The other day I was teaching a business writing class with a varied group of people, among them accountants, purchasing agents, and other "numbers" types who came with their coworkers.
At one point, I wanted the attendees to do only half the sentences in an exercise, so I said this: "If you have an even-numbered birthday, do the even-numbered items. If you have an odd-numbered birthday, do the odd-numbered ones."
Usually dividing the group this way works well. But there was silence after I gave the instructions. Then a woman near the front asked, "Day, month, or year?"
I understood what she meant when she added, "We are accountants. You have to be specific."
Had I thought carefully about the audience before I gave the instructions, I would have said, "If your birthday is an even-numbered day–for example, the 2nd or 4th day of the month–do the even-numbered items."
Know your audience. If you don't, you won't give them the information they need.
Lynn
Syntax Training
True, but she was a smartypants accountant.
You’d said, “…birthDAY…”…
Jim, I like the sound of a “smartypants accountant.” Thanks for commenting.
With Social Media on the up and up it’s never been more important to know your audience, recently at a social media conference a key note speaker showed his lack of understanding of the twittering, media savvy audience. The backchannel for the conference was embarrassing during his presentation see http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/twitter-heckled-know-your-audience/ -Twitter-heckled Key Note Speaker – Know your Audience!