Struggling to Explain? Say It like They’re Twelve.
Head In The Clouds by Luis Prado from The Noun Project
Have you ever met with blank stares when trying to explain a difficult concept? Or perhaps your blog post didn’t travel far because readers couldn’t parse through your dense vocabulary? When you’re passionate about your work, it’s all too easy for your message to get tangled up in complex theories and technical jargon.
When you’re having trouble describing something,Kevin Daum suggests translating it into 12-year-old language:
Language is constantly changing and new generations and experts add new words and phrases weekly. Trying to understand complex theories or technical jargon can be a huge pain. Then trying to actually explain all of this to someone else without completely confusing them can be even more of a challenge. Take a minute or two to think about what the underlying theme or message is and translate the language into something that any adolescent can understand. Use a thesaurus or dictionary if you have to.
Addressing a sixth grade audience seems the best way to go, considering that The Hunger Games might be the future of writing.
