Engaging Audiences
Overview
This unit prepares students for employment as media and communications coordinators by training them to use strategies and skills of media use for effective stakeholder engagement. This unit integrates the three areas of audience engagement practice: audience research, communications strategy, and content creation. This unit will develop students’ capacities to discern the specific needs of diverse audiences, to plan and implement strategies to build relationships and consensus with priority stakeholders, to make complex concepts accessible through appropriate forms of communication, as well as to track and report on the results of engagement initiatives.
Requisites
02-November-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Assess the literacies and needs of a range of audience segments, in order to prioritise specific genres, modes, and platforms of communication
- Design and justify strategies that can be predicted and proven to engage selected audiences
- Research and generate appropriate content across a range of genres
- Monitor and evaluate the consistency, quantity, and quality of communication and audience engagement
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Lecture |
1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| On-campus Class |
2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Specified Activities Various |
10.00 | 10 weeks | 100 |
| Unspecified Activities Various |
1.17 | 12 weeks | 14 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | Group | 30% | 1,2 |
| Research Report | Individual | 40% | 1,3 |
| Research Report | Group | 30% | 1,2,4 |
Content
- Compelling storytelling: Concept and Craft
- Community engagement and management
- Audience research and insights: Quantitative and qualitative methodologies
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
- Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Collaboration and negotiation
- Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Teamwork roles and processes
- Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
- Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.