Don’t Assume Your Audience Knows What You Know

How do you feel when you’re reading an article, listening to a speaker, or in a conversation, and someone makes a reference to something that flies over your head?

I still vividly remember a conversation I had with one of my congregation’s matriarchs decades ago when I was a new Christian and had attended only a few Bible studies. She was telling me about an upcoming study of Job and said, “And we all know how Job was.”

I’m not sure who she meant by “we,” but I didn’t know.

And from the way she said it, I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know.

A dear friend who is also a client often drops references to people or Biblical events in what she writes without providing sufficient context for what she’s writing to make sense if the reader doesn’t know what she knows. She’s gotten used to me telling her, “This is a great message, but you need to identify that person or explain this situation.” It doesn’t occur to her as she’s writing that some people may not have the same knowledge she does.

One of the things I appreciated when I was an active member of Mensa was that a Mensa event was a safe place to say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” We all knew we had high IQs and different areas of expertise. Asking and answering questions was a big part of our social interactions.

But in other environments, when someone speaks in a way that assumes we know something we don’t, we’re not always comfortable asking for clarification or more information. We don’t want to come across as uninformed or ignorant.

The result is that the speaker/writer’s message fails.

Of course, there are situations where it’s okay to assume your audience has a certain level of knowledge, such as a training event with a prerequisite. But in most business or casual circumstances, don’t assume your audience knows everything you do. Don’t patronize, simply explain.

If you’re in the audience and you didn’t understand, ask for clarification. How the speaker answers your question says far more about them than the fact that you needed to ask says about you.

Keep in mind that if you didn’t know something, chances are others didn’t, either, and they’re glad you asked.

People are not impressed by people they don’t understand. They’re impressed by people who communicate clearly and share knowledge.

Related: Speak the Same Language as Your Customers and Readers