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Reading Material 3 - Writing Tips

Kenneth A. Friedman: one of the greatest mistakes people make when they write is forgetting who their audience is. He says what you know and think is not what everyone else knows and thinks. People filter your words and ideas through their preconceptions and agendas, he says. Afriedman: don't overuse commas, but note where you feel comfortable pausing.

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Andy William
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24 views

Reading Material 3 - Writing Tips

Kenneth A. Friedman: one of the greatest mistakes people make when they write is forgetting who their audience is. He says what you know and think is not what everyone else knows and thinks. People filter your words and ideas through their preconceptions and agendas, he says. Afriedman: don't overuse commas, but note where you feel comfortable pausing.

Uploaded by

Andy William
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The author of the following is Kenneth A. Friedman. He is a faculty staff at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA.

I think that what he wrote here might be useful to you especially in making your messages clear to your reader/receiver/ or audience as he puts it here.

Writing Tips to Remember About "Audience"


One of the greatest mistakes people make when they write is forgetting who their audience is and how much people know about a particular subject. Here are some tips to remember about audience when you write. 1. What you know and think is not what everyone else knows and thinks. Learn to recognize which of your science or technology words, phrases and ideas might be unfamiliar to people. You'd be surprised at how many people don't understand what you think they understand. 2. Unless they are your close colleagues or friends who talk about and are familiar with the same things you do, most people don't know what many acronyms (such as NOAA, PCBs and PRD) mean. Always spell out proper and other nouns on first use; then follow up with the acronym in parentheses. If you use an acronym on page 1, your reader probably will have forgotten what it means by the time it appears for a second time on page 10. Repeat the full name. This repetition tip goes for people's names too. 3. Most people are incredibly busy and want to read one page or less. They prioritize to read what they "must," what interests them, and what looks easy to understand. Lists are a big help. 4. Most people are not good readers. It isn't that they can't read your words, rather they can't or don't pay attention (their fault), or they can't or don't understand what you are telling or asking them to do (maybe your fault). 5. People have their own ideas about almost everything. They filter your words and ideas through their preconceptions and agendas. What they "understand" is not always what you meant. 6. Write at the level of most daily newspapers--eighth grade. Most people like to read newspapers. 7. After you write something, read it out loud. If you stumble while reading, your readers will stumble too. 8. Don't overuse commas, but when you read your writing out loud, note where you feel comfortable pausing. If you don't use commas to help yourself know where to pause, readers won't know where to pause either. Of course, if you're a poor reader, that's another story. 9. Write the way you speak--conversationally but if you're a "valley girl" and use "uh," "like," or other conversational "time takers"--don't. Don't lapse into a style that isn't your own. 10. Avoid scientific and technical jargon, and legalese. Copyright Kenneth A. Friedman 1/96

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