MAKE IT SIMPLE, BUT DON'T DUMB DOWN

One of my rules of presentation coaching is, “make it simple, but don’t dumb it down”. Know your audience and sizzle them with something rather than dazzle them with everything.

I am a nerd on all things leadership, management science and organisational development. There are times when I want to wax lyrical about power distance orientation, first principles, followership, systemic power and the many other theories and bodies of research that inform my work. But I do this only when I have an audience that aligns with that kind of language and level of interest.

In most cases, I need to simplify the principles of what I share. Not dilute. Simplify.

For example, I explain what leadership means to me using three pillars: Context, Cognition and Commitment. I also use a leadership model called The BRAVE Model  that helps people understand how to communicate as a leader, especially when discussing inclusive leadership.

I say this all to say that, way too often, people think they need to dumb down their intelligence. There could be several reasons for this; peer pressure from colleagues, misguided instruction from a manager, or just needing a clearer understanding of your audience. But pause for a second. Imagine you educate yourself to have more breadth and depth of what you bring to a task, and someone then wants you to dumb it down. GTFOH.

The key is breaking down complex concepts into bite-size chunks that your audience can digest comfortably. To eat an elephant, so to speak. Do that if you have to! But for the love of all things good, don’t dumb down what you do to make someone else feel better.