Audience and purpose

Before you write a word, two questions decide whether a message will work: why am I writing, and who will read it? Professional writers spend a surprising share of their time on these questions, because a clear purpose and a well-understood audience make every later decision easier, from what to include and in what order, to how formal to be and which channel to use. This lesson gives you tools for defining purpose, analyzing audiences, adapting your message and writing in plain language, and it maps the plain-language rules that governments in Canada and the United States apply to their own writing.

Defining your purpose

Most business messages have one of three broad purposes: to inform (share facts, updates or instructions), to persuade (change a belief or prompt an action) or to build goodwill (strengthen a relationship). Many messages combine them; a good-news message informs and builds goodwill, and a proposal informs in order to persuade. Beyond the broad purpose, you need a specific purpose: the precise result you want. A useful test is to complete the sentence "After reading this, the reader will…" with an observable action or decision.

A second test is the elevator summary: can you state your main message in one or two sentences that a busy reader could act on? If you cannot, you are not ready to write. Many professional writers type this summary at the top of their draft as a working note; often it survives, slightly edited, as the opening of the final message.

Analyzing your audience

Audience analysis asks who will read the message and what they need. Start by identifying the different audiences. The primary audience will act on the message or make the decision. The secondary audience will be affected or will implement it. A gatekeeper, such as an executive assistant or a manager who must approve forwarding, can stop the message before it reaches the primary audience. A watchdog audience, such as a regulator, a union, the media or a future auditor, may not be addressed directly but will judge the message later.

For each audience, consider five factors. Knowledge: what do they already know about the topic, and what terms will they understand? Interests: what do they care about, and what is in it for them? Attitude: are they likely to be supportive, neutral or resistant? Expectations: what format, length and level of formality do they expect? Situation: how and when will they read the message, on a phone between meetings, at a desk, or printed for a board meeting?

Adapting the message: the "you" view and positive language

Once you know your audience, adapt the message to them. The "you" view (sometimes called the you attitude) frames information from the reader's perspective: what they get, what they need to do, how it affects them. It is not about using the word "you" mechanically; it is about putting the reader's interests at the center. Positive language tells the reader what can be done rather than what cannot, without hiding real limits. Bias-free language avoids assumptions about gender, age, race, disability or other characteristics. Together these adaptations make a message easier to accept.

Use the "you" view carefully with negative messages. "You failed to submit the form" is reader-centered in a bad way: it blames. In negative situations, a neutral or passive construction is kinder: "The form had not been received by the deadline." Lesson 5 develops strategies for bad news in detail.

What plain language means

Plain language is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. A widely used international definition, adopted by the International Plain Language Federation and reflected in the ISO 24495-1 standard on plain language published in 2023, says that a communication is in plain language if its wording, structure and design are so clear that the intended readers can easily find what they need, understand what they find and use that information. Plain language is not dumbing down. Experts prefer it too; studies of lawyers and judges have found that most prefer plain versions of legal documents.

Plain-language techniques fall into four groups. Organize for the reader: put the most important information first, group related material and use informative headings. Write clear sentences: prefer short sentences (an average of 15 to 20 words), active voice, strong verbs and the most common word that fits. Choose words carefully: use familiar terms, define necessary technical terms and use the same term for the same thing. Design for ease: use lists for steps and options, tables for comparisons, white space and readable type.

Plain language in government: Canada and the United States

In the United States, the Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal agencies to use clear, concise, well-organized writing in documents that the public uses to get benefits or services, file taxes or comply with requirements. Agencies must name a senior official for plain writing, train staff and report on compliance. For years the Federal Plain Language Guidelines were published on plainlanguage.gov; that address now redirects to plain-language guides on Digital.gov, and the Center for Plain Language publishes an annual federal report card. Plain-language requirements also apply in particular fields, such as the SEC's plain English rules for parts of securities disclosure documents and the plain-language rules many states apply to consumer contracts and insurance policies.

Readability formulas: useful, but limited

Readability formulas estimate how hard a text is to read from sentence length and word length. The two most common are the Flesch Reading Ease score, where higher numbers mean easier text (60 to 70 is plain English; 30 or below is very difficult), and the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level, which estimates the school grade needed to understand the text.

Formulas count; they do not understand. A text of short, simple words can still be confusing if it is badly organized, and a necessary technical term will raise the score even when every reader knows it. Use formulas as a quick warning signal, then test with real readers when the stakes are high: ask a few people from the intended audience to find a piece of information or explain what they must do, and watch where they struggle.

import re

def syllables(word):
    word = word.lower().strip(".,;:!?\"'")
    groups = re.findall(r"[aeiouy]+", word)
    n = len(groups)
    if word.endswith("e") and n > 1 and not word.endswith("le"):
        n -= 1
    return max(n, 1)

def flesch(text):
    sentences = max(len(re.findall(r"[.!?]+", text)), 1)
    words = re.findall(r"[A-Za-z']+", text)
    syl = sum(syllables(w) for w in words)
    wps, spw = len(words) / sentences, syl / len(words)
    ease = 206.835 - 1.015 * wps - 84.6 * spw
    grade = 0.39 * wps + 11.8 * spw - 15.59
    return len(words), sentences, syl, round(ease, 1), round(grade, 1)

before = ("Please be advised that all personnel are required to complete the mandatory "
          "cybersecurity awareness training module prior to the expiration of the current quarter.")
after = "Please finish the online security training by March 31. It takes about 20 minutes."
for label, t in [("before", before), ("after", after)]:
    print(label, flesch(t))

before (24, 1, 50, 6.2, 18.4)
after (12, 2, 22, 45.6, 8.4)

The script above uses a rough syllable counter, so its counts may differ slightly from a word processor's, but the pattern is clear: the rewrite is shorter, uses familiar words and adds a useful fact (how long the training takes).

Purpose, audience and the plain-language checklist

Bring the lesson together with a short checklist you can apply before sending any important message. What is my specific purpose? Who are the primary, secondary, gatekeeper and watchdog audiences? What do they know, want and expect? Is the main point first? Are the sentences short and active? Have I replaced or defined jargon? Would a list, table or heading help? Have I tested the text with someone like the reader?

Portfolio task for lesson 2: choose a document from your workplace or school that the public or new staff must read (a policy, a form or a set of instructions). Analyze its audiences, rewrite one page in plain language, and calculate the Flesch Reading Ease and Grade Level before and after. Record what the formulas missed.