You Don’t Have to Pay the Explanation Tax
On Saturday, after services, I was sitting around a table with some fellow regulars and a new couple.
The round robin of storytelling played out until one of the visitors asked me:
“So, what do you do?”
My response:
“I work with interesting people who are tired of explaining themselves.”
That got a reaction.
Smiles.
Questions.
Examples.
Suddenly everyone had a story about preconceptions, resumes, and boxes.
Someone knew a person who was constantly misunderstood.
Someone had seen a business that couldn’t seem to explain itself.
Someone recognized the expert whose value never quite lands.
Not branding.
Not marketing.
Relief.
Because when you name the thing clearly, people feel it.
It’s Not Story, It’s the Thread
People often think they need a better story.
Sometimes they do.
More often, they need the thread that makes the stories make sense.
For example, someone says:
I wrote a book.
I host a podcast.
I speak.
I advise clients.
I’m launching a live experience.
Those are facts.
They may even be interesting facts.
But without a thread, they force the other person to do the work.
What is this?
Who is it for?
Why does it matter?
How does it all connect?
The thread is what makes the pieces understandable.
For me, the thread is:
“I work with interesting people who are tired of explaining themselves.”
Now the book, the podcast, the advisory work, the speaking, and the live experience have somewhere to live.
The stories become evidence.
The thread creates understanding.
At that table, I didn’t give a job title, an offer, a book title, a podcast title, or a list of problems I solve.
I gave them the thread.
Immediately, people understood.
Not everything.
Enough.
That’s the distinction.
You don’t need complete understanding at first contact.
You need enough understanding for movement.
Clarity Talks. Confusion Walks.
Whether you’re networking for business or simply trying to be a charming person at a table, people need to understand enough to stay with you.
If they’re confused, they drift.
In business, the cost is much higher.
People don’t refer what they don’t understand.
People don’t buy what they don’t understand.
People don’t champion what they don’t understand.
A confused mind never buys.
A confused mind rarely refers.
A confused mind walks.
That is why clarity matters.
Not cleverness.
Not a perfectly polished thirty-second introduction.
Clarity.
The kind that lets someone say:
“Oh. I get it.”
Or even better:
“That’s me.”
The Relief
Here’s the relief:
What you have here may not be a failure to communicate.
You may be experiencing Interpretive Friction.
It’s one of three reasons people aren’t responding to your work the way you’d like.
We’ll get to the other two on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
The solution for Interpretive Friction begins with two questions:
What do you find yourself explaining over and over?
And what would happen if people understood it the first time?
Sound familiar?
I’m currently inviting a small number of people to participate in First Contact Live, a live exploration of how their work is interpreted at first contact.