The Context Effect: How to Explain Technical Topics to Anyone.

Fresh out of university, I was on a date with a chemistry graduate. We were walking through London’s Shoreditch after a few drinks and he was trying to explain a scientific concept to me. Three miserable attempts and I was none-the-wiser. He sighed: “it’s just so obvious. I can’t explain it any more simply.”

I felt pretty stupid at that point on the date, but as Einstein says: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” And hey, now we’re married — so the joke’s on him.

Have you ever explained something only for the listener to get utterly lost? Perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end and you wish you’d known how to point the explainer in the right direction? Read on to learn why we struggle to explain technical topics and how to nail it next time.

Wait, why bother to explain in the first place?

This point needs addressing. Many technical specialists leave it too late to bring the wider team on board because they know that explaining everything will feel like hiking Everest in flip-flops.

And they’re probably right. Explaining everything is not the aim of the game. It’s about knowing how to identify and extract knowledge that’s relevant to the individual and leaving the rest out.

The more you make an effort to explain your project, the more your contribution will be valued and recognised by others. The next time you want buy-in for an idea, resources for your team or recognition for your knowledge, you’ve already laid the groundwork by taking the time to explain.

There’s a second reason why it’s worth explaining your work — the protégé effect — learning by teaching. Teaching increases metacognitive processing, actively engaging the teacher in the learning process. Not only does it help others understand, it improves your own understanding.

Next time you’re short on motivation to bring people on the journey, remember it’s a smart way to strengthen your specialist knowledge.

Why is it challenging to explain?

It’s all about language and context.

We have our own language

Shared language is clarity to some and jargon to others. Hope Wilson, curriculum expert at Duolingo describes jargon as “a code you use to demonstrate your belonging to a particular professional circle.”

Within your team, your own shared language is a helpful shorthand for familiar concepts. Outside your team, use of technical jargon is alienating. Nearly half (49%) of the workers surveyed by LinkedIn and Duolingo said they feel like their colleagues are speaking a language they don’t understand when they use office jargon. Conscious use of language is a great way to catch ourselves when we add complexity to our explanations by accidentally resorting to ‘insider’ jargon.

We have our own context

Think of your context as one circle in a venn diagram and your listener’s context as another. The more someone’s context overlaps with yours, the easier your explanation will be.

Starting your explanation with no contextual overlap will get you nowhere. Sometimes, the circles will be entirely separate and it will be up to you to find the common ground that brings them together.

The more you close the gap by reducing the context deficit before you start your explanation, the stronger your position.

How to do it?

Great explanation is simple, like a bowl of plain RICE 🍚 Relevance — Impact — Context — Explanation

The part we’re all here for — the explanation — comes last. Setup is everything, especially if the listener is at high risk of becoming disengaged.

Relevance

Is this conversation for your benefit (i.e. to raise your profile within the organisation) or for theirs? If it’s for yours, finding relevance for them is especially key. Without it, you become an ineffective door-to-door-salesperson and the door will soon be shut in your face.

Relevance has 2 parts:

1. Sift through your mental encyclopaedia and extract the most relevant parts of the concept for the individual.

2. Double-check with them that these will be useful before launching into your explanation. You can do that by asking them: “Am I right that your daily work touches on these aspects?” or by telling them “I think these concepts are most relevant to you because…” and inviting their input.

Recently, this worked well at the beginning of a talk. Before launching into my prepared content, I simply asked the audience: “why are you here today?” Their answers gave me a clear steer on how to tailor my content to their needs.

Impact

You’ve identified the most relevant elements to explain. Now it’s time to take a moment to demonstrate the impact the knowledge will have on the individual. “Once you understand this concept you will be able to…”

Even if the impact is self-evident, it’s worth reiterating. Nothing increases willingness to listen like a reminder of why it will benefit us. A simple hack is to add 3 bullet points in the meeting invite: “after this chat you will be able to [1], [2], [3].”

On the other hand, question yourself: do you really know why this is important to the individual? You may not, especially if the individual has asked you to explain without offering context. Time to ask the audience again: “how will this knowledge help you in your work?” This will give you the tools to adjust.

When we explain, we forget to seek to understand — we are in telling mode, not listening mode. Would our explanation be more powerful if we did both?

Context

Now they’re listening. The individual understands the relevance to them and the impact it will have on their life. It’s time to return to our venn diagram, calculate the context deficit and fill the gap. What are the “need-to-knows” here? Do any terms need to be defined in advance? Can they be replaced with familiar words or analogies? Is the origin of the concept useful context? What about why you’re best-placed to speak on the topic? Allude to your experience and credentials.

Explanation

We’ve reached the explanation, but the hard work is done! It’s all about the setup. If you’ve done your RIC… the E should be Easier. Here are some do’s and don’t’s to guide you through the last mile.

Do:

Keep it short, simpleAvoid technical language and new layers of complexity unless absolutely necessary

Use examples, analogies“Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update this spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the blockchain.” (Blockgeeks)

Check in with your speaker and adapt as you go“Is everyone with me? Should I recap the last part?”

Use visuals to bring your points to lifeVisuals can increase ability to synthesise information by 36%. Did my context venn diagram visual help you better understand the concept I was explaining?

Don’t:

Make assumptions about what they already know“I’m assuming we all know what bitcoin is, so I won’t go into that”

Patronise, belittle the individual or adopt a condescending tone“Of course you’ll never fully understand this in depth, but let me do what I can”

It’s RICE Time 🍚

Let’s say I’m explaining blockchain to my mum.

Relevance: You told me recently that you keep seeing the “blockchain” referred to online, and you want to know what it is? Why?

Mum: all my friends are either talking about it or asking me about it, and I feel out of the loop.

Impact: Ok, I’ll give you the details you need to explain it to your friends and understand why people believe it could change society for the better.

Mum: I can’t wait to tell Susan about this at book club.

Context: One of the internet’s big problems is that things can be easily copied, changed, or hacked. Blockchain seeks to solve that problem.

Explanation: Blockchain is a digital ledger. Each “block” is a record of a new transaction. Once the transaction is completed, it’s added to the “chain”. The chain is a network of connected computers that keep track of each transaction without the need for a central authority, like a bank. This means each piece of data is owned by the individual, not by anyone else and cannot be copied or changed without the owner’s permission, offering better digital security.

Mum: A digital ledger that tracks transactions without the need for a central bank, giving control back to the owner. Got it.

Credit to Paul Dughi for inspiring elements of this explanation.

What to do when no one gets it?

There will be times when your explanation doesn’t land as you were hoping. Here are some troubleshooting tips:

Stop right there: if the explanation ship has capsized, don’t leave your passenger overboard and carry on regardless. Take time to bring them back up to speed — they won’t board the boat again by themselves.

Identify the problem: is it a lack of context, a technical term that’s tripped them up or is it information overwhelm?

• Lack of context: it’s time for a recap — go back over the key contextual points, checking carefully that they’re clear on them.

• Mum: But how can things be easily copied on the internet?

• Technical terms: ask them which term is unclear and go into it in detail, without moving on to cover new ground until it makes sense to them

• Mum: What’s a digital ledger?

• Information overwhelm: call a timeout and reschedule the session. Continue, and you’re wasting your breath in addition to sapping the other person’s energy unnecessarily. We all digest at different rates, give the individual the time they need.

• Mum: Phew! Let’s stop there for today — my brain’s had enough. Cup of tea?

In a Nutshell

Explanations should be simple staples like RICE 🍚 that comfort people, not complex fancy food that intimidates. If you’ve set up your Relevance, Impact and Context well, the Explanation should come more Easily. Keep the individual on the journey using analogies and visual diagrams and check in regularly. The moment they fall overboard, call a timeout and troubleshoot.

Wait, I’ve forgotten one final “E”: Enjoy. Sharing your knowledge is a privilege and the more you enjoy it, the more your listener will too.

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