The planning step you should NEVER skip

Reader-centred writing isn’t a truly new concept for a lot of us. Putting it into practice, on the other hand, can be easier said than done. This is where our favourite planning technique comes in: the reader-profile questionnaire (or RPQ).

From writer-centred writing …

It’s easy to get stuck in our own point of view. If you’re like most people, you’re much more likely to be focused on your own needs (consciously or unconsciously) when you write something than on your audience’s. That could mean thinking how you need to impress your manager, get the sale or simply cross the task of writing the email or report off your to-do list.

But the trouble with focusing on simply getting a document done is that that document probably needs to be able to do something.

Everything we write at work has an intended function. And meeting the reader where they are gives everything we write a better chance of doing its job successfully.

Since we all tend to fall naturally into writer-centred writing, o you we need to take definitive action to switch ourselves out of this default position.

… to reader-centred writing

Enter: the RPQ. This deceptively simple exercise helps you shift your perspective by walking you through a series of critical questions. By answering them, you’ll come to see what you need to do to meet your reader’s needs and make your document work.

Exploring your answers to the questions can help you recognise what you must include, what you should leave out and how much detail is needed. What’s the reader’s attitude to what you’re writing about – and what does that mean for your writing? Maybe you need to change their mind, persuade them to your point or reinforce something they already think.

You’ll need to gauge their likely level of interest. If they have very little interest in the subject, you’ll need to work extra hard to grab and keep their attention.

Planning any kind of communication can take many forms, but this step should be non-negotiable every time. Our consultant and trainer David Cameron (not that one) always tells his course attendees, ‘Even if you were to do no other planning at all, always do this.’

You can download your own fillable PDF of the RPQ for free below.

Get a little help from AI

It may seem counter-intuitive, but for empathising with your reader you can get a bit of a hand from the bots. This article shows you how you can use ChatGPT (or your AI tool of choice) to help to dig into your reader’s point of view.

Download your own free copy of the reader-profile questionnaire to help you focus on the needs of your audience.

This article was updated on 4 September 2025.

Image credit: Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock