What is Audience Analysis

This chapter provides educators instructional methods for teaching audience analysis to students in professional writing courses. It argues that a rhetorical approach to the teaching of professional writing, focused on audience analysis, allows students to learn how to engage and become members of their audience’s discourse community. This engagement allows the writer to better conceptualize the audience and their needs, facilitating improved communication practices. The author hopes that such an approach will prepare professional writers for their future careers, be it in a traditional or virtual workplace, by gaining a recognition of the different levels of expertise of audience members.