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: âlearn something so well you could teach it to a five year oldâ.
When thinking about how to communicate a topic, you must start with empathy:
- Why does my audience need to know this information?
- More specifically, whatâs in it for them?
- Where is my audienceâs 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).