Keep jargon and details from overwhelming your marketing

As marketers, we all know the importance of communicating effectively to our customers and prospects.  But we often become so absorbed in our own little world (with jargon, acronyms, and technical details) that our communications become unclear to anyone other than an expert in that field.

I see it happen quite a bit in the manufacturing industry:

• Sometimes it's a white paper that was intended to be an introductory look at a topic, but instead by page 2 it's discussing nitty-gritty detail that's over the head of most readers.
• I see it frequently on webcasts.  Presenters use TLAs ("Three Letter Acronyms"...see, I just used an unnecessary acronym!) without explaining what the acronyms mean.  When jargon creeps in, presenters tune out.
• Even companies' own websites can be guilty of this sin.  The executives and marketing people want the site to be perfect, so they put a lot of effort into it.  Too many cooks in the kitchen, plus too much time micro-analyzing every last word, often equals a poor end result.  They forget to step back and look at the site like a first-time visitor, someone who doesn't live and breathe this specific topic.

This comedy sketch -- a fake commercial about the digital TV transition -- illustrates the point well.  How often do your marketing materials come across like this to your readers?  (My favorite is the "300 ohm to 75 ohm transformer or balun" part!)



What can you do about it?  A few basic suggestions:

1. Don't write it all at once.  If possible, take a break and come back to it tomorrow.  Next week is even better.  Read it once with fresh eyes, making notes of anything that isn't immediately understandable.
2. Have a co-worker from a different area of the business read it.  This works if they don't have the same body of knowledge as you, but still have a basic understanding of the topic.  New employees are excellent for this task, because they have the desire to learn, but they don't have the same biases and "blinders" that veteran members of your team might have.
3. Have your spouse read it.  (You should've made sure "I promise to read his/her marketing text" went into your wedding vows.)  I've asked my wife to read things for me occasionally, and she's usually been able to give me at least one new insight each time.
4. If you're giving it to someone else to read, watch them read it.  Better yet, ask them to put their finger on the paper to follow along with what they're reading.  If you see their finger stop, you know they've hit something they don't understand.  Look closer at those areas.  Is it jargon?  An acronym?  Or maybe a poorly-worded sentence?

I'd love to hear about others' techniques.  How do you keep your marketing copy from falling into the "I have no idea what you're talking about" trap?