Napoleon, if you will recall, was a rather successful leader, at least when he was not on forced vacation on Elba.  He had a soldier of the lowest possible rank on his personal staff whom he kept with him at all times. This soldier also had the unique qualifications of having an IQ about equivalent to a tree stump.... which served Napoleon’s purpose very well.  Any time this great leader intended to put forth an edict or order, he first presented it to his “idiot” and then asked for feedback.  Napoleon would then rephrase and repeat the process until he was satisfied that the man truly understood the message, and only then would Napoleon put it forth to the intended audience, comfortable in the belief that most would understand it well.  That is the purpose and process of an editor, and a truly effective one serves as more than a mere measuring stick as in the case of Napoleon’s “idiot.” Effective editors understand the nature of “understanding” from other’s frames of reference and can give meaningful feedback to authors regarding this process.
You can use this technique to check out almost anything you have written.  Now I’m not advocating calling your friends, colleagues and loved ones “idiots,” but you can ask them to honestly read things you have written and give you some feedback and advice about clarity, misspellings, punctuation, grammar, etc.  And be willing to take such feedback non-defensively.  Yes, nobody likes to have their baby called ugly, but getting feedback will almost always result in improvement in accomplishing your purpose which is, after all, conveying understanding of what you have written.