You may be an expert in science, engineering, or a medical field, and you have great ideas to share. But the bottom line is communication —what good is it to write great stuff that most people can’t understand? If your gems end up lining a kitty litter box, was it worth your time to put it in print?
Your challenge is to transform the material. Turn your scholarly paper into an understandable lay-level article for a nontechnical audience without compromising the accuracy of your content.
Here are 10 tips to guide you as you seek to communicate your wealth of information to the mainstream reader:
1. Aim for seventh-grade level. You’ll probably still end up at a ninth grade level or above. The average reader most likely doesn’t understand the concepts of your specific discipline or grasp your level of expertise in that field.
2. Stick to the broad main points. Remember that accuracy doesn’t mean exhaustive. Tell only a few nuggets of your knowledge in this article. Put the rest of your vast wisdom in other articles.
3. In this article, identify your top takeaway for your audience—what is the focus, the most critical point for your audience to understand, and how can you best communicate it to someone who knows nothing about your field of expertise?
4. Lose the textbook language. Don’t start every sentence with “there are.” In fact, don’t start any sentence with “there are.” Find another way to say it.
5. Define terms as you introduce them. Limit the new terms to only a few for this article. Find everyday language that conveys your points.
6. Don’t use quotation marks around every point you make. Use quotation marks for quotes only. (If you use air quotes when you speak, it would be a good idea to lose those, too.)
7. Experts in science, technical, and medical fields tend to use passive language in their writing. Use an active voice—your sentences should contain subjects that do something.
8. Know your audience, and write for them. When you’re writing articles for a non-academic magazine or newsletter, write differently than you did for your college professors. Even adults probably know very little about your topic, and they may have questions about your field or desire to know more, but you need to present your information in simple language. The majority of your audience doesn’t consist of Ph.D. peers or academic geniuses. Your target audience is the everyday normal person that you might bump into at the grocery store. Explain your topic to that person, as if they were standing next to you in line.
9. Recruit a handful of non-science persons who are experienced writers or professional editors to review your work. Invite their honest feedback and be willing to listen to them. Join a writers group to get ongoing critique, and watch your writing improve over time. But be warned, this part of the process can be excruciating for former academic whiz-kids who made the highest grades in their classes. So be willing to put your ego on the shelf.
10. Remember—just because you have a Ph.D. in science, engineering, or a medical field does not mean that you are an expert in writing. Your technical expertise is actually a handicap when it comes to writing. Be humble enough to listen to the advice of writing and editing experts. Acknowledge that the expertise offered by your reviewers makes you look better. And be gracious enough to thank them.
