I’ve seen it many times throughout my career…I’ll start talking about something I’m working on and all I get in response is a blank stare. I’ve even learned to recognize the blank stare over the phone. Being a programmer who is passionate about what I do, I easily fall into the familiar vernacular of my expertise. Usually the only people who are able to translate some of what I’m saying are other developers or people who have worked around this technology long enough to understand it.

This isn’t just limited to programming, either – every field has its own language. I used to work in an office made up primarily of IT staff, so we were all comfortable speaking technically about development. Then we hired a designer to work with us. All of a sudden he started talking about “leading” and “kerning” and other foreign words that I hadn’t heard before. What was this strange language?!

As we communicate with each other, it is important to realize that each of us has a specific area of expertise. Clients fall under this as well…they came to us to do work for them, but they are the experts in their business. Each of us is passionate about something. However, the person we are trying to convey that information to may not understand all of the details of our expertise. Our responsibility is to find a way to convey that passion without overwhelming them with information they either don’t understand or aren’t interested in – particularly when it comes to clients.

On the flip side, if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t understand all of the information you are receiving, you still have something to gain. Communicate with the resident expert – either let them know you need the details explained differently, or ask them about the subject if you are interested. Chances are if they are passionate about the topic, you won’t have any trouble getting more details. You’ll learn something new, and they’ll learn something about communication.