Pete Carr is the superintendent of a large county school district with 10 high schools. One of Pete's yearly rituals is to call the parents of each high school valedictorian to congratulate them on their child's achievement and to thank them for investing so much in their child's education and future. This year, Pete wants to change his greeting. Last year, too many parents thought Pete was a phone solicitor. Pete's previous message began, "Congratulations! Your child is valedictorian!" When envisioning an audience, we use personal, firsthand knowledge or empathy to gain insight. When Pete is creating a picture of his audience for his message to parents, which approach will he use?

From the case above, Pete decided to use "Congratulations! Your child is valedictorian!" in his earlier message. This sounded like empty praise that commonly used by people before they ask something to you.

The better method to do this is by appealing to parents' empathy. Pete could begin by telling the parents how highly the people of the school think about their children to make the parents feel pride that currently felt by the school toward their children.