Considering Your Audience

It is important to consider your audience when writing because that will frame what information is relevant to the reader and what may be superfluous.  I used to work for a transportation company.  If I were to write using abbreviations and other jargon related to big rig trucks, most people would not understand the meanings.  I remember when I first started that job; I felt like I was reading another language.  I think Mr. Rogers was a person that was particularly skillful and attentive to preparing for and speaking to his audience.  He chose words and explained things in a way that a young child could understand, yet he did not talk down to them.  He was really pretty amazing in the way he could talk to children in a normal respectful way, yet explain concepts that were sometimes very deep.  The more research I have done on Mr. Rogers, the more I have come to appreciate his wisdom.  He once received an award and was called up to speak as he received it.  The audience was full of other actors.  He spoke to them frankly and directly about their responsibility to be positive role models for children.  Mr. Rogers got the entire audience to take a moment of silence to honor someone in their own lives that made a difference to them.  Mr. Fred Rogers, from the children’s TV show, had completely captivated and had the full respect of the audience full of movie stars.