This is a gimme: Audience is a singular noun.
Yes, I know that audience refers to a group of people, but it is one of many nouns called collective nouns, nouns that refer to more than one person but are considered singular nouns for purposes of pronoun and verb form.
An audience is an it, not a they. If referring to a group of people as an it sticks in your craw (and it does mine), then there are number of satisfying work-arounds: audience members, listeners, and participants.
Other collective nouns include association, congregation, committee, team, staff, and group.
So, these sentences, ripped right off CSPs’ websites, are wrong:
Is your team overdue for a fun, laugh-while-learning experience? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could also get them reacquainted, reenergized, and recommitted to your organization’s goals?
Linda is a past Director of a professional association at the national level and served on their convention committee with responsibility to choose and work with conference speakers.
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