We were taught at school that the smartest people make even the complex and obscure ideas understandable but even still, everyone has knowledge gaps. We can't possibly know everything.
As is quoted in the linked article, "The curse of knowledge occurs because we think everyone else understands our little slice of expertise. Conversely, when we don’t know something, we feel like everyone else does, which causes embarrassment."
So, we think everyone understands us and when they don't, they probably won't say to avoid embarrassment. This greatly hampers effective communication, so here are 4 tips to help you communicate more effectively with your target audience.
1. Get rid of the jargon: using subject matter specific vocabulary is a sure way to avoid confusion and be concise, but employing obscure acronyms and complicated terms serves only to confuse the reader and dissuade them from coming back. As a rule of thumb, keep it as simple as possible, except when dealing with a very targeted, relevant audience.
2 Re-read your draft after a few days: Does it still resonate/make sense when you come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes?
3. Ask somebody else to review your content: Asking someone else, "does this make sense? " goes a long way to ensure your content is comprehensible and also gives you a big confidence boost as well before you share it online.
4. Hire diverse teams / work in a diverse environment: If you work somewhere where everybody looks, talks and acts the same, it will be very hard to see where you are going wrong with your content. Hiring for a diverse culture is a good start to ensure you don't fall into this trap!