Purpose: My goal in creating this communication is to provide a detailed plan of action for individuals who are novice swimmers, with little to no ocean swimming experience, who find themselves struggling in a rip current. My hope for this communication is to by better informing novice swimmers that they will remain calm and collected in the rush of a rip current. The best possible outcome for this audience in following the instructions is to safely escape the rip current and return to the safety of the shore. The worst possible outcome for this audience is to simply not read the instructions and to drown fighting the strength of the rip current.
Audience: The audience most likely to read these directions would be families, couples or individuals, of any race, age, or gender, that are unconfident of their swimming abilities and have little to no ocean swimming experience. This is invaluable knowledge that any visitor to an unfamiliar location would be eager to take in so as to look out for their safety and the safety of their loved ones.
Context: The context my audience will find themselves in while reading my communication will be fairly specific. They will read the instructions upon arrival to the ocean of their choice. They will have just pulled up with their family, their friends, or simply themselves. They will encounter my communication as they are moving onto the physical sand of the beach at public beach access. The audience either chooses to take the time to comprehend it or simply ignores it before they start their day.
Strategies: Strategies for this communication will involve a combination of things. Since the audience is not fully comfortable with their swimming ability, I plan to use a detailed diagram as well as short and easily read steps to be followed. Also color will be a factor. My instructions will have a bright, attention capturing color scheme so as to alert inexperienced swimmers to the dangers of rip currents.
Medium: My current plan is to place the steps and diagram onto a sign that will be encountered by the visitors as they are beginning to make their way down the public access toward the shore line. Simply looking up at the sign and reading its instructions could potentially save the life of that novice swimmer.
Arrangement: The sign will first in large bold letters read “Attention Novice Swimmers!” Under this exclamation will follow the statement that “Rip Currents are a Serious Threat.” Under this will be a quick yet thorough bullet list of instructions detailing steps to take to ensure ones safety. Alongside this bullet list will be the diagram visually showing novice swimmers what will happen and what to do in the event that they find themselves being sucked out to sea in a rip current.
Testing: My instruction set is particularly unique in terms of testing. While attempting to refine my instructions I will confront my Ocean Rescue bosses eat Wrightsville Beach. They have timeless experience retrieving distressed swimmers from rip currents. I will ask them to read my instructions and provide feedback as far as what would help a novice swimmer in such a risky situation.
feedback
1. Your purpose is very clear and informative. It states exactly who you are aiming your instructions towards. It also is very clear in best possible outcome and the worst. Your arrangement was also thorough because it listed what you were going to write and how you were going to write it on the sign. It will be interesting to see how the detailed diagram will work for novice swimmers.
2. You could have gone into more detail on the way you are going to create your diagrams. They sound like a great idea, but how detailed would they be? It seems that they would need to be drawn or created in great detail so that a novice swimmer would understand what they are looking at.
3. This instruction set lists exactly what the writer is going to do. It seems that it will be very helpful to people who cannot swim. You understand the usage of color and how that attracts the reader and will hopefully attract those that are in need of these instructions.
4. It might be a good idea to put a video online as well for a guide on how to escape a rip current. I know that you are putting diagrams and there is not a way to put a video on the beach, but I think for other references it would be helpful to make a video. It will be easier for the swimmer to watch the video and understand what moves they should be making in the water. If the medium were changed to a video it would not be as effective phyiscally on the beach, but it may be easier to follow in a video for those that know they are going to need the help before they enter the water.