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To communicate effectively with an
audience is to know that audience -- its concerns, assumptions,
expectations and objectives. Advice letters take into account client
values just as briefs address decision maker preferences. Since many
writings have more than one audience, you also must be able to predict
their effects on secondary audiences.
Legal services workers write to people
who differ from themselves or the American mainstream in ways that
affect how the audience may receive the message; e.g.,
differences in age, ethnicity, income, language, mental or physical
abilities, race, religion or sexual orientation. These differences can
make communication even more complex.
The ability to accurately assess another's
perspective is always limited and requires learning ways to guard
against becoming a prisoner of your own
preconceptions.
Indicators:
• All information that a particular
audience needs to understand about a particular event or concept is
included. Nothing is included that seems patronizing or offensive.
• Issues are stated as simply as
possible without compromising meaning. Issues are not made needlessly
complicated. If precedents are included, readers understand how they
apply to the facts.
• Any emotional or interpersonal
factors that affect communication are handled appropriately.
• Elements of the writing are
tailored to its audience(s):
- organization
- vocabulary, e.g., People
First
language, non-idiomatic English
- grammar
- tone
- format
- style
- citation
- form
- terms of art
- medium, e.g.,
post-it, letter, memo.
• Documents translated into a
language other than English are accurate and culturally sensitive.
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