Our Product is Explanation
All posts for “Explanation”
Explainer Tip: Build and Sustain Confidence
Posted by: leelefever on June 5, 2012- 10:47am
Categories: advice, art of explanation, Explainer Tip, Explanation, finance, tip
Recently I saw an animated video by the Private Equity Growth Capital Council that seeks to answer the question: What is Private Equity?
Here’s the video:
Below I'm using a single scene from this video to highlight an important element of explanation: building and sustaining confidence.
This video is likely a response to the news surrounding US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who founded a private equity firm called Bain Capital. It’s an issue that can be controversial and my point... Continue Reading
The Art of Explanation Cover
Posted by: leelefever on May 9, 2012- 11:38am
Categories: Art of Explanation, book, cover, Explanation, publishing
Well, The Art of Explanation book is getting a lot more real. A few days ago we finalized the cover for the book:
What do you think?
If you'd like to track our progress, check out the Art of Explanation website.
Art of Explanation Book Update
Posted by: leelefever on April 25, 2012- 9:59am
Categories: Art of Explanation, book, Explanation, publishing, writing
Over the past month, Sachi and I have been neck-deep in ideas surrounding explanation, and it has been one of the most creative times in our lives. As you may remember, I'm writing a book called The Art of Explanation that will be out in October of 2012. To make our deadlines with the publisher, we took time this month to focus almost solely on the book - and that we did. I've written and Sachi has edited almost 60,000 words in the last month or so, which is much more than will appear in the... Continue Reading
Today we’re announcing a new video: Twitter for Business - Explained by Common Craft.
Twitter has been a big part of the Common Craft story. In 2008 we made a video called Twitter in Plain English that was present on the Twitter home page for over a year, introducing millions to both Twitter and Common Craft. Since that time Twitter has evolved in many ways. As it became a powerful way to track news and discover information, we made a video on Twitter Search. Now that it’s become a... Continue Reading
New Video: Web Browsers Explained by Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on March 13, 2012- 11:02am
Categories: Explanation, internet, New Video, web, web browsers
Today we're announcing a new video: Web Browsers - Explained by Common Craft.
Based on suggestions and votes from our members, this video provides an introduction to Web browsers and their most powerful features. It’s meant to help less technical people see the browser as software that makes web pages easy to manage. Along with basics, the video also provides direction on using browser extensions, tabs, search and even the “find” tool for searching a single page.
This video is part of our... Continue Reading
I'm Writing a Book About Explanation
Posted by: leelefever on March 7, 2012- 7:50am
Categories: announcement, Art of Explanation, book, Explanation, news
It’s true. The book is called “The Art of Explanation” and it should hit the shelves in the fall of 2012, published by Wiley & Sons.
The Big Idea:
The Art of Explanation is built on the very simple idea that explanation is a skill that can be learned and improved. The book is designed to help people rethink how they communicate and learn to package ideas into simple explanations that make people care, whether it’s at home, work or school.
Background:
For many years, I’ve been a... Continue Reading
New Video: Social Networking (Facebook)
Posted by: leelefever on January 12, 2012- 9:14am
Categories: Explanation, facebook, New Video, ourwork, socialnetworking
Today we've published a new video: Social Networking (Facebook).
This video is a much-requested sequel to our video on Social Networking. As you likely know, a lot has changed in the world of Social Networking as Facebook has emerged to be one of the standards - and this video is aimed at why. It covers the basic ideas through the story of a woman who becomes a member and discovers how the social network and status updates help her feel more informed and engaged with her interests. ... Continue Reading
New Video: The Smart Grid Explained by Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on November 29, 2011- 10:01am
Categories: Common Craft Video, Explanation, smartgrid, video
Today we’re announcing a new video: The Smart Grid - Explained by Common Craft.Watch it now.
This video is a bit of a departure for us, as it focuses on the electric grid that delivers electricity to homes and businesses in the US and is not about the Internet.
But the grid has a lot in common with the Web:
It’s absolutely essential to our modern work and home lives
It’s a network that works behind the scenes
It’s complex and not well understood by the public
Changes to it impact everyone... Continue Reading
New Video: Plagiarism Explained by Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on October 25, 2011- 10:26am
Categories: Common Craft Video, education, Explanation, ourwork, plagiarism, video
Today we’re publishing a new video: Plagiarism Explained by Common Craft
One of our most suggested titles, this video is aimed at educators who are on the front lines of helping students of all ages understand and avoid plagiarism.
In researching this video it became clear that there are two types of plagiarism - intentional and unintentional. While we cover intentional plagiarism, we also highlight the situation where a person has positive intentions, but lacks information about what... Continue Reading
Video Explanations by 1/29 Explainers
Posted by: leelefever on October 4, 2011- 2:39pm
Categories: 1/29, Explainer Network, Explanation, marketing, video
From time-to-time we like to show off the work of a member of our Explainer Network of video producers. The videos below are by 1/29 Explainers in Oakland CA.
This first example on Next Gen Web Security from McAfee is a classic story-driven narrative. It works well as an explanation by telling a story through the experiences of a character that is likely to connect with the target audience, in this case, IT managers. It plays on the loss of control that IT managers feel (the pain) and shows... Continue Reading