Knowing Your Audience

Knowing Your Audience

Don Guidry

BCOMM/275

October 21, 2014

Knowing your audience is critical when dealing with communication. The audience consists of several people and families members in dealing with the 33 trapped miners in Chile. The mining company had several decisions to make, along with several anxious awaiting family members to communicate with. Considering the different roles and people in the audience is key to understanding how to communicate well.

The role of the mining company is to inform the victims’ families and to alert the public as soon as possible. There was communication from the trapped miners to the mining company which went untold in the beginning. There should have been some type of arrangement to alert the families of the incident quicker than they were alerted. The public should have been alerted so more responsible and resourceful help could have been brought in earlier.

The needs of the families could’ve been met by having a personal message and/or meeting about the situation. A mass text or email could’ve been sent to the families of the potential victims of the mining incident. There could also be a public service announcement to the public in Chile. Along with an intimate or public announcement should be plenty of counselors ready to deal with the grief of so many potentially lost. The family’s most likely dependent on the miners’ paycheck for living expenses. As a result of the incident, disaster tactics should be insulated to ensure that the quality of life remains for the potential victims.

The needs of the company’s employees are the slightly different then the families of the trapped miners. Some employees might have been scheduled to go to work in the mind, and might be dealing with potential stress related to that. The employees also have to be worried about their future earnings opportunities with the Chilean mining company. In a crisis there are many questions to be answered, but the aftermath of...