Do you work in technology and write copy? You might be guilty of over-complication. Don’t worry though, it’s incredibly common and easy to put right.
Most techies over-complicate things when they write; Blogs overflowing with complex technical jargon, solution briefs chock full of minutiae, or Sales decks crammed with elaborate phrases.
It’s easy to understand why. The tech sector has its own lexicon, and it can be tempting to use as much of it as possible. After all, techies are generally clever people and they want to demonstrate their understanding and intelligence.
An Extreme, Real-World Example
What do I mean by over-complication? Well, it’s probably easiest to show you an example. In fact, I was inspired to write this blog after reading this very paragraph. I almost feel bad for putting you through it, but it is such a fantastic example of horrific copy…
<product> unties the Gordian Knot between successful test case and manual business knowledge capture, emancipating regression testing of its human factor. <product> spans test conception through validation, addressing all aspects of the functional testing lifecycle including discovery, execution, acceleration and test management.
Anonymous, TEchie
Apologies if you need a painkiller after that, and frankly, congratulations if you made it through. It took me a good few attempts. I’ll never complain about James Joyce again.
Talking a Lot, Without Saying Anything
Now, I’m not going to say who published this, but they’re a multi-million dollar company and a serious player in their market. But after reading this, they just come across as buffoons.
I’ve been in the industry for 20 years. I’m an ISTQB certified test manager, a certified Scrum Master, hell I’ve even spent time working with this actual company… but still, it took me a good 10 minutes to work out what they meant.
Give Your Readers a Chance
If I didn’t get it, what chance does a technology layman have? What would an executive think, how about someone in procurement?
They don’t have any chance. None at all.
Even if your readers know what a Gordion knot is, even if they understand what emancipation means and even if they desperately want to know about the product… their brains will just shut down with the needlessly complex sentences. You need to give your readers a helping hand.
How to Fix Over-Complication
As always, I recommend reading your copy out loud. When you do this, you quickly pick up on areas that sound artificial or unnatural. Reading out loud helps you make copy sound human.
More importantly though, just keep things simple. Think about the lowest common denominator – use easy language that everyone can understand.
Common, plain words will make your copy readable. Your audience will grasp the concept and you’ll make them feel intelligent.
An Example of Simple Copy
Again, it’s easier to show than to tell. So back to that crazy copy above, here’s a simplified version
<product> converts business processes into test cases, without human interaction. <product> reduces effort, making your life easier throughout the functional testing lifecycle.
Dean Hanson, Writer