If you're new here, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
She was 13-months old and playing in the living room. She really wanted to go downstairs. It was such a reachable objective. Four steps, nothing more. Her mom had left the fence open just for two minutes. Just the time to get something in the freezer.
The baby girl, full of ambition and optimism, stood up and got closer to what she perceived as the challenge of a life.
An obstacle that, if overcome, would make her queen of the day.
You know what happened? Yes, you know. She wasn’t made queen. Instead of experiencing the intoxicating power of royalty, she experienced the devastating power of gravity.
She disregarded some very basic rules, such as, bending her knees, not leaning too much forward, and putting her foot on an actual step, not in the air.
That seems obvious to you, right? Well, she didn’t know. She had to be told. And she will need to be reminded, again and again, until she understands. This is what you should do with your readers: explain and repeat.
Explain, Explain, Explain
Assuming that your reader knows what you talk about is a common mistake. What usually happens is the following:
- You pick one topic: It could be about traveling in China, investing in dividend stocks in Canada or marketing rabbit-shaped chocolate during the Easter holiday.
- You do some research: You start doing research on the chosen topic and spend time reading what you found.
- You organise your thoughts and pick your angle: Now that you feel more knowledgeable, you begin structuring your ideas and select the point you want to make.
and then… - You start writing and fail to explain sufficiently: I’m sure you’re asking yourself: “Why on earth would an intelligent latest generation homo sapiens like me make such a major mistake?” The answer is simple. Because you forgot that your readers didn’t do the research you did prior to writing your article.
Telling your kids that they shouldn’t stick a fork into electric sockets could prevent them from doing so. Explaining them the potential consequences will significantly improve the effectiveness of your message. You want to do the same when writing.
Explain even what seems so obvious to you… now (now that you have the knowledge after having done the research or the experience after sticking the fork into the electric socket yourself).
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
You may sometimes feel that you are repeating yourself. You may be reluctant to write another post on the Karabakh horse of Azerbaijan for fear of being redundant. Well you should not.
Be courageous and repeat your messages. There’s always room for improvement. You readers may not know that the Karabakh horse has a good temper and is elegant. They would miss it if you succumbed to your fear. There’s always room for expanding and explaining in more details the knowledge you want to share.
Treat your readers like kids and repeat. You know too well that kids don’t listen. Kids are easily distracted. Kids sometimes just don’t know or just don’t read. Blog posts and articles can so easily be misunderstood. Repeat if you want your message to come across.
In the end, what risks are you really facing? Being repetitive or being misunderstood. If the issue were your 13-month daughter trying to climb down the stairs, would you even ask yourself the question?
Other Posts You Will Enjoy
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
There's a fine line here re: readers = kids.
In terms of clarity, yes; if you feel you have a point to make, take nothing for granted — especially the cognitive powers of your audience.
But in terms of talking down to your audience, no; if everybody wrote at a condescending 1st grade level, we'd soon be living in an idiocracy.
In blogs, as in life, there eventually has to be some measure of survival of the fittest. If people are incapable of following directions, thinking critically and making wise decisions, well…
Thanks Justin,
I agree that talking down to your audience is definitely not the way to go. Yet, I think that we should not be afraid to state the obvious. Not to question the cognitive powers of your audience, but our own ability to deliver an explicit and unequivocal message. That’s the challenge of communication, isn’t?