Simple: Choosing Your Core Message Is the Toughest Part

Prioritize relentlessly. Prioritize based on what is relevant and top-of-mind for your audience, down to only the MOST IMPORTANT, MOST RELEVANT message. Anything else just gets in the way. Avoid the technologist’s need to drag people through the details for the shear joy of it. Proverbs are the ideal. They are simple and profound. Simplicity seems to be the most difficult element of storytelling for most people.

• Keep it focused, really, really focused.
  
• Your stories should be constructed simply, with few paths or options. Don’t provide too much choice…because deer freeze in the headlights, remember?
  
• Once you know something, it is hard to pretend that you don’t. But try to write as if you know nothing, and you’ll be more likely to write at a comprehensible level.
  
• Write about things that you can see (concrete), which will force out the abstract language.
  
• Rather than writing about your “subject”, consider using an analogy with clear implications for your topic. Analogies can be very simple, more interesting, and help people reach their own conclusions. This will help you avoid lecturing to your audience, making it easier to relate to them.