Writing and speaking to one imagined person yields conversational warmth

Evidence

I have found in the writing of inscriptions that it is of great advantage to have in mind some person of my acquaintance and write straight to him. In the days when Iwas doing much public speaking, I found it useful (and other speakers have told me the same thing) to pick out some cheerful inviting countenance in the audience and mainly direct my words to her or to him. It develops a conversational as opposed to a starched-shirt manner. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 382

Categorization

• XREF: A concrete craft move for teaching and interpretation: address a single imagined learner, not an audience — relevant to interpretation-as-pedagogy and eco-justice teaching.
• CANDY: Fun, portable public-speaking trick most people can try tomorrow.