The Curse of Knowledge: Are You Speaking a Language Parents Don’t Understand?

March 26, 2025 | Read Time: 4 mins

Welcome back, tuition centre owners! 🎓

This week’s bulletin covers:
✅ Why “sounding smart” could be turning parents away
✅ How to stop using jargon and start speaking their language
✅ The simple messaging shift that will increase enrolments

Are You Too Close to Your Own Expertise?

I’ll admit it—I’ve been guilty of this myself.

A while back, I had a conversation with a parent about our tuition services. I confidently explained our structured curriculum, our mastery-based approach, and how we use diagnostic assessments to track progress. I was sure I’d reassured them about the quality of our tuition.

But then, I saw their face.

They nodded politely, but I could tell I’d lost them. It was too much, too technical, too focused on what we do rather than why it matters to them.

The result? They went with a different tuition provider—one who simply promised to help their child feel more confident and improve their grades.

And that’s when I realised: the way we communicate our expertise matters just as much as the expertise itself.

Parents Don’t Think Like Tutors—And That’s a Problem

As a tuition centre owner, you live and breathe education. You understand the difference between formative and summative assessment, why scaffolding learning is crucial, and how retrieval practice boosts memory retention.

But here’s the problem: parents don’t think like tutors.

They’re not looking for “cognitive load theory” or “differentiated instruction.” They’re looking for someone who will:
✔ Help their child pass their exams
✔ Build their confidence in the classroom
✔ Make learning feel easier and less stressful

If you’re speaking in academic language, you might be unintentionally pushing parents away.

How to Make Sure Parents Actually “Get It”

If you want to attract more students to your tuition centre, you need to change how you communicate. Here’s how:

1️⃣ Ditch the Jargon—Speak Like a Parent

Parents don’t care about your “individualised learning plans.” They care about whether their child will stop dreading maths lessons.

Swap technical terms for real-life benefits:
🚫 “We use a mastery approach to ensure deep conceptual understanding.”
✅ “We help students fully understand topics so they don’t fall behind in class.”

🚫 “Our tutors use scaffolding techniques to support independent learning.”
✅ “We break down tricky topics into easy steps, so your child feels confident tackling schoolwork on their own.”

2️⃣ Focus on Outcomes, Not Processes

Parents don’t necessarily want to know how you teach—they want to know what difference it will make.

For example, instead of saying:
🚫 “We use diagnostic assessments to identify gaps in knowledge.”

Try:
✅ “We quickly figure out where your child is struggling so we can fix the problem fast.”

3️⃣ Test Your Messaging on a 12-Year-Old

If a child doesn’t understand what you do, chances are, their parents won’t either.

Try this: Show your website or a Facebook ad to a 12-year-old and ask them to explain it back to you. If they can’t, simplify it.

4️⃣ Walk Through Your Own Sign-Up Process

Be your own customer. Visit your website as if you were a parent looking for a tutor. Is the process clear? Is the language simple? Or does it assume too much knowledge?

If it’s confusing or overwhelming, fix it before parents go elsewhere.

The Bottom Line: Make It Easy for Parents to Say YES

The best tuition centres aren’t just great at teaching—they’re great at communicating why parents should choose them.

So here’s your challenge: simplify your messaging.
📝 Remove the jargon.
💬 Speak in plain English.
🎯 Focus on what matters to parents.

Because if they don’t understand what you’re offering, they won’t sign up. And if they don’t sign up, you can’t help their child succeed.

Let’s make tuition easy to understand—because clarity leads to enrolments.

🚀 Need help simplifying your tuition centre’s messaging? Let’s chat!