Week 3 Tammy Kreiser

THIS IS ONLY AN INTERPRETATION, FIVE SENTENCES AND A QUESTION IS ALL I NEED. TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS, HAVE REFERENCES! ASK PROBING QUESTIONS AND MAKE STATEMENTS BASED OFF WHAT THEY WROTE

All of these audiences can be made up of one individual. I decided to pick an audience that I have had experience with:

• Juvenile
• Pregnant Women
• Ethic/Racial Minority

The
message of “Don’t Do Drugs” is very broad and the reasons why
juveniles, pregnant women, and minorities who do drugs the reasonings
can vary but most all can relate. Don’t Do Drugs is more of a
preventive education message because this audience can all be faced
depending on their environment, personalities, behavior, mental state,
or exposure could impact them. My delivery message would not be
different because drugs do the same damage there is no prejudice to drug
use or drug abuse. Since no specific age groups were identified except
for the juveniles under 18 I am going to have my message based on an
audience of 18 and under, come pregnant some maybe pregnant but haven’t
told anyone, and juveniles who are also another race besides Caucasian.
The message would be conducted verbally with some video or visual aid.

Kids
do not like to be lectured they want you to talk to them in real life
stories, they want to hear stories they can relate to, they need to feel
a connection to be able to understand. The audience I chose can all
relate to relationship issues, depression, family problems, uncertainty
of life, and most have addictive personalities.

PlainLanguage.Gov
mentioned that you have to grab your audience’s attention, most
definitely with this type of audience. There are many
audio/video/visuals that can be used to show them real life examples of
the impact of drug use. The stories have to be powerful and real the
addiction and the heart ache of how drug use impacts the families and
the people around you. Juveniles want to know just what applies to them
and they want to hear things they get. Prior to this presentation I
would conduct a survey or pre-assessment to see what I was about to deal
with.

The
resource this week Plain Language.Gov explains the importance to know
your audience. It says, “to tell your audience why the material is
important to them.” I agree with this but if you are already your
audience may include users already. I would start my message in a
manner to get a feel with what they know about drug use, can the relate
to it, to they have any close friends or family that have drug problems
and get a feel for how they feel about it. I think having an open
discussion to get everyone comfortable about the topic of drugs because
it can be a difficult one especially if it hits home.

Then
the conversation would lead to so why do people even use drugs? Get an
open discussion to see why they think drugs are used, why are they
addicting, what makes people hooked, and is it looked down upon. How
has drug use changed their lives or views about others who may use. I
think having kids who are users and who are not users in one group is a
great learning experience. A form of motivational interviewing would
also be used to work with the audience who is dealing with drug
addictions. Some concepts and prevention education from a well-known
adolescent program called Project TND would also be incorporated.

PlainLanguage.Gov
says once you identify your audience will do more than ensure that you
write clearly. It will also help you focus on the audience’s needs. I
believe that to an extent depending on the topic. When you have a range
of an audience the need maybe different. I stated earlier that getting
a feel for the knowledge and opinions this audience has on drugs is
important this can dictate how your message turns next.

Thanks Tammy

Resources:

• Identify and write for your audience. Federal Plain Language Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/guidelines/bigdoc/audId.cfm
• Website: Project TND, Link: http://tnd.usc.edu/about.php, Retrieved 9/11/17