Writing About Business Technology for Real Humans

Albert Einstein said

If You Can't Explain it Simply, You Don't Understand it Well Enough

But when technology meets business, we land in buzzword hell.

This sucks if you want to persuade or sell.

Words that take less effort can be read by more people who understand better. They connect and convince at a deeper, more intuitive level.

Statements in more concrete language are even more likely to be perceived as true.

But it’s easy to argue for simplicity and clarity in language. How do we get there?

The innards

Let’s Take an Example

Check out this article sponsored by the Linux Foundation. It starts like this:

Companies in a wide range of vertical markets are aggressively exploring new commercial opportunities that are enabled by extending cloud computing to the edge of the network. The concept of edge computing promises exciting new revenue opportunities resulting from the delivery of new types of services to new types of customers, in both consumer and enterprise segments.

Yet most edge taxonomies and associated language today are biased towards the point of view of one market / focus area. They often use ambiguous, “loaded” terms that can easily be misinterpreted (e.g. near and far, thin and thick). The new Linux Foundation (LF) Edge taxonomy is based on inherent technical tradeoffs spanning the edge continuum — absolutes that cannot be misinterpreted. It’s comprehensive for all markets, while highlighting the unique tradeoffs and holistic views that each market can build their preferred/unique language on top of.

Founded in 2019, LF Edge aims to establish an open, interoperable framework for edge computing independent of hardware, silicon, cloud or operating system. It has more than 70 member companies and nine-edge computing projects including Akraino, Baetyl, EdgeX Foundry, Fledge, Home Edge, Open Horizon, Project EVE, Secure Device Onboard and State of the Edge.

In this article, we shall introduce the full range of edge computing, its cloud native design principles, and its application for service providers. For more details, please download the full publication here.

Yikes!

Almost every sentence is over 20 words. They’re overloaded with long words and high level abstractions, for little reason. It’s so much work to see the problem and how he wants to solve it.

Still, apologies for picking on him. These issues are so typical of B2B tech writing that it’s unfair to single him out.

I did so because, beneath these problems of style, he outlines something worthwhile. The clutter obscures real value.

Fortunately, we can say it all in plain English.

Let's jump right in.

Destroy All Buzzwords, Crush Them Before You

Buzzwords are cliched words and phrases that circulate in an industry and vaguely mean something. Ideation and circle back are buzzwords.

They say nothing that couldn’t be said better in ordinary English. They’re a failure to properly consider what you’re trying to say. Get rid of them.

But Jargon is Sometimes Useful

These are words and phrases with a definite meaning that requires a particular expertise to understand. RISC, lazy loading and 2FA are all technology jargon.

Every industry has jargon. In marketing we say B2B, CTA, conversion and so on.

Used sparingly, jargon is a source of simplicity and precision.

Like alcohol, jargon becomes a problem when your use is habitual, you depend on it, it’s your only way to function.

Vagueness is the Key to Something

B2B tech brands also pile on empty babble: modifiers and qualifying statements that are too vague to say anything. They're pointless work for the reader.

Much of it is loose talk of innovation, transformation or change. Anything new on a computer is an innovation so by itself, it says nothing.

Then there’s all the boilerplate about revenue, growth or profit, adding value or supporting business needs. By definition, all business technology is commercially motivated.

If you can't say how it benefits the bottom line – whether it cuts a cost, lifts productivity, reaches new customers – you say nothing.

Understand

Why This Happens

Nobody will actually tell you they want needlessly difficult, dense writing. Yet it’s still an industry norm.

Why?

Complacency

Some clients push back that they’re not talking to Joe Average, but to IT managers, admins and engineers.

But the effort they'll make in ideal circumstances is not what you can expect in a working week with many demands.

Technology managers also need support from other decision makers for their projects.

Insecurity

This Colombia University study shows that folks who feel they’re lower in status compensate by piling on obscure language.

Of course you’ll be taken more seriously if you demonstrate fluency with key concepts. It’s just far more powerful to do it clearly, in the substance of your message.

Instead of bamboozling readers, solve their problems, persuade them to your ideas, build rapport and trust.

Novelty

Technology professionals feel pressure to stay current with their skills. Using the newest language for the newest concepts shows you’re up to date.

And maybe that’s great in a job interview or a performance review. Let’s keep it out of the copy.

Convention

Everyone else is doing it, so why not? It’s a visible norm that feels safe. You might default to it without thinking.

Responding

What Can Be Done About This?

Here are four things you can apply straight away.

Don't believe me?

Then watch the first 80 seconds of this 1987 VHS guide to the Acorn Archimedes:

Seriously, when was the last time you had to explain a mouse? It wasn't truly more complex in 1987, we’ve just had decades to get familiar.

If you keep watching, you’ll also hear words that became obsolete, that never took on, or have always been arcane. This only works for words that stayed in regular use.

Managing nuance

Newer terms usually arise because they offer some variation, refinement or generality over older ones.

For instance, “the cloud” and “infrastructure” are often interchangeable with “servers”, but they’re not strictly the same.

This is where you have to exercise judgement.

Ask yourself: what hinges on these distinctions in the particular context? Does it matter?

When it doesn’t, go with the the older, less obscure word.

Like, you could talk about the Internet of Things

But when it’s just as easy to say rain gauges or security cameras, it’s better.

You can also make the abstract more concrete with a classic copywriting technique: translating features into benefits.

That’s a good idea even when you’re not writing sales material. It makes things feel more real.

There’s an odd reluctance in B2B to talk about how computers make you feel

As though it’s not businesslike. But this audience is experiencing it every workday.

When they miss dinner with the kids because they’re stuck late at work, that’s as real as it gets.

Brevity: Soul of Wit

Cull words, phrases and sentences that do no useful work.

It’s a good move in any topic, but especially in technology writing, where we need every bit of simplicity and clarity we can muster.

But Sometimes Length is Strength

Whenever you’re giving instructions, always err on the side of detail.

Things that seem obvious are really only obvious when you already know how to do them.

Break big, difficult steps down into many small and simple ones.

Be Human With Humour

Gentle levity builds a lighter, more conversational mood.

One simple device is to use analogies to popular culture. Comparing web frameworks, you might liken a large, versatile one to the Berlin Philharmonic and a lean, fast one to Motörhead.

Another easy formula is to list two sensible examples and then one that’s quite silly. Discussing data loss incidents, they might be caused by fire, malware, or a jousting tournament in the server room gone wrong.

Don’t sweat this too hard

The only goal is to relax the reader, to make the piece feel friendly and easy.

That doesn’t require memorable comedy. You don’t even need to be truly funny, just a bit amusing.

Avoid anything cruel or crude. Even those who like such jokes will feel there’s a time and place.

Coming back

Returning to Our Example

Let’s apply all this to the article from earlier. Remember it went like this:

Companies in a wide range of vertical markets are aggressively exploring new commercial opportunities that are enabled by extending cloud computing to the edge of the network. The concept of edge computing promises exciting new revenue opportunities resulting from the delivery of new types of services to new types of customers, in both consumer and enterprise segments.

Yet most edge taxonomies and associated language today are biased towards the point of view of one market / focus area. They often use ambiguous, “loaded” terms that can easily be misinterpreted (e.g. near and far, thin and thick). The new Linux Foundation (LF) Edge taxonomy is based on inherent technical tradeoffs spanning the edge continuum — absolutes that cannot be misinterpreted. It’s comprehensive for all markets, while highlighting the unique tradeoffs and holistic views that each market can build their preferred/unique language on top of.

Founded in 2019, LF Edge aims to establish an open, interoperable framework for edge computing independent of hardware, silicon, cloud or operating system. It has more than 70 member companies and nine-edge computing projects including Akraino, Baetyl, EdgeX Foundry, Fledge, Home Edge, Open Horizon, Project EVE, Secure Device Onboard and State of the Edge.

In this article, we shall introduce the full range of edge computing, its cloud native design principles, and its application for service providers. For more details, please download the full publication here.

You might humanise it like this:

Many businesses are moving to edge computing. Instead of doing all your cloud computing in a central data centre, you build a cloud at the edge of the network. This unclogs the internet connection, cuts bills and speeds up servers.

But edge computing is done in so many ways. Streaming services like Netflix do it very differently from someone running factory or farm equipment. We use the same words to mean different things. We’re talking past each other.

The best we’ve managed so far is to discuss the ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ edge – describing how much server power we deploy – and the ‘near’ and ‘far’ edge – describing how close they are to the data centre. That’s too vague.

We’ve built a better way to discuss this: one that properly captures the diverse approaches to edge computing, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Isn’t that much clearer?

Depending on the audience, there’s room to simplify it even further.

Reversal

When to Do the Opposite

Once you’re so good at this that you can reduce most anything to simple English, you might sometimes choose not to.

As a Literary Device

A buzzword blitzkrieg can convey difficulty, accomplishment, frustration or tedium.

This only works if it looks very different from the rest of your text.

To Signal Expertise and Credibility

I earlier poured scorn on the idea of using jargon to demonstrate understanding.

It actually can though. You just need far less of it than you might think.

Once every 300 words or so is enough to remind everyone that you’re good at computers.

Need help with this?

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