Get them to Pay Attention

Bridging the Gap Between What Your Audience Wants to Know & What You Need to Tell Them

Feel like you're repeating yourself? Like you're yelling into a void and no one is paying attention? If so, there might be a disconnect between what your audience wants to learn and what you're telling them. This post will show you a simple way to plan your content to maximize effectiveness and bridge that gap between your audience's goals and yours. Welcome to the Modified KWL Chart.
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Traditional KWL Charts

A traditional KWL chart is a 3-column graphic organizer typically used by K-12 educators and publishers to guide students through a text or lesson and increase their reading comprehension.
 
KWL charts help students answer the questions:

• What do you already KNOW about the topic?
• What do you WANT to know?
• And then after the lesson, what did you LEARN?

 

How to Use a Modified KWL Chart for Writing

Similarly, you can use a modified KWL chart to ensure that your training or marketing content bridges any gaps between what your audience’s existing knowledge and goals and the objectives you need to achieve.
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That means, a writing-focused KWL chart will answer these questions:

• What does your audience already KNOW about the topic?
• What does your audience WANT to learn? What goals do they WANT to achieve?
• What do YOU need them to LEARN?
• How do you bridge that GAP?

​Your ultimate goal is to fill in the “Bridge the Gap” column by thinking through the K, W, and L columns. You’ll likely find that you can easily fill out the K column and/or the L column, but the W column may be trickier. Do market or audience research to better understand what your audience knows and wants.  ​

Example

Let's say you are a home medical device company that needs to create new training materials for your new-hire sales representatives on your latest product. You've noticed that sales reps are relying on discounts and gimmicks to surpass sales targets even though your product is clinically superior to the competition.

Your KWL chart may look something like this:

Now You Try!

Download a blank KWL chart to get started.

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