What Language Do You Speak?

I’ve worked for attorneys for a long time, but I can still remember as a brand new paralegal being very confused when listening to attorneys talk. They’d use words I didn’t know, terminology that was completely foreign to me, like “liquidated damages” or “deposition prep” or “summary judgment.” Once I realized the scope of what I DIDN’T know, it scared me.

Of course, I learned the lingo. I wouldn’t have been able to do my job otherwise.

Sometimes people would ask me what I did, and I learned quickly to translate it into “civilian” [non-lawyer] language.  For instance, I might say “I spend a lot of time responding to discovery requests.” That got a blank stare from the person. If I said “I spend a lot of time preparing written responses to questions from the opposing attorney” that was better.

Every profession has its own language. My dad was a banker and I used to listen to him throw around strange words like “fiduciary” and “trust.”

I once dated an engineer, and when I would try to describe something mechanical I’d find myself using the word “thingy” a lot. Fortunately, he thought it was cute, not annoying.

When you write for a website or blog, it’s important to figure out who you are writing for and what language they speak.

If you are writing for your peers, folks in your profession who know your language, it’s much easier. Everyone is on the same page.  If you’re writing for someone outside your field, though, it’s more tricky. What happens a lot of times is that professionals forget which words were once strange and foreign to them, and they have a hard time “translating” their thoughts into a general, universal language.

I worked on my daily hometown newspaper years ago when I was still in high school. I mainly ran errands, but the managing editor let me write feature stories now and then when I came to him with an idea he liked. My very first story, though, meant re-writing the first paragraph many times. [The first paragraph is called the “lead” and it’s crucial to get it right so the reader will read the rest of the story.] I kept re-wording and re-writing, and he kept red-penciling it until I was nearly in tears. Finally, he sighed heavily. “Dee, you have an extensive vocabulary. You write like a college student. We write articles basically on a 6^th grade reading level. The big words and long sentences don’t work, especially in the lead.”

I was shocked. Wow.

Without dumbing down your content to a ridiculous level, the trick with webwriting is to write clear, concise, and easily readable copy.  Don’t speak a “foreign” language. Don’t make paragraphs too long and blocky. Make your point, and don’t belabor it. Don’t put so many SEO terms that the language is stilted.

Like the dancing of Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly, it looks easy to do, but it requires many hours of training and practice to pull this off.

If you’re thinking about writing a blog or website article for someone outside your profession, give some thought to your language and how it will sound to someone else.  If it seems too daunting a task, or too time-consuming, give me a holler and I can help.

Me and Dad, about 1988

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