How can writers use words to influence readers

Perhaps even more than nouns and adjectives, vivid verbs awaken strong images in readers' minds. Strong verbs do more than almost anything else to improve prose. Compare the following:. Lit up ignited Leave behind abandon Go back return Get the audience involved involve the audience Got to see that realized Got better improved Got there arrived Put in installed, deposited Put off postpone, delay Put into action activate Put in place arrange, place.

Concise language After college, when a job recruiter reads your resume, he or she may simply refuse to wade through excess verbiage. A wordy resume may be tossed. And a future supervisor will want to be able to comprehend your summary report rapidly and painlessly.

Writing that is concise packs maximum meaning into the fewest possible words—think of how you would pack your suitcase for an extended tour of Europe. If you use precise language, you will probably find you are already using fewer words.

However, if you examine how you use "to be" verbs—am, is, are, were, was, been—you may find even more that you can condense. As much as possible, replace the verb "to be" with a stronger verb. To avoid expletives, lead with the subject or even choose a different subject and, if possible, substitute a vivid verb to make the sentence more straightforward and easier to understand:.

There are problems with the lease. The lease has problems. There are several good reasons to delay making this decision. We should delay making this decision for several reasons. There is a natural desire among adolescents to experience freedom from authority. Adolescents naturally crave freedom from authority.

Expletives often occur with nominalizations. Nominalizations are nouns created by adding an ending to a verb or an adjective: "specificity" from the verb "specify," for example, or "validity" from the adjective "valid. Change the nominalizations back into verbs or adjectives if possible:. Using nominalizations: There is a requirement that all students have an evaluation of their transcripts for placement purposes or to meet a prerequisite.

Changing nominalizations back into verbs: The college requires that the admissions office evaluate all student transcripts for placement and prerequisites. Using longer, more complex sentences can make your writing difficult to read and may bog the reader down.

For example, here are a few different ways to begin your sentences:. Academic writing should demonstrate an understanding of how to write effectively.

When done correctly, using short and long sentences that start differently adds professionalism to your writing. Syntax focuses primarily on sentence structure, while diction concerns the words contained in sentences. In academic writing, choosing the proper words impacts your argument as well as your credibility.

Knowing the difference between the denotation, or literal meaning of words, and connotation, or the wide range of thoughts and impressions made by words or phrases, will improve academic writing. You may be unaware of the connotation of some words in addition to their literal meaning. Strengthen your diction by ensuring you know the full range of meaning of the words you use. Avoid overly informal diction as well, as these words are often less specific or simply not appropriate for academic writing.

The connotation of home varies from person to person. Most people view home with comfort, security, fond memories or affection. The answers to these questions will help you develop an appropriate relationship with your audience, making them more receptive to your message.

Now imagine you must explain the same business concepts from your presentation to a group of high school students. Those important questions you previously answered may now require different answers. The figures and charts may be too sophisticated, and the terms will certainly require definitions.

You may even reconsider your outfit and sport a more casual look. Because the audience has shifted, your presentation and delivery will shift as well to create a new relationship with the new audience. In these two situations, the audience—the individuals who will watch and listen to the presentation—plays a role in the development of presentation. As you prepare the presentation, you visualize the audience to anticipate their expectations and reactions. What you imagine affects the information you choose to present and how you will present it.

Then, during the presentation, you meet the audience in person and discover immediately how well you perform. Although the audience for writing assignments—your readers—may not appear in person, they play an equally vital role. In fact, thinking about audience has become so common that you may not even detect the audience-driven decisions. For example, you update your status on a social networking site with the awareness of who will digitally follow the post. If you want to brag about a good grade, you may write the post to please family members.

Even at work, you send e-mails with an awareness of an unintended receiver who could intercept the message. Consider the following paragraphs. Which one would the author send to her parents? Which one would she send to her best friend? Last Saturday, I volunteered at a local hospital. The visit was fun and rewarding. I even learned how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Unfortunately, I think caught a cold from one of the patients. This week, I will rest in bed and drink plenty of clear fluids.

I hope I am well by next Saturday to volunteer again. My advisor forced me to do my community service hours at this hospital all weekend! We learned CPR but we did it on dummies, not even real peeps. And some kid sneezed on me and got me sick!

I def do NOT want to miss the basketball tournament! Most likely, you matched each paragraph to its intended audience with little hesitation. When writing your own paragraphs, you must engage with your audience to build an appropriate relationship given your subject.

Imagining your readers during each stage of the writing process will help you make decisions about your writing. Ultimately, the people you visualize will affect what and how you write. While giving a speech, you may articulate an inspiring or critical message, but if you left your hair a mess and laced up mismatched shoes, your audience would not take you seriously. They may be too distracted by your appearance to listen to your words.

Similarly, grammar and sentence structure serve as the appearance of a piece of writing. Polishing your work using correct grammar will impress your readers and allow them to focus on what you have to say. Because focusing on audience will enhance your writing, your process, and your finished product, you must consider the specific traits of your audience members. On your own sheet of paper, generate a list of characteristics under each category for each audience. This list will help you later when you read about tone and content.

Now think about your next writing assignment. Identify the purpose you may use the same purpose listed in Note 6. Create a list of characteristics under each category. Keep in mind that as your topic shifts in the writing process, your audience may also shift. Also, remember that decisions about style depend on audience, purpose, and content.

The next subsection covers how to select an appropriate tone to match the audience and purpose. A friend who tells you about her weekend may speak excitedly about a fun skiing trip. An instructor who means business may speak in a low, slow voice to emphasize her serious mood. Or, a coworker who needs to let off some steam after a long meeting may crack a sarcastic joke. Just as speakers transmit emotion through voice, writers can transmit through writing a range of attitudes, from excited and humorous to somber and critical.

These emotions create connections among the audience, the author, and the subject, ultimately building a relationship between the audience and the text. To stimulate these connections, writers intimate their attitudes and feelings with useful devices, such as sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formal or informal language. Many species of plants and animals are disappearing right before our eyes.

Human activities, including pollution, deforestation, hunting, and overpopulation, are devastating the natural environment. Without our help, many species will not survive long enough for our children to see them in the wild.

Take the tiger, for example. Today, tigers occupy just 7 percent of their historical range, and many local populations are already extinct. Hunted for their beautiful pelt and other body parts, the tiger population has plummeted from one hundred thousand in to just a few thousand. Contact your local wildlife conservation society today to find out how you can stop this terrible destruction. Think about the assignment and purpose you selected in Note 6.

Now, identify the tone you would use in the assignment. Content All the written substance in a document. After selecting an audience and a purpose, you must choose what information will make it to the page. Content may consist of examples, statistics, facts, anecdotes, testimonies, and observations, but no matter the type, the information must be appropriate and interesting for the audience and purpose.

An essay written for third graders that summarizes the legislative process, for example, would have to contain succinct and simple content. Content is also shaped by tone. When the tone matches the content, the audience will be more engaged, and you will build a stronger relationship with your readers. Consider that audience of third graders. You would choose simple content that the audience will easily understand, and you would express that content through an enthusiastic tone.

The same considerations apply to all audiences and purposes. Match the content in the box to the appropriate audience and purpose. On your own sheet of paper, write the correct letter next to the number. Purpose: To analyze the reasons behind the financial crisis. Purpose: To synthesize two articles on preparing businesses for economic recovery. Using the assignment, purpose, audience, and tone from Note 6. Remember that content consists of examples, statistics, facts, anecdotes, testimonies, and observations.

Help Creative Commons. Creative Commons supports free culture from music to education.