On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Better Explain Complicated Information

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Better Explain Complicated Information No one doubts the intelligence of technical people, but that doesnt mean theyre good at everything. One of the areas where many could use some improvement iscommunicating technical informationto non-techies. Techies often believe that communication is one of those skills that is nice to have, but not critical to their career. If they ever need it, they believe theyll figure it out. How difficult can it be? What they soon discover is that communicating effectively is challenging, and communicating technical information to non-techies can be a nightmare. They cant seem to convey what they believe to be simple information to a non-tech audience, who fire back that these techies look down on them because theyre struggling to understand. To make matters worse, senior leaders become increasingly frustrated with the poor communication, letting the techies know this shortcoming could hurt their careers. If youre in technology, its time you started giving more serious thought to how you will communicate, especially with non-techies. With some planning, non-technical audiences will begin to applaud your efforts and really learn what youre trying to teach them, instead of becoming frustrated and complaining about your efforts to their bosses. If youre asked to explain technical information to a non-technical audience, heres what you need to do: Dont assume anything.Dont sabotage your efforts from the beginning by assuming that your audience has some basic tech knowledge. Try conducting a brief survey of attendees before the meeting to determine the skill level. Consider providing a cheat sheet of terms you plan to use repeatedly, along with definitions so that your audience (read more here)