Being able to communicate a complex topic is an essential skill. It becomes increasingly more valuable when the audience is less technical and has decision making power. Aphorisms capture this idea: “learn something so well you could teach it to a five year old”.

When thinking about how to communicate a topic, you must start with empathy:

  • Why does my audience need to know this information?
  • More specifically, what’s in it for them?
  • Where is my audience’s baseline on this topic?
  • How do a start there and bring them to the level of information they need to know?

When crafting a topic, think about making it as simple as possible and as universal as possible1.

Antipatterns

1. Mikolay, J. How to Write Something Compelling. The Mikolay Letter (2020).