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Harvard Kennedy School Professor Todd Rogers and Lecturer in Public Policy Lauren Brodsky say trying too hard to sound intelligent\u2014even when communicating complex or nuanced ideas\u2014isn't a smart strategy. Because today\u2019s overburdened information consumers are as much skimmers as readers, Rogers and Brodsky teach people how to put readers first and use tools like simplification, formatting, and storytelling for maximum engagement. They say you can have the most brilliant, well-researched ideas in the policy world, but you can\u2019t communicate them, they\u2019ll never reach the ultimate goal\u2014making an impact. Rogers is the faculty chair of the Behavioral Insights Group at the Kennedy School and the author of \u201cWriting for Busy Readers: The Science of Writing Better.\u201d Brodsky is senior director of the HKS Communications Program and the author of \u201cBecause Data Can\u2019t Speak for Itself,\u201d a book about how to more effectively communicate the data that supports groundbreaking research and evidence-based policy proposals. They say snarky millennials may be to something when they dismissively mocked your wordy social posts and text messages by replying \u201cTLDR\u201d\u2014"too long; didn\u2019t read\u201d\u2014because that\u2019s how many busy readers feel about a lot of the writing that researchers, academics, and policy wonks do.