I Now See What Was Missing
How brain science changed how I think about the skill of explanation
I look back at the early days of Common Craft with wistfulness. There was an innocence or naiveté in my thinking that worked at the time, but has changed recently.
Back then, we had evidence that our style of explanation was useful and helpful. Our early explainer videos were viral hits, racking up millions of views as we became known as professional explainers. We spoke to the audience in plain language and used analogies and creative visuals to make an idea clear in about three minutes.
The work came naturally to me and felt like intuition. I didn’t apply an intentional framework or system. Each video was an opportunity for me to develop a sense of what would work for a general audience.
The Art of Explanation, my first book, was a reflection of our experience and what worked for us. The book and our online courses at the Explainer Academy created a way to share our expertise.
At the time, it seemed like explanation was a matter of developing the right skills or approaches. These were some of the big points that came out of our work:
Focus on audience needs
Build context
Communicate concepts vs details
Focus on Why? versus How?
I continue to believe these are helpful, but I see the skill of explanation a bit differently. Explanations fail for a variety of reasons. Knowledge and communication skills matter, but many explanations fail because of a mismatch between minds and ways of thinking. We explain based on how our mind works and assume that other minds work the same. As we’ll see, that’s not often the case.
What Was Missing
We knew WHAT worked for us, but didn’t have a clear picture of WHY.
Why is context so powerful?
Why do concepts work better than details?
Why does it help to start with why versus how?
By asking why, we can move from intuition and observation to understanding how the brain processes information. Research shows that context is an essential part of how our brain filters incoming information. It helps us find meaning. So my perception is changing from:
To explain clearly, remember to build context
to
The human mind needs context to make sense of incoming information
This captures why I find the science of explanation so fascinating. The mind works in consistent and predictable ways. By understanding how it works, we can think of explanation as preparing information for the minds of our audience.
Now I see the incompleteness of asking people to “use your intuition” or “ think creatively” and assuming that was enough. These are not switches to be turned on or off, but deep processes of the mind that differ for everyone.
I came to see that my brain is tuned for clear communication, and I take it for granted. I’m highly sensitive to context and empathize easily. I’m also prone to careless mistakes and missed details. These are default settings that are unique to me and can’t necessarily be taught easily.
The Science
This is where cognitive science has a role to play. We are getting closer to understanding how the brain processes information and what’s happening when we have an aha moment. We know the likely ingredients that need to be present for an idea to be remembered. And we know that every brain has strengths and weaknesses that impact how the person communicates and understands others.
The secret to clear communication is not simply intuition or empathy, but understanding the mental processes that lead to clarity and meaning. By shifting the focus to why explanations fail or succeed, we can build on a solid foundation of science that can be applied to virtually any person or situation. It’s no longer about my expertise, but what we know about the mind.
The Big Picture
Clear communication is a challenge we all face, and one that impacts our work, relationships, and self-esteem. Part of everyday life is finding ways to move our knowledge into the minds of others. We take it for granted, but this simple idea of knowledge moving between minds is the basis of explanation, and starting now, we’re going to look at it from a more scientific and useful perspective.
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