One sheet, three readers
Sam works in a school canteen team. Sam has a sheet of lunch sales for the term.
The head teacher has two minutes. The cook has no laptop. A colleague wants every row.
One sheet cannot suit all three. This lesson shows how to work out what each reader needs.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | The people who will read, see or hear your message. | The head teacher |
| Technical audience | Readers who already know the data words and methods. | A data analyst |
| Non-technical audience | Readers who do not know the data words. They still know their own job well. | The cook |
| Job role | What a person does at work. It decides what they need to know. | Canteen manager |
| Level of authority | How much a person can decide or approve. | A head teacher can approve a budget |
| Timeframe | The time set for sending or giving a message. | By Friday at 9 am |
| Priority | How soon a message must be done, compared with the others. | A food safety fault comes first |
| Accessibility | Making a message usable by everyone, including people with a disability. | Large print or a screen reader |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe what an audience needs: their skills, role, authority, deadline, priority, method and access needs.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Know your reader
A technical audience knows words like average, median and outlier. They can read a full table.
A non-technical audience does not use these words at work. They want the answer in plain words.
Their job role and level of authority matter too. A manager who can approve money needs a clear choice. A colleague who checks your work needs the method.
Three readers compared
| Reader | Knows data words? | Needs | Can decide? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head teacher | No | One page with a clear answer | Yes, can approve a change |
| Cook | No | Which meals to make more of | No, but acts on it |
| Data colleague | Yes | The method and every row | No, but checks it |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: match the reader
Have a go
Check: match the reader
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.