Persuade or inform varying audiences based on an awareness of their expectations, prior knowledge, and possible beliefs.
Practiced writers and presenters analyze their audiences and address them accordingly. But in the beginning, novice writers are often so focused on what they know or want to say that they forget to think about whom they are addressing.
For example, in their eagerness to share in detail what they know, novice writers may spend too much time on facts the audience already knows, or they may develop their points for longer and in a different tone than the audience expects. On the other hand, a novice writer may assume too much about what the audience knows or expects and therefore neglect to explain unfamiliar topics, to choose understandable words, to cite sources correctly, or to persuade the audience that the author's subject is important. Such examples of mismatch between an author's work and the audience's expectations typically arise when the author has thought more about content than the audience. Sometimes beginners go to the opposite extreme, however; they have thought so much about the audience's beliefs that they bend over backwards to say what the audience wants to hear. In these cases, a novice writer may make powerful appeals to the audience's emotions and beliefs, but in ways that actually detract from the author's reasoning, distract the reader from the main issue at hand, and limit the work's persuasiveness to other audiences.
As you develop competence in audience awareness, your work will show signs that you have thought about the purpose and context for your writing. If you are writing because you have been given a specific prompt, you make sure to answer that prompt directly. On the other hand, if you don't have a specific prompt, then you make sure to explain the purpose for your writing or speech. You show the readers why this subject matters to them now, and why you are particularly equipped to tell them about it. Competent writers also analyze and abide by the audience's expectations concerning citation practices, length of writing or presentation, and format. Despite these good habits, writers who are developing their awareness of audience may still choose words or tones that are not entirely appropriate for the setting at hand (e.g., the use of either formal vocabulary or informal slang in cases where the other would be more apt). You may also still have trouble consistently striking the right balance between sticking to your points and speaking to the audience's desires and needs.
Masterful awareness of audience involves all the signs of competence already mentioned, as well as the ability to make wise judgments about how much to allow your readers or listeners to influence your appeals. As you master this skill, you'll use knowledge of the audience's prior beliefs to persuade, but not to pander. You will calibrate your tone, level of detail, and background information to the audience at hand, while also being sure to provide a clear motive for writing.