PAM: The Heart of Communication

PAM is a concept that is critical as both a reader and a writer. It stands for Purpose, Audience, and Message and is a part of the rhetorical situation that exists in all communication, whether written, verbal, or visual.

One of the keys to effective communication is being clear on your PAM, because if you are clear, then your reader will understand it as well. So let's unpack this a bit.

The Purpose gives the WHY of your communication. Being clear on why you are communicating and what you hope to achieve will help you sort through your ideas later on and will help the reader understand your motivation and goal. Some key questions to ask yourself include:

• Why are you writing? 
• What gave rise to the need for the communication? 
• Are you trying to persuade, explain, or entertain your reader? 
• What do you want the readers to do after they've read or listened to or seen your communication?

The Audience gives the TO WHOM of your communication. Having a clear idea of the primary and secondary audiences you are writing to will help you craft your communication for those audiences. To understand to whom you are communicating, consider the following:

• Who is your primary audience? How do they relate to you (eg. are they your manager/professor, or an employee, or a peer/colleague, or in a similar or different demographic/context)?
• What other audiences do you have to take into account? 
• What characteristics can you assume about the audience, including how they may receive your communication, both in form and in content?

The Message gives the WHAT of your communication. It's the main claim or over arching point you want the reader to understand. It should align with your purpose and audience. So ask yourself:

• What is your communication about? 
• What point are you trying to make about that? 
• What evidence do you use to make and support your argument?
• What do you want the audience to take away? 

So that's PAM. Purpose. Audience. Message. Simple. Right? 

In theory, yes. All of these components influence the way you craft the communication to effectively convey your message effectively to your audience to achieve your purpose.

However, you also have to take into account who YOU are (the author) and the context/culture in which you are communicating.

The Author is the WHO of your communication. Knowing your own biases, experiences, and emotions on a topic or towards the audience and/or the purpose is important to ensure that you are writing something that aligns well with your intentions.

The Context & Culture is the BACKDROP of your communication. This could be corporate culture, academic context, a client context, and so on. This backdrop will influence the tone, style, language, and form of your communication, just to name few.

It's not uncommon to draft an email with one goal in mind, but due to issues with audience or context, the actual message doesn't align with your intention. Sometimes the message is what you want but you aren't clear on why you are expressing it.

So next time you have to write something, identify your PAM, and consider who you are and the context in which you're writing. Then run your draft past someone you trust to give constructive feedback, and ask them what they think your purpose and message are, and whether the communication is crafted properly for the intended audience.

Have you considered PAM in your writing? What stories do you have of communication that worked well or missed the mark?

Candice

Balanced Prose