Writing (and Talking) about Technical Concepts

How do you explain technical concepts to people not familiar with the technology? How can you be clear without "dumbing down" your explanations. How much should you worry about it?

I had the opportunity to speak with the wonderful Poornima Vijayashanker (of Femgineer) about these topics in a two-part video series recently, on the Build series on Femgineer TV.

Episode One talked about the why it matters so much, and why we find it so difficult, including:

• Why people are bad at explaining technical concepts using simple language
• Why we assume our audience knows what we’re talking about
• The three questions to ask yourself about your audience before you communicate with them
• Why over-explaining isn’t helpful either and being brief is better

Watch the episode below:

Episode Two offered ideas for how to improve those explanations. Topics included:

• Getting over your misconceptions about using story
• Balancing brevity and repetition
• Dumbing down vs. being clear

Watch it here:

If you work in tech, consider subscribing to the Femgineer Build channel. And if the topics of these talks interest you, check out my latest book, Writing to Be Understood: What Works and Why.