Nothing compares to the vacant, glazed doughnut stare of someone who simply did not get the punchline. I thought my son would crack up when I read him an email about dart-throwing monkeys and Wall Street experts. Instead, I got a blank look—and a reminder that even the smartest ideas mean nothing if your audience doesn’t understand them.

In marketing, we’re taught to create buyer personas—fictional avatars that represent our ideal clients. But here’s the problem: overly generalized characters often lead to disconnected messaging and tuned-out readers.