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Always underestimate your audience’s willingness to work‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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poseycorp helps innovators become great communicators.
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ISSUE 50

Less. It’s Still More. Always.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

- Leonardo da Vinci
 
More than almost any other question, my clients ask me how to explain complex ideas to their audiences. They are solving hard problems in unique and amazing ways. Don’t their audiences need to understand? Not really.

How you do what you do matters so much less than the results you deliver. I slightly comprehend how my combustion engine works. All I care about is that my car gets me from San Francisco to Sunnyvale and back again.

Less is always more. Always. Think of your message like the Eiffel Tower - really skinny until the very bottom. You communicate at a very high level, in outcomes only, to 80% of your audience - the business managers, the check writers, the executives. This audience only needs to hear 20% of your story. They only care about getting from San Francisco to Sunnyvale.

In fact, if you give business managers and executives too much detail, you’ll confuse and alienate them. They will feel dumb. They don’t like to feel dumb. And they won’t like you, because they didn’t feel dumb until you started talking.

We’ve all heard that adage, "The confused mind never buys." Don’t confuse your audiences with so much detail about what you made and how that they lose sight of why it can help them!  

You can go deep with your users. Eighty percent of your message goes to the 20% of the people in an organization who will get their hands on your product. These people want to tear apart the engine, look at the carburetor, understand exactly how you achieve fuel efficiency and maximum torque at the same time. Tell them anything and everything!

Still feel like you need to educate senior-level prospects about your product? If they must understand your product’s complex differentiator before they can make a decision, use metaphor.

When Java was newly hitting the world stage more than 25 years ago, I had to explain APIs to an editor at Elle magazine in Paris. I doubt she’d ever written about software, let alone about programming languages.

"Have you ever made a macaroni necklace?" I asked. Yes she had.

"Well, imagine if you had to grow the wheat, grind it into flour and then shape it into macaroni yourself before you could even get started making your necklace. That would be super time consuming, right?"

"Yes it would," she said.

"APIs are like pieces of macaroni a developer can string together to make a necklace (or an app) quickly."

And then I immediately moved to telling her about what kinds of great apps could get created with these APIs and how the way we worked and lived would change as a result.

The most powerful stories can always be simplified. Do the work to distill yours to its essence and you’ll reach and convert much bigger audiences!

Image: Barnfreshclassics.com

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We're talking about leadership and being a better public speaker:


"This is invaluable - you grow as a person!" said a delighted client. Learning is useful everywhere. . .

If you’d like great results, schedule a conversation with me! It’s easy! Reach me at inquiries@poseycorp.com.
Your business must scale, and you must scale with it. Great communicators create the change they want to see in the world. poseycorp helps innovators build powerful messages and the skill to deliver them so they can break through the noise and be heard! Lisa Poulson, poseycorp’s principal, is expert at helping innovators scale by becoming great communicators.

Do you wish everyone around you had great communication skills? Share this link with them so they can learn too!





 
 
Resources
 
 
There’s a whole chapter in this book just on delivering complex content!
 
 
 
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1592 Union St., #338
San Francisco, CA 94123
United States

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