Consider the audiences you are trying to reach and ask the question 'who needs to know’? It is obvious that not everyone needs to know everything all of the time, but how many people need to know most things most of the time and who are they? And what about those people who want to know everything but shouldn't?

In general terms, within your organisation it is important that 20% of the people are well informed most of the time (see diagram above). These people will be core staff and social networkers. Of the remaining 80%, 65% are not really interested and don't care whether they know or not about most things.

In terms of detail, on the vertical axis, 65% of those who should be well informed will be content with the main headlines and relatively few will have any real need or desire for the details. However it is important to recognise those who have this greater need for more information.

This process of segmenting the communication audience enables an organisation to use its resources more effectively and with less wastage.

QUESTION Now which is the problem group for you?

QUESTION Is it the 'ignorant mass' or the 'knowledgeable few' that you need to reach more effectively?

Audiences and segments

Who do you communicate with regularly? The following diagram shows a typical set of eight major life audiences for a person. Each individual will have a different set - some will have no 'partner' some no 'work' and others may be combined.

How well you communicate with each of these audiences will vary since your aims for, commitment to and relationships with them are all different. In the course of this workshop, you'll find it helpful if you concentrate on improving your communication skills in relation to one audience only.

QUESTION Which audience do you wish to concentrate on?

"I wish to concentrate on my _audience.''

Each audience can be sub-divided into segments. Take, for example, the work audience. It can be broken down into eight segments as shown in the following figure. Once again each segment calls for a different communication approach.

Using the audience that you selected on page 15, complete the segment map below. You may find it useful to focus on the one segment that is presenting you with the greatest communication problems.

Specific Targets

For some delegates the communication difficulty may not be with audiences or even segments, but with specific individuals. These communication problems may belong in a segment. If you have such interpersonal communication problems, then complete a final breakdown of your communication world by preparing the ''individual communication'' audience map below.