Ever had someone explain something and the more they talked, the less you understood?
That happened to me recently with my accountant.
We were catching up for end-of-year, and she pulled out a list of items to cover. When she got to one particular point, she dived straight in.
The problem? She never explained what we were actually talking about.
The more she explained, the less it made sense.
I kept thinking, am I missing something here?
It reminded me of a trap I see in business marketing all the time. We get so close to our own work that we forget to start at the beginning.
We assume customers already know the background, the jargon, or the process that feels second nature to us.
Psychologists call this a cognitive bias known as the Curse of Knowledge. Once we know something, it’s almost impossible to imagine not knowing it. It’s the same feeling you get when a car mechanic makes you feel silly for not knowing how an engine works, forgetting that they’re the expert with years of training and experience. That’s what happened with my accountant. And it’s what happens when businesses create websites, proposals, or campaigns that leave customers confused.
Sometimes it looks like:
- Using insider language that makes sense internally but not externally
- Skipping the “how it works” steps on your website
- Asking clients for information without explaining why it matters
As my dad used to say: “To assume is to make an ass out of you and me.”
That saying landed hard after this chat with my accountant.
It was a clear reminder that one of the most powerful things you can do in marketing is to slow down, start at the beginning, and make sure your audience is with you before diving into the detail.
So here’s my challenge: audit your website or your next client email. Are you starting at the beginning, or are you assuming too much?