I was once called in to do some copywriting for one of the chief scientists at an international oil company.

His first question was, ‘What do you know about two-stroke motorbike engines?’

Now, I’d once had a Lambretta, and knew how to unscrew the cap and fill it with petrol/oil mix. But I suspected, that wasn’t too impressive, so I went for broke.

‘Nothing,’ I replied.

‘Good,’ he said, ‘because I know everything there is to know about two-stroke motorcycle engines, and I’ve written a 64-page guide for our sales team in South America, and they’ve just told me it’s unintelligible.’

He handed me the brochure text, and no wonder it got the thumbs down.

Copywriting wall 1

Here was a perfect example of how difficult it is to write simply about a subject in which you’re an expert. This guy used to go to Daytona to give the bikes a final tune. And here he was tasked with producing a simple introduction to two-stroke motorcycle lubrication technology.

He seemed to have started at the centre using information about his current line in lubricant research, then spiralled outwards.

When experts write about something, they often make assumptions about the knowledge levels of their target audience. Particularly about the very first steps in the communication.

Over many years as a professional copywriter, speech writer and scriptwriter, I’ve seen this problem, time and time again. It can act as a brick wall in the way of good communication.

Copywriting wall 2

I was once asked to copywrite an article for a government agency about a planned satellite launch and the benefits of businesses adding packages to the payload. I was being briefed by the head of the project. After an hour of note-taking, there was an inference that made me stop him in mid-flow.

‘Excuse me, but are there two satellites going up?’

He looked at me somewhat askance.

‘Why yes, of course.’

I explained that despite giving me a layman’s overview, there was no mention of a second satellite. He was so used to there being two satellites launched, he didn’t mention it.

Once we’d sorted out that one satellite would ‘piggy-back’ on the other, and that the satellites would have totally different functions, a lot of what he’d said previously fell into place. And from that point, all the copywriting went well.

And another…

Here’s just one small, non-technical example. Recently, I was having problems getting into Google Adwords to do some keyword research. I clicked on a likely looking Google article which unfortunately started, ‘When you’re in Adwords, go to etc etc.’

It never occurred to the writer to start at the beginning. He had entered Google Adwords so many times, he couldn’t see how anyone would have a problem. So to him it was insignificant information, but to me, it’s omission was a brick wall.

The two-stroke motor-oil brochure was full of brick walls. But, because I don’t mind asking questions that may make me look stupid, and the fact that the company scientist was highly co-operative, we managed to produce a re-written brochure which was well-received in South America.

The copywriters’ solution

I’ve always maintained that any piece of copywriting, particularly if it’s technical, should have three people involved – the expert, a copywriter and someone who represents the target audience. And, if you can get a small cross-section of the target audience to give you feedback, so much the better.

Once everyone signs it off, then you should have a winner.

Of course, I know that having copywriting involve three people, or a target audience sample, isn’t always always possible, but in the end, it can prove a lot less expensive than paying for truck loads of bricks and mortar.

Click here to get my free, 500-word, copy-editing offer