In some random conversation we had yesterday, the topic of reading literacy levels in this country came up. Current stats show that about 20% of adults are illiterate, and about 55% read below a 6th-grade level. Damien and I have discussed the marketing messages we put out there for our business before (I even wrote about it in Book Brew 47). Yet, it is still a sad and shocking set of statistics to hear.
Common Advice Missing the Mark
Some marketing experts say to ensure you “dumb down” your messages and write them at a 3rd-grade level, not higher than a 6th-grade level (something I’m not very good at because most of my writing education focused on writing at the highest level possible to get the best grade).
While I understand the advice to “dumb it down,” I have never really liked how that comes across. I don’t believe that just because someone has a lower reading literacy level, they are dumb. In my experience, it is just the opposite—they are quite intelligent, but something may have happened during their education to dissuade them from reading, or they may have a learning disability or some kind of neurodivergence. Fun fact: I not only have dyslexia, but I recently found out I also have dyscalculia.
“Simple It Up”
So when I read Seth Godin’s blog post and saw his take, I fell in love with his concept of “Simple it up instead.” Spinning the advice to write at a 3rd to 6th-grade level a bit, consider finding ways to explain the same concepts in simpler terms rather than dumbing it down. Not only will this help the readers, but it has the added benefit of improving your own knowledge of the topic.
Applying “Simple It Up” in Real-Life Scenarios
This concept even came up today when we discussed how Damien could explain the concept of domains to a non-technical client in a way they would understand. Most non-technical people don’t know what a domain is; that doesn’t imply they are dumb, so we went through a few ways in which we could simplify the explanation in more familiar terms. We landed on comparing it to real estate. I won’t go into the details here because Damien will have his own blog post about this, and we are straying from the main topic. Suffice it to say, there are many ways to “Simple it up instead.”
Ponder This
- How might simplifying complex information change the way your audience perceives your message?
- What areas of life could you benefit from “Simple it up” thinking beyond writing?
- Have you encountered examples where complex topics were explained so clearly that they felt easy to understand?
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