Making the transition from an expert in your field who speaks with other experts, to one who writes or speaks about your industry to the uninitiated can feel daunting. But if you are a businessperson with a specialized background who wants to reach out to potential clients and make a connection, it’s important to speak their language. To make sure that you don’t lose your non-specialized audience, follow the “abstain or explain” rule when it comes to using jargon. If you need to use words from your industry—and it’s always important to teach your audience some of your terminology—be sure to define what they mean.

 Teaching in any capacity is exciting, so enjoy the opportunity to explain what you do, and allow yourself to be creative. Without the potential criticism of peers and other experts, you don’t have to be as academic or exacting in your language when writing for potential clients and customers—in fact you shouldn’t be. The burden of academic writing in any sphere is the requirement to source and support. Factual assertion should always be accurate and supportable, but the relief of writing for a non-technical audience about your business is that you can talk about your own experience and passion for the subject. Exploring what makes it fascinating to yourself and others—without endless footnotes—should be a pleasure. So relax and enjoy!

Coming soon: Finding Your Writing Voice

We know that branding is about defining the story of a product, creating a narrative of which people want to be a part. In many cases, like the natural brands that occur out of an individual’s passion (Clif Bars, Burt’s Bees) and become successful businesses, the personal stories are easy to integrate, part of the products themselves. But for those of us who do work that grows out of a place less easy to define to our clients and customers, the task is to find a compelling way to explain how we got where we are. And perhaps, we don’t even know…yet.

Some of us had a pivotal moment occur in our past that made us decide to pursue our line of work. For others, the path to our current employment came subtly, seeming accidental. The inspirational stories that led us where we are (…I knew then I wanted to save lives/make movies/sell houses) are wonderful to have. But the “accidental” arrival at a vocation is never really as happenstance as you might think. Be your own detective now and unravel the path that brought you where you are today. You may be amazed at the connections that are revealed, and the seemingly well-laid plan that brought you to your life’s work, with the skills and the passion you need to be the best at it.