WRTG 394 6982 Advanced Business Writing (2155)
Dear Students:
This exercise is to sensitize you to your audience.
Imagine three different types of messages:
1. An advertisement for peanut butter
2. A cover letter sent as part of an employment package to a potential employer
3. A letter to the property management company that maintains your
building in which you complain about problems with heating and air
conditioning
With respect to each of the three messages, answer the following questions:
1. Who is your audience in each of the three different messages?
Try to imagine who this person might be and what his day might be like.
How can you get his attention? .
2. What is the attitude of your audience towards the topic of the
message? Is he sympathetic to it? Hostile to it? Indifferent to it,
so that you have to make a special effort to get his attention?
3. What does your audience need to know in order fully to comprehend your message?
Answer with as much detail as you can muster. And please respond to the postings of two of your fellow students.
Student 1.
he audience of the peanut butter advertisement are parents and kids.
The audience need to know that peanut butter is a quick snack for kids
and the taste is great and peanut butter is also taste great with fruit.
Parents need to know that peanut butter is healthy and fulfilling for
the kids. Children will get the nutrient that they need from this
product.
The audience is a perspective employer or human resource manager- The
cover letter must be specific about the position you are applying for.
The cover should include some notes on the company as well as detailed
information about the position and your experience associated with the
position. The attitude of the employer would be to hire the best
candidate for the position. The employer needs to know that you are the
best person to fill the position.
A
letter to the property management company that maintains your building
in which you complain about problems with heating and air conditioning. –
The
audience is the property management company. The attitude of the
audience is concern. The property manager have to wonder why they are
receiving a letter of complaint from a tenant and why is the tenant
dissatisfied with the service. The letter has to state the detail matter
of the problem in order to get the management’s attention.
Student 2
.
1. An advertisement for peanut butter
The target audience is parents, children, and peanut butter lovers.
To get the consumers attention, the commercial may make the peanut
butters creamy consistency the primary focus of the commercial, while
emphasizing how quick and healthy a meal can be made using peanut
butter. The consumer’s attitude is sympathetic to the commercial. The
audience needs to know the product is an healthy alternative, cost
effective, and taste great.
2. A cover letter sent as part of an employment package to a potential employer
The audience a potential candidate may be trying elicit attention
from are hiring managers, supervisors, and human resource executives.
The applicant will need to tailor their resume, and cover letter to the
requirements and attributes the employment posting describes. The
employer will be indifferent to the incoming cover letters. The audience
needs to know how the employee will contribute positively towards the
work environment.
3. A letter to the property management company that maintains your
building in which you complain about problems with heating and air
conditioning
The audience of the letter will be the property manager and
maintenance staff for the property. The letter should address the
solutions attempted, the results, and why it is the responsibility of
the property management company to fix the issues with the heating and
air conditioning. The attitude of the audience to the problem should be
sympathetic. In addition, the office staff should be informed of how
these complaints have negatively impacted your life as a resident.
