Today, many IP experts are technically brilliant and still misunderstood, underutilized, or brought in too late.
Not because their expertise isn’t strong enough, but because it isn’t accessible enough to the people who need to act on it.

In a world where innovation cycles accelerate, decisions are made faster and with broader stakeholder involvement, IP expertise no longer lives only among peers. It must travel beyond specialist circles and reach product teams, executives, investors, and partners who don’t speak the same technical language, but still carry responsibility.

A small but telling example illustrates this shift.

An IP expert flags a freedom-to-operate risk early in a project. The analysis is correct, detailed, and carefully documented. But it’s explained in the language of claims, jurisdictions, and legal nuance. The product team listens politely and moves on. This doesn’t happen because the expert is wrong, but because the impact does not translate into a decision.

Now imagine the message sounds different:

“This could delay your launch by six months or force a redesign after go-to-market. If we act now, we still have options.”

The same expert would then be known internally for making IP risks tangible for business decisions.

Same expertise, same conclusion, but a completely different effect.

That difference isn’t a communication trick, but personal branding at work.

Over time, experts who consistently translate complexity into relevance become known for it. They are invited earlier, trusted faster, and listened to differently. Their expertise travels further, beyond peer discussions and into decision-making rooms.

This is why communicating complexity simply is not about dumbing things down,
but about making your expertise usable. And in doing so, making your value visible.

Why simplicity is a strategic skill

In complex fields like IP, clarity is a clear strategic advantage.

When people understand you, they trust you more easily. When they trust you, they involve you earlier. And when you are involved earlier, your expertise has a far greater impact.

This is a pattern I see not only in the IP field, but across different industries. The experts who gain influence are rarely those with the most detailed explanations. They are the ones who help others see what is at stake, what options exist, and what decisions need to be made.

Simplicity, in this sense, is not a stylistic choice, but a crucial leadership skill.

Translate, don’t broadcast

Many experts are trained to explain. Very few are trained to translate.

Broadcasting expertise means delivering information in its original, technical form. Translating expertise means reshaping it so that others can act on it.

That shift often happens through:

  • consequences instead of definitions,
  • scenarios instead of abstractions,
  • options instead of instructions.

In doing so, you don’t reduce the depth of your expertise, but you change its entry point. And that’s precisely what makes your knowledge accessible without losing authority.

From explanation to invitation

There is another important shift that happens when experts communicate simply: the tone changes.

Instead of convincing or warning (which most of the time negatively affects the relationship), communication becomes an invitation to understand.

Phrases like:

  • “Here’s what this means for your decision,”
  • “These are the options you still have,”
  • “This is the risk you avoid if we act now,”

signal partnership rather than instruction. And this is far more effective in the long run.

This is where trust is built: through relevance, not through pressure. And this trust is a central element of a strong personal brand.

Making expertise shareable

Expertise scales when others can repeat it.

If a general counsel, product lead, or board member cannot explain your insight to someone else, its impact stops with them. But if they can summarize it in a sentence, your expertise starts travelling on your behalf.

This applies to:

  • meetings,
  • internal discussions,
  • articles,
  • talks,
  • and informal recommendations.

Personal branding, at this level, is not about visibility. It is about transmission.

From specialist to reference point

Experts who communicate complexity simply often experience a subtle but powerful shift in how they are perceived. They stop being seen only as specialists and start being treated as reference points, because others finally know what they know and when to involve them.

This is how authority is built over time: through repeated moments where your expertise helps others orient themselves, decide, and move forward.

Final thought

Communicating complexity simply does not mean simplifying yourself.
It means allowing others to grasp your value and act on it.

And that is where expert brands are built: at the intersection of depth, clarity, and trust.

Until then, a question to reflect on:
👉 In which situations is your expertise technically correct, but not yet decision-relevant for the people listening?

If you want to explore how your expertise can become more visible, accessible, and impactful, and how to improve your communication skills, I’m happy to support you.

About the columnist

Giulia Donato
Branding & Communication Advisor | Executive Coach | Lecturer
people & brand strategies
www.donatostrategies.com