There is a sweet spot between complexity and simplicity — balancing work that is robust enough to have profundity yet straightforward enough to be understood.
For example, advanced mathematics may yield greater precision but it leaves out a large segment of the audience who can comprehend its meaning. Personality assessments range from pseudo-entertainment to complex psychological instruments, and the facilitator must balance ease-of-use with more insightful results. Marketers must decide whether to provide a synthesis of millions of terabytes of big data or report inferred insights about consumer behavior based on focus groups. Scientists can expound on their research methods and quickly go beyond people’s grasp or face criticism for a simplified summary of their results.
Experts appreciate the value of advanced analytics — and they often are passionate about sharing the specifics and clarifying the nuances that define complex subjects. But sometimes, just the basics are all your audience can comprehend and your goal should be to communicate just the essence well.
If your information requires an explanation, only use it for a format that allows you to provide clarification as well as content (eg: in person, via an extended article instead of a social media post, etc.) Too much detail often causes people to tune out instead of tuning in for more.
