Write for your Intended Audience (aka Who Do We Sign For?)

All communication should have a reason.

And underpinned by that reason, it should be presented in the way most quickly and efficiently understood by your target audience, no matter the medium.

Always consider who you’re talking to. How is that person best going to understand what you’re saying?

I really hate seeing public signage presented in a way likely to miss the audience. So it’s been decided at a bureaucratic level there’s a need for some information?

Great. The very least you can do is make it clear and understandable to users. Now, take a look at this.

River Torrens pathway, Adelaide

This sign is 200m from the Adelaide Convention Centre, right on the edge of the city centre, in an area with international conventions and hotels. It’s on a popular walking and cycling path used by locals and tourists.

There must be a clearer way to say this.

You’d probably need better-than-conversational English to read and understand this. As a safety message, it’s a fail. As general information, it’s a fail. Even just the words ‘PLEASE SHARE’ and an arrow in each direction would be easier to consume – and understand – for non-English speakers.

Every time I walk past it, I wince. How can it be so important a sign is required, but the execution is so flawed? Any consideration for the very real (and very international) audience is completely overlooked.

And I know it’s always easy to criticise others, so I use this as a reminder for my own work.

Am I really keeping my audience in mind when I write? Ask any copywriter; especially when we work on big jobs it can be hard to take a step back and look at what you’re presenting.

But it’s worth it. Because if you fail to impact your audience, you’ve failed. And with just a bit of critical thinking when you review your work you can stay on the right path, whether it’s narrow or not.