1. Think in billboards (Construct your explanation in less than 16 words)
2. Increase your vocabulary. Try wordthink.com daily.
3. Hold off. Don’t speak just yet. Seek to compact your explanation.
4. Reframe it as an analogy or metaphor
5. Even if your audience isn’t a 5 year old, try to describe your idea in a way that they would understand.
Good luck!
> 3. Hold off. Don’t speak just yet. Seek to compact your explanation.
These have always been the most important/challenging parts of explaining a topic for myself. If I am struggling, I'll take a few moments and ask myself three questions.
1. What am I trying to explain? (What is in-scope)
2. What am I not trying to explain? (What is out-of-scope? "We can come back to that later if you're interested")
3. How would they explain this topic to me? (What is the language the audience would use?)
This reminds me of Michael Porter's note on strategy: "the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
More globally, your advice of thinking shorter and waiting before speaking might be some key in helping me.
Thanks :)
My gut feeling is that having a bigger vocabulary doesn't necessarily help; your audience must also know the words in order for communication to happen.
What is the reasoning behind this suggestion?