximation methods you will hopefully get close to that lofty goal.

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Ugur Akinci
Ugur Akinci

Written by Ugur Akinci

Award-winning Fortune 100 writer. Father. Husband. Brother. Friend. Still learning.

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