The audience is the person or people who will read your paper. In an academic situation, your audience will often consist of your lecturer, your students, and maybe other academics who will be evaluating your work at the conclusion of the semester. You should also consider how you want others to respond to your paper; if you want it to be funny, then you should write it in a humorous way. However, if you want your readers to take action after reading your piece, then you should make sure that it is written in a compelling manner. Your audience will usually decide how they wish to receive information relayed through the text of your paper. If you want them to learn something new, then your paper should use examples and concepts that are familiar to them. On the other hand, if you just want to tell someone what you think about a topic, then using simple language and without any scientific references may be enough. The more aware you are of the specific needs of your audience, the better prepared you will be to write effective papers. In addition to these factors, it is important to remember that not everyone reads from beginning to end. Some people will read only parts of your paper, so you need to ensure that anything important to the message you are trying to get across is included in the first few paragraphs. If your reader gets bored or confused near the end of your paper, they will simply stop reading.