Q15. Size, emotional state, gender, age, ethnic, national, educational background and other characteristics of an audience usually shape communicator’s message structure, framing and language choice. Using of certain pronouns, imperatives, passive constructions, repetitions, rhetorical questions and other linguistic means of expression depends on the profile of a listener. According to Christiansen and Just (2000), the agency of the audience is always implicitly present in one’s speech (Christiansen & Just 2000). A speaker usually uses different strategies to signal politeness, solidarity and cooperation. It is worth exemplifying audience influence on one’s message taking two specific audience and topic to be delivered. Students of The Melbourne Law school and group of elderly people in the Croydon senior house are suggested to take a dancing class.
A16. Australian culture differs from American traditions and one needs to take difference in mindset and worldview into account. These people are quite patient and relaxed, they do not expect any immediate action or results of the conversation. Therefore, a message should be well-structured, constructive and persuasive. When creating a sales letter for elderly people at a senior house, one should be aware of the small size of the audience. Joshi and Wakslak (2014) suggest that speakers adopt more abstract construal when communicating with a larger audience than talking to small audience (Joshi and Wakslak 2014). A letter for the intended audience might be as following:
Dancing strengthens friendship
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
We invite you and your neighbors in Croydon to a new dancing course taught by Jessica Black. We know that you have a lot of clubs, planned activity groups, meetings, discussions and celebrations, but we should always remember that dances make us feel full of energy, younger and inspired. There is an opportunity to organize classes at your place and your new friends will be able to see your performances. Do not hesitate to contact our manager and receive a discount on the first three months! Hope to see you soon!
A17. Second letter will address the group of young people who study law science at the University of Melbourne. The most important thing when talking to the students is to attract and keep their attention, because the potential for boredom and inattentiveness can prevent from successful communicative act. Asking questions, pauses and puzzle-solutions pique the the listeners’ interest with the help of withholding and then revealing the right solution (Lawrence 2015). Besides, Australian students often organize their leisure throughout the week, not only at the weekend. Slang words are used to reduce the abstract distance between the students and promoters of the service.
Attorneys and judges also dance!
Oi dear Friends!
We invite you to a new-style dancing course in Australia taught by Jessica Black. Fresh techniques and innovative performances will make you fall in love with a dance-floor. You do not obtain any academic degree or diploma after this course, but we are sure dancing will inspire and improve your legal thinking! Make sure you have already applied for the course, because the number of participants is limited. Discount for students is guaranteed.
Ta and take it easy!
A18. Dancing course is to be sold to the students of the University of Melbourne, residents of senior house in Croydon (Victoria) and finally, the company Healthscope operating private hospitals and medical centers will be contacted to organize specific dancing classes for recovery intensification. These course are not only to teach dances professionally, but the teachers have experience in working with children, elderly and incapacitated people. The company’s concept is based on customers’ motivation, healing and encouragement. The genre of a sales letter has its own discourse model and there are certain devices to be applied when promoting a product or service. The initial purpose is to find a potential buyer, praise the commodity to whet the buyer’s appetite and then persuade him to respond positively (Vergaro 2004). The letter to the health organization will be more concrete and enlist all advantages of organization of dances at the institution.
References
Christiansen, T, Just, S 2000, Doing Diversity: Text-Audience Agency and Rhetorical
Alternatives. Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.
Joshi, P, Wakslak, C 2014, ‘Communicating With the Crowd: Speakers Use Abstract Messages
When addressing larger Audiences’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 143, no. 1, pp. 351-362.
Lawrence, S 2015, ‘Waking Up Audiences: Lessons in Rhetorical Devices’, Communication
qTeacher, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 212-218.
Vergaro, C 2004, ‘Discourse strategies of Italian and English sales promotion letters’, English
for Specific Purposes, no. 23, pp. 181-207.
