This is a really common experience. See Explainers Shoot High, Aim Low!: http://lesswrong.com/lw/kh/explainers_shoot_high_aim_low/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/kh/ex

This is a really common experience. See Explainers Shoot High, Aim Low!: http://lesswrong.com/lw/kh/explainers_shoot_high_aim_low/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/kh/explainers_shoot_high_aim_low/ >We miss the mark by several major grades of expertise. Aiming for outside academics gets you an article that will be popular among specialists in your field. Aiming at grade school (admittedly, naively so) will hit undergraduates. This is not because your audience is more stupid than you think, but because your words are far less helpful than you think. You're way way overshooting the target. Aim several major gradations lower, and you may hit your mark. This phenomenon has a name, the Illusion of Transparency: http://lesswrong.com/lw/ke/illusion_of_transparency_why_no_one_understands/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/ke/illusion_of_transparency_why_no_o... Also see some of the other posts there on the issue, it's quite interesting.