SPECIALIZED SUBJECT - HUMMS

DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE APPLIED

SOCIAL SCIENCE
_____ Semester, SY _____________
QUARTER 1, MODULE 9
CLIENTELE AND AUDIENCE
IN SOCIAL WORK
Disciplines and Ideas in the Applied Social Science
Self-Learning Module
1st Semester Quarter 1 – Module 9: Clientele and Audience in Social Work
First Edition, 2021

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 Lesson CLIENTELE AND AUDIENCES IN
1 SOCIAL WORK

INTRODUCTION

In previous module, you have learned and understand the roles and functions, work areas and
the rights, responsibilities and accountabilities of professionals and practitioners in
communication. You had also distinguished the difference between the ethical and unethical
behaviors among the practitioners of communication.

This module describe the clientele and audience of communication and distinguishes
the needs of individuals, groups…

Learning Competency:

At the end of this module, learners are expected to:

 describe the clientele and audience of communication.
 distinguish the needs of individuals, groups, organizations, and communities.

Module Topics:

1. Characteristics of Clientele and Audiences of Communication.

2. Needs of Various Types of Clientele and Audiences of Communication
3. The Individual as Client of Communication
4. The Group and Organization as Client of Communication
5. The Community as Client of Communication

LESSON AND PRACTICES

Discussion

Topic 1: Characteristics of Clientele and Audiences of Communication

Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020 by Elcomblus Contributor

From the very genesis of human existence, the need to communicate has been part of
human beings. Our life with others and in the community requires us to interact with the people
around us, to share ideas, thoughts, feelings and experience with others, to make sense of
the world, and to position ourselves in a wider social and cultural reality. In so doing, we listen
and speak, and receive and give information, which is a two-way process. Communication
connotes ‘communion,’ community/ ‘making common,’ or `to share.’ The message transmitted
is intentional and meant to convey meaning from a sender to a receiver through a medium or
channel that includes struggle with interference and barriers. Communication is complex. We
use symbols, words, pictures, facial expressions, hand signs, voice, tone, graphics, silence,
writing, painting, dressing, dancing, and body language. Formally and informally, every person
communicates therefore, everybody is clientele and audience of communication.

However, to make communication effective and attainable, the specific or intended

clientele and audience in an instance of communication need to be clearly understood so that
message packaging, forms, and medium can be properly customized. Effective
communication assumes the audience’s perspective and ensures that the message is relevant
to them. This means that the method of communication is carefully selected as most effective
for the target audience.

All people are clientele and audience in communication. However, communication can
only be effective when communicators take into consideration the characteristics of the
intended clientele and audience. Characteristics like social position, education level, age
range, race and ethnicity, primary language, health status, job type, and information sources
are worth considering.

Social position is the status that a person enjoys in a communication context. One may
be a president or leader, middle manager, a colleague or co-equal, or a subordinate in an
organization of community. These social positions dictate how one gets communicated to and
how that communication has to be crafted, packaged, contained, and delivered.

Education level may suggest the reading skills and healthy literacy and the ability to
engage with more complex topics—new and even unfamiliar. An audience that has limited
literacy skills may find it difficult to use written materials; with such audience, oral presentations
may be more effective.

Age range can affect choice of communication format or distribution. The

communication materials may be relevant to people of all ages but the age of the audience
may affect the communication format or distribution channels. Social media websites and
mobile texting for example may be more appropriate for providing information to younger
audience while printed materials, emails, phone calls, meetings, and memos may be more
effective for older audience.

Race and ethnicity is an important consideration in communication particularly in

deciding on graphics and photos. It is important to design the graphics and photos in the
communication materials to reflect the demographics of the intended audience.

Primary language has to be considered if the message is to be effective. If the

language used is different from the one used by the target audience, there is a need to
translate the communication materials into the primary language.

Health status matters a lot as it dictates people’s disposition to listening and

responding and the ability to’ make meaning out of the communicated material. Although
people with certain health conditions tend to be more informed health-care consumers with a
greater awareness of issues within the health-care system, it is important that the materials
are more personal and relevant to specific health conditions or issues.
 Job type of the audience can affect the format of materials and the distribution methods
to be used. For an audience without access to their own computers, disseminating the
materials through an Internet site or email messages may not be effective.

Information sources matter for they affect the format and distribution of the
communication materials and also the medium they trust.

Source: [Link]
communication/

Topic 2: Needs of Various Types of Clientele and Audiences of Communication

Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020 by Elcomblus Contributor

Different individuals, groups, and communities have distinct communication needs.

They want to send and receive messages to and from other parties. Let us take a look at the
following communication context to explore how various types of clientele and audience of
communication may be represented in the April 30, 2015; Mary Jane Veloso case.

On 28th day of April 2015, the Philippines and the world awaited the execution of a 30-
year old Filipina and a mother of two together with eight other prisoners in Indonesia. Mary
Jane Veloso, was caught with 2.6 kg of heroin at Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia and later
accused of drug trafficking in April 2010. In October of 2010 she was sentenced to death.

Veloso maintained her innocence and that she was just tricked but all her appeals
through her legal team were rejected. She claimed that in her desire to support her two children
she sought to work abroad as a domestic helper. She claimed that the person behind her
crime was Maria Kristina Sergio, the daughter of one of her godparents, who convinced her to
travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid. A male friend of Sergio gave Veloso new
clothes and a new bag to travel with as her luggage and she was not aware it had heroin sewn
into it.

The family of Veloso pleaded for the direct intervention of the Philippine government
and the NGOs and media convinced that she was truly an innocent victim. These efforts were
met with resistance from the Indonesian side.

The two appeals which were launched by the Philippine government upon the request
of Veloso to the Indonesian government were both rejected. The Philippine government tried
to argue that Veloso had poor translators during trial which made her incapable of
understanding what was going on during her trial and that she was just a victim of a drug
syndicate.

In his capacity, President Aquino had met President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of
a regional meeting in Malaysia to discuss Veloso’s case as well as spoken to Indonesia’s
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and proposed keeping Veloso alive so that she could testify
against drug traffickers. This two did not seem to have worked. On April 28, 2015, Veloso,
together with the eight other convicted prisoners found themselves at Nusakambangan Prison
Island awaiting their executions as scheduled. Groups of people in the Philippines and around
the world gave the case prominent coverage. In Manila the activists protested outside the
Indonesian embassy.

The story of Veloso had reached and received a worldwide sympathy from peoples of
all walks of life.

During the time leading to the scheduled execution, Ms. Sergio, the woman accused
of duping Veloso, unexpectedly turned herself up to the police station in Cabanatuan City
asking police protection saying she was receiving death threats. As time went by Indonesia
issued a reprieve, saying Veloso was needed to testify against a “perpetrator suspected of
human trafficking.” She was then transferred back to a prison in Yogyakarta.

What followed next were counterclaims by various groups for credit: political leaders,
NGOs, human rights groups, lawyers, the families and groups that protested in the streets,
and in front of the Indonesian Embassy. Each felt they succeeded in their communication
goals.

Source: [Link]
communication/

Topic 3: The Individual as Client of Communication

Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020By Elcomblus Contributor

As an individual, you want to be the first to know about all matters that pertain to you.
Your company may be about to retrench you or to promote you and the anxiety that comes
with not having direct communication may be high. In the case above, no single individual
deserved to know the finality of the case other than Mary Jane Veloso. Every passing time
was certainly a moment of resignation and anguish. Hodgetts (2002) presents four major
barriers to communication that in a situation like this can make things more traumatic:
perception, inference, language, and status.

For sure, in terms of perception, Veloso’s personal view of reality was blurred. Plunged
in a situation she never anticipated made it even harder to comprehend fully her
circumstances. All she wanted, as a mother of two little children, was to find work that would
help her earn enough as a domestic worker to provide for the children. Instead, she found
herself counted among drug traffickers destined for execution.

An inference occurred, presented with large amounts of facts that were incomplete and
not transmitted clearly; her assumptions of the messages left nothing for adequate
interpretation of the meaning of what was going on and of her circumstances in general.

Obviously, she needed a translator to understand the proceedings in Bahasa. That

language barrier meant that she could not process her feelings and express her views
adequately before the courts. Her body language as well as other communication cues could
not relay her personal messages to the court to help them see her reality. The communication
was limited to looking at the evidence and probably explaining to her the sequences of having
such evidence in her suitcase. She could not understand and she could not communicate.

Her status as a domestic helper or someone seeking that employment made her even
not worthy to be listened to, to be respected, and to be trusted. If her circumstances were of
a high social ranking individual, the credentials could probably have obliged the courts to take
a look at the evidence in a different way. They may have wanted to examine the evidence in
a different light. Veloso’s problem had also to do with her social rank. Although ironically in the
turn of events, this very lowly status became the battle cry and source of sympathy from many
people that led the Indonesian government to make a last minute consideration.

For an individual as client of communication, these barriers need to be well-

managed. One has to have a way to overcome them to achieve effective communication.

Source: [Link]
communication/#:~:text=It%20means%20having%20the%20capacity,not%20good%20at%2
0(weaknesses).

Topic 4: The Community and Organization as Clients of Communication

Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020By Elcomblus Contributor

The Group and Organization as Client of Communication

Groups and organizations tend to have communication needs that are specific to them.
In the Veloso case, groups and organizations may be identified as family and friends, migrant
organizations, the legal team, media, and the Philippine government. Their communication
needs had to do with wanting to convince the Indonesian government to stop the pending
execution of Mary Jane Veloso.

They were all bent to hear from the Indonesian government news of consideration and
the longer they heard nothing, the more desperate they became and even resigned to accept
the fate. But the focus of these groups was to make a point for their organizations, to be
considered an achievement. For the family, probably their worry was about losing a family
member and having Veloso’s children to grow without their mother and losing her in such a
traumatic way. This was a paramount concern for the family.

Topic 5: The Community as Client of Communication

When a community is the client of communication, the message has to be responsive

to the need and the channel has to be appropriate, and the subject to be communicated has
to be relevant to the community. The most evident community to recognize in the case of
Veloso would be the Filipino community and the OFW community in particular. For this
community, the fate and reality of Veloso represented the suffering of OFWs and questioned
the Philippine government’s ability to care of and protect its own citizens. This is critical
because the OFW community has been regarded as modern-day heroes due to the large
amounts of remittances it pumps into the Philippine economy. In 2009, over 10 million Filipinos
were estimated to be migrants, which made the Philippines rank among top recipients of
remittances.

The World Bank estimated that remittance flew to developing countries in 2009 totaled
$316 billion. The top recipients of migrant remittances were the following (PDI, June 23, 2010
based on the Migration and Development Brief 12, Migration and Remittances Team
Development Prospects Group, World Bank).

India ($49 B)
China ($48 B)
Mexico ($22 B)
Philippines ($20 B)
France ($15 B) 6.
Bangladesh ($11 B)
Germany ($ 10 B)
Nigeria ($10 B)
Belgium ($10 B)

In 2014, the World Bank updated the data with India remaining in the top spot at about
$71 billion in remittances. China ($64 billion) maintained its second slot while the Philippines
($28 billion) surpassed Mexico ($24 billion) to become the third largest recipient of remittances
(World Bank 2014).

Source:[Link]
communication/

PRACTICE EXERCISES
PRACTICE EXERCISE 1:

Directions: Describe the characteristics of the clientele and audiences of communication and
list down their needs. Write your answer on a separate sheet.

Clientele/Audience Characteristics Needs

PRACTICE EXERCISE 2:

Directions: Write the word TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is not. Write your
answer on a separate paper.

________1. All people are clientele and audience in communication.

________2. Effective communication dismisses the audience’s perspective and

ensures that the message is relevant to them.
 ________3. The job type of audience cannot affect the format of materials and the
distribution methods to be used.

________4. Different individuals, groups, and communities have distinct

communication needs. They want to send and receive messages to and from other
parties.

________5. An individual as a client of communication, barriers need to be well-

managed. One has to have a way to overcome them to achieve effective
communication.

PRACTICE EXERCISE 3:

Directions: Answer the questions below. Write your answer on a separate paper.

1. Why is it important to consider the client and audience in communication?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________.

2. Why the needs of clientele and audiences of communication are important to consider
in drafting news report?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________.

Directions: Write your learnings from what has been dicussed.

Upon reading the lesson and answering the practice exercises, I learned that
________

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
________.

and I realized that

_______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
________
 WRITTEN WORKS

Directions: Write the word CHARACTERISTIC if the statement describes the characteristic
of the clientele and audiences of communication and NEED if the statement refers to the
needs of the clientele and audiences of communication.

1. Race and ethnicity is an important consideration in communication particularly in

deciding on graphics and photos.

2. Social position is the status that a person enjoys in a communication context.

3. Different individuals, groups, and communities want to send and receive messages
to and from other parties.

4. Education level may suggest the reading skills and healthy literacy and the ability to
engage with more complex topics—new and even unfamiliar.

5. Primary language has to be considered if the message is to be effective.

6. When a community is the client of communication, the message has to be responsive

to the need and the channel has to be appropriate, and the subject to be
communicated has to be relevant to the community.

7. Age range can affect choice of communication format or distribution.

8. Health status matters a lot as it dictates people’s disposition to listening and

responding and the ability to’ make meaning out of the communicated material.

9. As an individual, you want to be the first to know about all matters that pertain to
you. Your company may be about to retrench you or to promote you and the anxiety
that comes with not having direct communication may be high.

10. Groups and organizations tend to have communication needs that are specific to
them.

PERFORMANCE TASK
NEWS REPORT!

Directions. Make a news report. Use a short bond paper. (It can be handwritten or
computerized.)

Goal: To inform and educate your target audience by writing news report.
Role: News Writer
Audience: Choose your audience among individual, group and organization, and
community.
Situation: You need to give the right information to your target audience about COVID-19
Vaccination Program in your locality and the new normal in Education.
Product: As a news writer you need to draft report that serves your chosen audience.
Standard: Your draft report should:
 be written correctly
 contain accurate information
 display intellectual engagement
 easy to read and understand by your readers
 effective & organize
 compose at least 2 or 3 paragraphs

RUBRIC FOR EVALUATING NEWS REPORT

CATEGORY 5 4 3 POINTS
Opening And Clearly, quickly Audience/reader Little or no intro,
Introduction established the had an idea of such that
focus of the what was coming, audience/reader
presentation, but the did not know the
gained introduction did writer’s main
audience/reader not clarify the focus
attention. main focus.
Clarity And Main points Main points fairly Main points must
Organization clearly stated and clear, some be inferred by
explained, logical missing links or audience/reader;
organization. transitions. holes are evident.
Content Evidence clearly Evidence Evidence
presented. perhaps not quite assumptions and
Through clearly separated interpretation
knowledge from assumptions difficult to
interesting, and untangle to one
logical. interpretations of another.
Assumptions and evidence, but
interpretations story is logical.
are clearly
identified.
Control Of Used effective Vocabulary was Occasionally used
Written vocabulary, generally accurate
Language accurate and effective and language.
expressive used accurate
language. language.
Structure Details are Details are Some details are
placed in a placed in a logical not in a logical
logical order and order, but the order and this
the way they are way in which they distracts the
presented are presented reader.
effectively keeps /introduced
the interest of the sometimes
reader. makes the writing
less interesting.
Source: “Characteristics of Clientele and Audiences of Communication”, Elcomblus
Contributor, Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020,
[Link]
communication/

Source: “Needs of Various Types of Clientele and Audiences of Communication”, Elcomblus

Contributor, Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020,
[Link]
communication/

Source: “The Individual as Client of Communication”, Elcomblus Contributor, Published 10

months ago on October 12, 2020, [Link]
client-of-
communication/#:~:text=It%20means%20having%20the%20capacity,not%20good%
20at%20(weaknesses).

Source: “The Community and Organization as Clients of Communication”, Elcomblus

Contributor, Published 10 months ago on October 12, 2020,
[Link]
communication/
 Key to Practice Exercises

PRACTICE EXERCISE 1

Answers may vary

PRACTICE EXERCISE 2

1. TRUE
2. FALSE
3. FALSE
4. TRUE
5. TRUE

PRACTICE EXERCISE 3

Answers may vary

INSIGHTS

Answers may vary.

WRITTEN WORKS

1. Characteristic
2. Characteristic
3. NEED
4. Characteristic
5. Characteristic
6. NEED
7. Characteristic
8. Characteristic
9. NEED
10. NEED

PERFORMANCE TASK

Answers may vary.