AT&T customer communication about Hurricane Ian is missing the customer—particularly “you.” Students could rewrite these bad-news (and persuasive) messages to address customers directly. The “you attitude,” or focus on the audience, would convey more empathy, give residents more confidence in the company, and make reading easier.

AT&T’s Hurricane Ian webpage is odd. The beginning doesn’t have a defined audience, so it’s likely written for anyone who might be interested in the company’s work to restore power. Most sentences start with “we,” “our,” or “FirstNet.” Company leaders also seem proud of their vehicles: four photos in the middle of the page include a link to “download” each.

The next section, with black text on a blue background, is titled, “Supporting Our Customers.” Updates include fees waived and other customer benefits. But students can easily revise paragraphs like this one to make them more audience-focused:

As Hurricane Ian moves through additional states, we are assisting our wireless customers who may be impacted by the storm. To do this, we’re waiving talk, text and data overage charges for AT&T Postpaid & PREPAID customers with billing addresses in zip codes* across areas in Georgia and South Carolina from September 29, 2022 through October 8, 2022.