Clarity is a superpower. If you really want to understand how someone thinks, try this: Ask them to explain something complicated in simple terms. It's a question Alice Wyatt brought up on our recent podcast as something she loved asking in interviews, as the answer can really showcase intelligence, EQ, and original thinking (and obviously communication skills). It's one thing to be able to parrot others' opinions, or to speak in irreducibly complex jargon (...which I'm often guilty of). It's another thing to be able to translate what you know, cut through the noise, and transmit a message that others can understand. Most people are so flooded with information (LinkedIn, TikTok, podcasts, X, whatever’s next…) that they start parroting what they’ve heard instead of forming their own thoughts. I’ve caught myself doing it too. But when you ask someone to explain a concept in their own words, without jargon, buzzwords, or regurgitated scripts, you see two things: 🧠 How deeply they really understand the topic 🗣️ And how well they can adapt their knowledge to the context and the audience And an underrated marker of original thinking.
This resonates so much. Clarity is such a powerful marketing tool (hate to even call it that) - like one of my “KPIs” (if you want to call them that) when I audit a brand’s identity is clarity- how clear is that identity forget to the audience but to YOU because if you can’t take all those latent and abstract aspects and know them with clarity how can you communicate who you are to anyone else?
Well said Alex
Might just become my new interview question haha, thanks Alice Wyatt
Content Marketing + SEO | AI Tools & AI-Enhanced Content Strategy | Aspiring Content Engineer
7moYes! One of my biggest challenges in previous roles as a writer was explaining technical topics to my audience. Imagine trying to think of an analogy for latency or how VPNs work. It really stretches your creativity and requires additional thinking power to frame complicated concepts in a user-friendly way.