Whether it’s thinking about how your purpose for writing influences the kind of document you write — and what and how you express your ideas — or how you can better introduce your subject to your own audience to provide them with the background information essential to getting your point across—context is an essential consideration for effective communication.

In this episode, I’ll introduce you to the RAFT model—an acronym for four key factors shaped by the context of a communication—and I’ll talk about how you can use the “person-in-the-hallway” test to make sure you’ve properly introduced your subject.

When we’re done here, you’ll have a couple of techniques that can help you not only better evaluate what kind of document to write and what style and level of formality to use in doing so but also proofread through the eyes of a stranger to determine whether you’ve done so effectively.