Writing to the Wrong Audience

When I was 18 or 19 in junior college, I took a required speech class. For one of my assignments, I adapted one of my honors papers about the dehumanizing effects of technologies. I "dumbed it down" so it would be more appropriate for my audience. I shortened it. I simplified it. I stripped out all the fancy language, leaving only words and phrases that I thought were basic high-school graduate level. I took out references to specialized technologies and added concise explanations of others.

My audience was completely lost. Perhaps the topic were too foreign. Maybe I needed to dumb it down more. Maybe my writing just sucked. It was frustrating and a little frightening to spend all that effort to be repaid by the blank stares of my classmates, most of whom were older than I.

However, I didn't let that situation get me down. I presented the original version at an honors symposium, and the attendees loved it.

I have no idea who will read my blog, though I'm betting that most of you who read this already know me! Most everyone I know wouldn't have any trouble reading my writing. :) I don't use big words very often. If I do, I'll try to define it or link to the definition. Isn't the web great? I write with parenthetical expressions, dashes, ellipses, and emoticons. :) Don't be surprised if you see posts edited after their original post date! Don't be afraid to correct me!