A 7th Grader of Above-Average Intelligence

A 7th grader with above-average intelligence.
That's your audience.
Every time.

I learned this lesson early in my legal career.

I was working for one of the top law firms in Washington, D.C., and I was getting ready to start drafting a brief that would be filed at the U.S. Supreme Court. We were challenging a highly technical FCC order for a telecommunications client.

It would be an understatement to say the legal issues were complex.

The partner I was working with, Jon Nuechterlein, was widely considered one of the best writers at the firm. As we wrapped up our initial strategy meeting, he gave me a parting instruction:

Write as though your audience is a 7th grader with above-average intelligence.

Yikes...talk about throwing down the gauntlet.

This was the Supreme Court. The justices and their clerks were among the most sophisticated legal minds in the country. And he was telling me to write for middle schoolers?!?!

I didn't realize at the time just how right he was. Complexity in your message doesn't show your audience respect. And it certainly doesn't show them how smart you are.

It just makes your audience work harder.

I was reminded of this at a recent startup pitch event. Six life sciences companies. Some were easy to follow. One was nearly impossible. Not just for me, though. I heard that same reaction from people in the room who actually had life sciences backgrounds with lots of letters after their names.

This message isn't just for startups, and it's not just about pitches. Think about Apple. The philosophy of keeping things simple applies to everything from their messaging to their product design to the layout of their stores.

I can't say the same for Microsoft. (Humorous aside...how is it that Microsoft Teams works vastly better on a MacBook than on a Windows-based PC?)

If you're in a complex space, how do you keep your message simple enough to be clear? And what do you do when you're on the receiving end of a message that feels like a doctoral dissertation?

Oh…and the picture? That’s our son when he was in 5th grade. Bonus points if you can get the message across to a 5th grader…