H5

Applied Humanities

Going Public The Audience Is in Charge 5 Module Five: Impact of the Humanities / Page 5.3.2 The Audience Is in Charge On this page: 0 of 3 attempted (0%) | 0 of 2 correct (0%) Objective: Consider the role of the audience in deciding whether the speaker has communicated effectively.

We have probably all had the experience of saying something plainly to people who then act as if they didn’t hear us (or worse, as though they heard us say something else).

Say you’re in a coffee shop with an odd layout. A customer comes in behind you and lines up to your left. The barista is irked and says something along the lines of “cuesasoerhere.” When the new customer doesn’t move, the barista repeats herself louder and a little slower: “dacuestatsoerhre.” Again the customer doesn’t move, so again the barista speaks, only even slower this time: “The queue starts over here.” Finally it clicks: The new customer has inadvertently cut ahead of the line, and the barista is asking him to move.

How clear the barista thinks she’s being doesn’t matter; what matters is whether the audience understands her. If she were to ask for free advice, you might encourage her to use the word line instead of the more British queue, given that the coffee shop is in the United States. And if someone doesn’t understand at first, don’t just repeat yourself, but elaborate a little, perhaps opening with “the line starts down here” and then following up with “I’m sorry, but you’ve walked right to the register.” Because of the nature of her job, this barista has many chances to test out different communication strategies all day long. Every time someone lines up at the “wrong” end, she could try out a different phrase and see which one gets the best results.

It is the audience, not the speaker, that is in charge of deciding whether or not a communication has been successful. As you are writing about your artifacts and theme, you will feel like you are in charge of what you are saying. And it’s true in a sense, since you’re the one coming up with the words. But you need to keep in mind throughout that whether you are successful or not depends not on your impression of what you write but on how well your audience understands it.

So, how can you know if your readers are likely to understand? There are three keys:

As you’re composing, think about how your writing will sound to a reader.

After you’ve written, take some time away from the work (at least one night) and then come back to it with fresh eyes. Recruit others to read what you’ve written and see if they can understand it clearly.

While a visual artist may expect a viewer to spend hours unpacking the meaning of a masterpiece, few non-literary writers can expect that from their audience. Make your writing as easy as possible to understand, then put it to the test.

Multiple-Choice Question

Which of these sounds like the argument of someone who agrees with the perspective in this essay?

People just aren’t understanding this sign; I’ll need to try another way. If you can’t figure out our sign, blame a teacher. You wouldn’t believe how stupid people are; fewer than one in five read this sign correctly. The trick here is to be smarter than the sign.

Multiple-Choice Question

Which of the following is most likely to be said following a successful presentation?

The audience was generally in favor of what they heard, though no two audience members could agree on what that was. Most of the audience easily understood what was said. Most of the audience found the speaker’s intelligence impressive, though much of the presentation went right over their heads. Most of the audience was confused, but one person’s life was changed.

Response Board Write about an especially impactful presentation and what made it have such an impact on you.

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