“Prototype: It’s Brand New, but Make It Sound Familiar” by Mary Tripas (New York Times, 3 October 2009). A classic lesson in, it’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell it. The key is empathy — as the sender you are responsible for packaging your ideas in a form that the receiver can consume, not the other way around.   If you find this interesting/helpful then you might want to check out “Made to Stick” by Chip Heath & Dan Heath (www.MadeToStick.com).