Talking the Tech Talk

– By Mitch Grainger
There are only 10 types of people in the world.
Those that know binary.
And those that don’t.
When working on digital projects I find that sometimes the trickiest job is translating a digital message into, well, english. Or more accurately; english clients understand, relate to and make educated decisions on.
The irony is that when I started learning web code HTML, CSS, and javascript I realized I had a more difficult time explaining digital jargon.
How do I communicate the difference in responsive and adaptive when the difference is in the code?
Some questions are to big for you to explain i.e. Why doesn’t Google search pick up JavaScript navigation?
Anyway “Hacks” I have learnt on the way include:
• Firstly, find out how much the client already knows about digital. Explaining digital topics they already know is frustrating and will make it seem that you are belittling them. Knowing how much they know and how much you need to explain creates a much more efficient discussion.
• Don’t use code terms in discussion, It will seem like the easiest most accurate way to get the message across, but it’ll confuse the client and in the end, you’ll find that you are teaching them how the code works and not using the code as a way of explaining the topic.
• Acronyms are an easy and efficient, it’s much quicker to say CMS than it is content management system. New discussions on digital topics I’d start with the say in the full name a couple of times and the third I’d educate them on the acronym and use it there after.
• Unless it’s as simple as it gets, don’t explain anything through an email, explaining a digital topic is a discussion not a statement.
Something too difficult to explain? Well I’ll leave you with this:
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
– Albert Einstein

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