I hear highly technical professionals say, "I'll have to dumb it down" in reference to their non-technical audience. News flash: non-technical professionals can understand technical concepts when those concepts are described and explained in common, familiar language. We can all take a lesson from a language and communication expert, as excepted below.
From Richard Lederer's essay, "The Case for Small Words":
"Short words are as good as long ones, and short, old words--like sun and grass and home--are best of all.... Short words are bright like sparks that glow in the night, prompt like the dawn that greets the day, sharp like the blade of a knife, hot like salt tears that scald the cheek, quick like moths that flit from flame to flame, and terse like the dart and sting of a bee.... Short words are like fast friends. They will not let you down."
Let's not let one another down either! Treat your audience like a "fast friend."
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