I’m reading a fantastic book called Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. One core concept is the idea of the Curse of Knowledge.

The idea is that we can’t unlearn what we know which can make it hard for us to communicate effectively.

Case in point - I know how to shoot, edit, and deliver a video product. I know the best ways to put this video on the web. I have done all this for years. The ‘problem’ is that communicating how to do this others can be fraught with omissions.

What can get omitted? Often the simplest little details. Why? Well, the book points out that the ‘teacher’ operates from a point of knowledge - a place that’s difficult to extract yourself from.

The example they give is brilliant. An experiment was done where one person, a ‘tapper’, rapped out the rhythms to a series of popular songs to a ‘listener’.

The ‘tapper’ guessed the listener was getting 50% of the songs correct. The actual number the ‘listener’ was getting right was only 2%!

The discrepancy is there because the tapper can’t imagine things from the listener’s perspective. The tapper can’t unlearn what they know.

Try it yourself. Tap out the rhythm to the “Star Spangled Banner” to a friend. Don’t be suprised when they answer “Happy Birthday.”

That’s the challenge for teachers, coaches, gurus and consultants. How do you consistently and effectively put yourself in the shoes of the person who you are teaching.

First, I believe you need to recognize this ‘curse’. Understand that you can be blinded by what you know.

Second, be thorough. Don’t leave out whole processes by saying things like “then just FTP it to your site”. You may think that over 50% of your audience understands FTP but in reality, perhaps only 2% do.

Coming from a family of educators (Mom taught 1st grade, Dad taught Music, sister’s a missionary, brother’s a military trainer) and having majored in education myself, this lesson is always on my mind. I do occasionally get reminded of the curse when someone points it out “hey, how do you FTP? You left that part out.” Hopefully these are few and far between.

I highly recommend you get the book Made to Stick. It is full of great stories and insight that will help you communicate more effectively.

Perry via Treo