to escape jargon, ELI5

Jargon isn’t all bad. Within your team or sector, it can be faster and signify belonging. It’s a gas pedal and a badge. Those are useful functions. 

Outside of your team or sector, jargon can have the exact opposite effects: it slows down communication and excludes or deters people. They don’t get what you’re talking about and maybe as a result of that, they don’t want to be a part of it.

One way to check your jargon is to “explain (it to me) like I’m five.” Not fifth grade; not 500-level college coursework. Five years old. Kindergarten. Sometimes this leads to absurd results. More often, you find a core idea in something close to its simplest form. Often this simple core idea is way more compelling to your external audiences than your in-house jargon. 

You can run this exercise for your team’s mission, for a job description, for a shift in year-end strategy, or for the language of a fundraising pitch. Summarize the thing so that your daughter/nephew/little cousin gets it the first time you explain.

For reasons I don’t fully understand, nonprofits often benefit from this advice more than startups. Five year olds aren’t likely to know what “deepening engagement” or “building awareness” mean - and when I get really honest with myself, I’m not sure I do either.

For a bunch of examples of this exercise, check out the ELI5 Reddit sub.

-eric