No matter your role, a critical part of your job is communication—to customers, employees, or vendors about your organization’s products or services. Whether you realize it or not, this makes you a marketer. And as marketers, we share a common problem:

Most people don’t understand what we’re talking about.

The Curse of Knowledge

Here’s why. You’ve invested years becoming an expert in your field. You live and breathe your business every day. But the people you’re trying to reach don’t. You’re an expert; they’re novices.

Even when we try to simplify or clarify our messaging, we often fail to bridge the gap. As Chip and Dan Heath explain in Made to Stick, we’re cursed by our own knowledge.

People buy ideas at the novice level, but we tend to talk to them at an intermediate level. Even our “dumbed down” explanations leave a gap of understanding—and that gap stops our message from resonating.

How to Break the Curse

The good news? You can collapse that gap instantly with the power of storytelling.

Stories are like shortcuts for understanding. They take complex ideas and make them relatable and memorable. Stories move people across the knowledge gap effortlessly—think of them as a wormhole in the space-time continuum (yes, like Interstellar).

Let’s look at an example.

A Tale of Three Web Design Companies

Three web design companies all describe their services on their websites. Here’s how they do it:

• Company A: “We offer proprietary SEO tools, responsive design, and effective conversion optimization.”
• Company B: “We specialize in functional design and smart information architecture. With iterative testing, you’ll see conversion rates increase, backed by analytics and data.”
• Company C: “We create websites that put your business at the top of Google searches, look great on phones, tablets, and desktops, and give you feedback so you know what’s working and what isn’t.”

Now, let’s add a customer testimonial for Company C:
“Our website just works. Everywhere. And gives us measurable results.”

Company A might have the best product. Company B might be better than Company C. But here’s the problem: Company A’s jargon is unintelligible, and Company B’s message is too technical.

Company C wins every time because it speaks to the customer on their level, using relatable language and a story that resonates.

Make Your Message Stick

If you want your message to connect, use storytelling to collapse the gap between your expertise and your customer’s understanding. Stories make your ideas relatable, memorable, and easy to understand.

Break the curse of knowledge. Start telling stories that move people.