Engineering and the Soft Skills of Explanation

This is from Lee Lefever and the new book The Art of Explanation.  Engineering explanations often fail the keep-it-simple test.  This leads to off-target messages.  Lefever teaches the audience-friendly 3Ps - - plan, package, present.  Lefever thinks any explanation must answer the Why question and must make people also care about the Why.  As an example, the ASCE infrastructure annual report card does a good job of addressing the former Why; the report card does a very poor job with the latter Why.

This is a breakdown on the Ps:

• Plan - - It's not about the details; it's about your audience's ability to understand them.  Too many speakers, companies, and engineers make assumptions about levels of understanding.  This effects the message.  Different constituents require different messages.  Lefever utilizes an "explanation scale."  Identify differing needs to point the way to tailored messaging.
• Packaging - - Boxes and 11 x 17 drawings have spatial limits; so do explanations.  The size of your explanation "package" depends upon your target's place on the explanation scale.  Those with low understanding  need small packages.  As understanding increases, so does the information in the package.
• Present - - Get to the what quickly.  The title should frame the topic.  Then dive into the why.  Keep it short; you're trying to move people along the explanation scale.  Slow the words down.  A slow pace leads to greater understanding.  And reduce the noise when using visuals.