Do: Clearly identify your ideal reader

Imagine you are a medical researcher working on a potential new treatment for aggressive cancers. Your initial research indicates that this treatment could be at least as effective as current treatments but with far less severe side effects, and you are writing about the upcoming clinical trials. How would your writing differ for each of these three potential “ideal” readers (all fictitious)?

• Bob is the head physician at a cancer treatment center. He needs to stay up to date on all of the latest research and may have patients who meet the criteria for your study.

• Mary Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer several months ago. Chemotherapy has made her very sick and unable to work, and test results show she is a prime candidate for your study.

• Joe has watched some of his friends and family go through chemotherapy. He’s grateful that effective cancer treatments exist but wishes they didn’t make people so sick. He might be willing to donate money to support research into safer treatments.

Whether or not your ideal reader actually exists, which one you pick will significantly affect your writing. Dr. Bob would want a level of technical detail that Mary Jane and Joe would not need or understand. He would expect a very professional tone, while Mary Jane needs a message of hope and Joe just wants to know he wouldn’t be wasting his money. Dr. Bob and Mary Jane would both need information about who qualifies as a candidate for your study, but Joe probably doesn’t.

Identifying an ideal reader helps clarify everything from content to tone to word choice.