Build a Bridge of Understanding
Written by Becca Gray, a digital marketer at Bright Orange Thread.
You might not realize it, but you’re standing on a cliff.
You can see the client you’re talking to across the way, their toes curled over the other jagged edge of land.
If you both stay in the space you know, your shouts will be carried off by the wind before you can understand each other.
But if you build a bridge between what you know and what they know, you can meet in the middle.
Discourse Communities
The idea of belonging to a discourse community sounds like a fancy thing only those with country club residencies can claim.
In reality, it’s quite simple: Discourse communities are any group of people who share goals and specialized language (a.k.a. jargon).
Pit crews in Nascar are in a discourse community. Rocket scientists are in a discourse community.
People who know the difference between baking a cobbler and a crumble are in a discourse community.
You, too, are in many discourse communities for any job, hobby, sport, or interest you have specialized vocabulary for.
Discourse communities bring us together, but they can also isolate us from people who don’t know the jargon of the community.
The Gap Caused by Discourse Communities
People coming together from different discourse communities is something to celebrate; we can all leave the interaction feeling a little bit smarter.
However, if you don’t build the bridge between what you know and what your client knows, you’ll be yelling into the void forever.
Imagine you’re working with a small business owner who runs a hardware store.
Gerald enlists you for some basic marketing help.
At your second monthly meeting, you’re throwing around words like martech and acronyms like CTR.
After blinking at you in confusion, Gerald starts asking if you can run an ad for the new shipment of cordless ratchets he just received.
You’re both left grasping at straws.
Build a Bridge Together
The best way to bridge the gap between discourse communities is to keep your audience in mind.
Think about what knowledge they do and don’t have, and if you’re not sure, opt into explaining it as if they don’t know it.
At your second monthly meeting with Gerald, you explain that the amount of people who saw his ad and clicked on it to visit his website increased by 12% from last month.
Gerald is thrilled, and asks if a new ad for a shipment of power tools he just received will help increase that number even more.
You’re no longer shouting across the chasm; you’re shaking hands on the bridge.
Meet Each Other in the Middle
Communicating across discourse communities doesn’t have to be hard.
Nascar pit crews can discuss cobblers, and bakers can talk about the HANS device.
If you communicate for the person you’re talking to and not just for yourself, we all walk away feeling a little smarter.