Don’t Persuade. Explain.

Lessons from AWS Re:Invent, explaining super complicated ideas, and avoiding the curse of knowledge

“If you’re not having fun, you’re not learning. There’s a pleasure in finding things out.” — Richard Feynman

Here’s a thing you’ve probably noticed yourself: When someone tries to explain a concept, they usually make at least two cognitive errors¹ that prevent them from communicating well:

1. They don’t understand what the listener knows
2. They try to persuade instead of explain

The first error is simple enough. If you don’t understand what your audience knows, you’re more likely to use terms and concepts they can’t follow. This is an easy error to identify, and it’s an easy error to correct. Simply put yourself in their size 9s and tailor the content of your explanation to that shoe.

The second error: less intuitive. Explainers often forego the empathy of explaining in lieu of the salesmanship of persuasion. They attempt to convince rather than inform. What they don’t realize is that the very act of persuasion is, itself, insulting. They’ve forgotten their Ogilvy: “The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.”