{"id":2150,"date":"2018-03-06T21:04:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T21:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=2150"},"modified":"2024-05-08T18:47:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:47:01","slug":"the-business-audience","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/chapter\/the-business-audience\/","title":{"raw":"The Business Audience","rendered":"The Business Audience"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify characteristics of your audience in business communication<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Discuss the process of the social communication model<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs a business communicator, you\u2019ll be communicating to two types of audiences.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Your <strong>primary audience<\/strong> is the audience that your communication is intended for. For instance, if you\u2019re preparing an earnings report, the audience is likely your senior team. They will review the information, give you feedback, and decide if they need to take action based on the information you\u2019ve provided.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Your <strong>secondary audience<\/strong> is the group of people that aren\u2019t real stakeholders in your communication. That same earnings report, with the senior team as its primary audience, might find other audiences in investors, stockholders, or even your competitors or the media. They may comment on your data or take action on it.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/74ca10aa-049a-4942-9351-5405614585dc\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nWhy is it important to understand primary and secondary audiences and what the differences are between them? Consider the following points:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Managing information:<\/strong> When you consider the information you should be communicating, you need to consider the needs of your primary audience first. The information they require to do their work is your first concern. Any information that would be important to a secondary audience should be relegated to a less prominent area of the report.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Managing language:<\/strong> A key factor in communicating effectively is the assessment of the knowledge that your intended audience brings to the table. If your primary audience is a bunch of school kids and your challenge is to explain key economic factors in the 1929 stock market collapse, your language will be much different than if you explain it to a group of historians. Choose the correct language to communicate.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Managing the depth of your topic:<\/strong> The human resources team might want to dig into a turnover report in great detail and, if they\u2019re your primary audience, it\u2019s your job to communicate that information to them. On the other hand, the CEO may just want to know what the annualized rate is. \u201cAre people staying or are they leaving?\u201d he will ask. Sometimes a simple, \u201cStaying,\u201d is all he needs to know.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nYou will communicate more effectively if you understand your audience and the depth of knowledge they bring with them to the communication event.\r\n<h2>The Social Communication Model<\/h2>\r\nCommunication suggests a linear process. There\u2019s a sender of a message\u2014let\u2019s say that\u2019s you talking. You put your thoughts into words. And then there\u2019s a recipient of a message. He hears those words and considers their meaning. That\u2019s your co-worker, listening. It looks something like this:\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4597 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/03\/05193814\/TheSocialCommunicationModel1.png\" alt=\"Flowchart of the social communication model: sender to encoding to message to decoding to process.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"164\" \/>\r\n\r\nYou, the sender, have a thought. You put that thought into words (encoding). The message comes out of your mouth, and then it is decoded (processed) by the recipient, your co-worker, who then decides on the meaning of your words as a result of that decoding process.\r\n\r\nBut what you say isn\u2019t always what your co-worker hears. And that\u2019s where things go wrong.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s pretend that you\u2019re listening to some music, a good Jimi Hendrix tune. And you sing along with the lyric, \u201cExcuse me while I kiss the sky\u201d:\u00a0<em>Purple Haze<\/em>\u2014classic Jimi Hendrix.\r\n\r\nSo, you\u2019re inspired by the music and sing the words in much the same way Jimi sings it. You think it, you put it into words (encoding it), and it becomes a message. Is everything good? Maybe not. It\u2019s possible that Jimi\u2019s \u201cstylized\u201d approach to singing lyrics is going to get in the way of your message. This is called noise.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4598 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/03\/05193834\/TheSocialCommunicationModel2.png\" alt=\"A flowchart of the social communication model, this time with &quot;noise&quot; being added to the sender, message, and process steps.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"357\" \/>\r\n\r\nThe noise disturbing your message can jump in at any time. It can be actual noise, it can be a concept misunderstood by the sender before the message is even formed, it can be a message that\u2019s not articulated properly, or it can be a message that\u2019s just not understood by the receiver. In this case, the \u201cnoise\u201d is you imitating the way Jimi sings his lyric, which is not spoken all that clearly.\r\n\r\nYour co-worker hears your communication, and the message you encoded and sent to him is not decoded in the same way, because the decoding process is affected by \u201cnoise.\u201d As a result, your coworker thinks you\u2019ve said, \u201cExcuse me while I kiss this guy.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe frowns and tells you, \u201cYou probably shouldn't be kissing anyone at work.\u201d This is called feedback.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4599 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/03\/05193847\/TheSocialCommunicationModel3.png\" alt=\"A flowchart of the social communication model, this time with &quot;feedback&quot; flowing from the &quot;process&quot; step and into the &quot;sender&quot; step.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"519\" \/>\r\n\r\nYour recipient has let you know that you\u2019ve been misunderstood by giving you feedback. At this point you can:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Repeat the message a second time<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ask some clarifying questions to determine why your recipient didn\u2019t understand what you said and then address those issues on your next attempt to communicate your idea.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIn this case, you immediately realize how you\u2019ve been misunderstood. This happens all the time when people hear this song. You process the feedback and encode a new message. You tell him, \u201cNo. It\u2019s \u2018Excuse me while I kiss <em>the sky<\/em>.\u2019 Not \u2018Excuse me while I kiss this guy.\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nWhen the communication is only linear, extending from sender to recipient, you\u2019re talking <em>at<\/em> your audience. The minute there\u2019s feedback from the audience, like with the social communication model, you\u2019re talking <em>with<\/em> your audience. Talking with an audience ensures a better level of understanding.\r\n\r\nEffective communication means leveraging the social communication model to make sure your team is all singing the same song.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/ee9190bd-4370-440f-8aa4-bd7051f93a27\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>References<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\">Basic Model of Social Communication. In: ManagementMania.com [online]. Wilmington (DE) 2011\u20132018, 08\/24\/2016 [cit. 06\/05\/2018]. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/managementmania.com\/en\/basic-model-of-social-communication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Management Mania Basic Model of Social Communication<\/a><\/p>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify characteristics of your audience in business communication<\/li>\n<li>Discuss the process of the social communication model<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a business communicator, you\u2019ll be communicating to two types of audiences.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your <strong>primary audience<\/strong> is the audience that your communication is intended for. For instance, if you\u2019re preparing an earnings report, the audience is likely your senior team. They will review the information, give you feedback, and decide if they need to take action based on the information you\u2019ve provided.<\/li>\n<li>Your <strong>secondary audience<\/strong> is the group of people that aren\u2019t real stakeholders in your communication. That same earnings report, with the senior team as its primary audience, might find other audiences in investors, stockholders, or even your competitors or the media. They may comment on your data or take action on it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_74ca10aa-049a-4942-9351-5405614585dc\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/74ca10aa-049a-4942-9351-5405614585dc?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_74ca10aa-049a-4942-9351-5405614585dc\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Why is it important to understand primary and secondary audiences and what the differences are between them? Consider the following points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Managing information:<\/strong> When you consider the information you should be communicating, you need to consider the needs of your primary audience first. The information they require to do their work is your first concern. Any information that would be important to a secondary audience should be relegated to a less prominent area of the report.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Managing language:<\/strong> A key factor in communicating effectively is the assessment of the knowledge that your intended audience brings to the table. If your primary audience is a bunch of school kids and your challenge is to explain key economic factors in the 1929 stock market collapse, your language will be much different than if you explain it to a group of historians. Choose the correct language to communicate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Managing the depth of your topic:<\/strong> The human resources team might want to dig into a turnover report in great detail and, if they\u2019re your primary audience, it\u2019s your job to communicate that information to them. On the other hand, the CEO may just want to know what the annualized rate is. \u201cAre people staying or are they leaving?\u201d he will ask. Sometimes a simple, \u201cStaying,\u201d is all he needs to know.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You will communicate more effectively if you understand your audience and the depth of knowledge they bring with them to the communication event.<\/p>\n<h2>The Social Communication Model<\/h2>\n<p>Communication suggests a linear process. There\u2019s a sender of a message\u2014let\u2019s say that\u2019s you talking. You put your thoughts into words. And then there\u2019s a recipient of a message. He hears those words and considers their meaning. That\u2019s your co-worker, listening. It looks something like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4597 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/03\/05193814\/TheSocialCommunicationModel1.png\" alt=\"Flowchart of the social communication model: sender to encoding to message to decoding to process.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"164\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You, the sender, have a thought. You put that thought into words (encoding). The message comes out of your mouth, and then it is decoded (processed) by the recipient, your co-worker, who then decides on the meaning of your words as a result of that decoding process.<\/p>\n<p>But what you say isn\u2019t always what your co-worker hears. And that\u2019s where things go wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s pretend that you\u2019re listening to some music, a good Jimi Hendrix tune. And you sing along with the lyric, \u201cExcuse me while I kiss the sky\u201d:\u00a0<em>Purple Haze<\/em>\u2014classic Jimi Hendrix.<\/p>\n<p>So, you\u2019re inspired by the music and sing the words in much the same way Jimi sings it. You think it, you put it into words (encoding it), and it becomes a message. Is everything good? Maybe not. It\u2019s possible that Jimi\u2019s \u201cstylized\u201d approach to singing lyrics is going to get in the way of your message. This is called noise.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4598 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/03\/05193834\/TheSocialCommunicationModel2.png\" alt=\"A flowchart of the social communication model, this time with &quot;noise&quot; being added to the sender, message, and process steps.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"357\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The noise disturbing your message can jump in at any time. It can be actual noise, it can be a concept misunderstood by the sender before the message is even formed, it can be a message that\u2019s not articulated properly, or it can be a message that\u2019s just not understood by the receiver. In this case, the \u201cnoise\u201d is you imitating the way Jimi sings his lyric, which is not spoken all that clearly.<\/p>\n<p>Your co-worker hears your communication, and the message you encoded and sent to him is not decoded in the same way, because the decoding process is affected by \u201cnoise.\u201d As a result, your coworker thinks you\u2019ve said, \u201cExcuse me while I kiss this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He frowns and tells you, \u201cYou probably shouldn&#8217;t be kissing anyone at work.\u201d This is called feedback.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4599 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/03\/05193847\/TheSocialCommunicationModel3.png\" alt=\"A flowchart of the social communication model, this time with &quot;feedback&quot; flowing from the &quot;process&quot; step and into the &quot;sender&quot; step.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"519\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Your recipient has let you know that you\u2019ve been misunderstood by giving you feedback. At this point you can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Repeat the message a second time<\/li>\n<li>Ask some clarifying questions to determine why your recipient didn\u2019t understand what you said and then address those issues on your next attempt to communicate your idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In this case, you immediately realize how you\u2019ve been misunderstood. This happens all the time when people hear this song. You process the feedback and encode a new message. You tell him, \u201cNo. It\u2019s \u2018Excuse me while I kiss <em>the sky<\/em>.\u2019 Not \u2018Excuse me while I kiss this guy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When the communication is only linear, extending from sender to recipient, you\u2019re talking <em>at<\/em> your audience. The minute there\u2019s feedback from the audience, like with the social communication model, you\u2019re talking <em>with<\/em> your audience. Talking with an audience ensures a better level of understanding.<\/p>\n<p>Effective communication means leveraging the social communication model to make sure your team is all singing the same song.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_ee9190bd-4370-440f-8aa4-bd7051f93a27\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/ee9190bd-4370-440f-8aa4-bd7051f93a27?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_ee9190bd-4370-440f-8aa4-bd7051f93a27\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\">Basic Model of Social Communication. In: ManagementMania.com [online]. Wilmington (DE) 2011\u20132018, 08\/24\/2016 [cit. 06\/05\/2018]. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/managementmania.com\/en\/basic-model-of-social-communication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Management Mania Basic Model of Social Communication<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-2150\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>The Business Audience. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"The Business Audience\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"c056b376-fa41-4c28-83f1-9c256ff9a4b0, 1298c70a-50fd-45c1-b10c-6642d5cafac6, 22e48485-5d11-4029-9559-f092598dd1d1","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-2150","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8078,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2150\/revisions\/8078"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2150\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=2150"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2150"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=2150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}