Common Craft - Common Craft - Our Product is Explanation

New Video: Deepfakes Explained by Common Craft

leelefever — Thu, 08 May 2025 18:19:30 +0000

Deepfakes represent a growing problem that needs more awareness. This video is now available for downloading and embedding for members of Common Craft. Anyone can view it for free.

Today, we can’t be sure if the videos, audio, or images we see online are real or fake. Thanks to AI and powerful computers, it’s now possible to create media that looks and sounds like real people but is fake and designed to fool you. Learn what you can do to stay safe online.

Watch this video in full (3 minutes)

This video explains the concept of deepfakes and how they are used to change minds, manipulate beliefs, and steal money. It teaches:

How a deepfake attack works
Why deepfakes exist
How deepfakes are made
What you can do to stay safe
The risks of sharing deepfakes

Do You Teach Technology or Internet Safety?

The Common Craft video library is used in school districts, universities, libraries, and organizations around the world. Our unique approach to explanation and education has delighted students since 2008.

If you're interested in making Common Craft videos available to your students, evaluate the videos in our library.

All videos have open captions and can be embedded, downloaded, and streamed. We offer a variety of plans and options for integrating the video library into your systems.

Bottom line: if you want to use the videos, we'll ensure they work for you. Contact us.

Supporting Your Message with Trees, Branches, and Leaves

leelefever — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:59:50 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

We've all heard someone say, in the context of understanding something new: "You're not seeing the forest for the trees." This usually means that someone is so focused on the details that they're missing the big picture. This dynamic frames a very common and difficult element of communication. We all struggle with the Curse of Knowledge and what mix of forest and trees will work for our audience.

When we have deep knowledge of a subject, the forest and even the trees can seem too basic. It might seem logical to head straight to what fascinates you: the specifics.

In my experience, context matters. Time spent discussing the forest and the trees is vital because it sets the scene and provides a logical path for learning.

An Example

Let's imagine we're explaining a new technology for electric vehicle (EV) batteries to a mainstream audience. To understand and appreciate the innovation, we'll need to look at specific details. But, if we get to the details too quickly, we'll lose the audience, so we have to be deliberate. We can do this by thinking about a forest and a tree with branches and leaves. In this example, each idea is supported by the idea that came before it.

The forest could be a quick bit of data on the growth of EVs around the world. This shows why EVs matter and will continue to matter in the future.

Within the forest, there are various trees. Each tree may be a competing EV manufacturer or battery technology. This starts to narrow the focus. We'll define the tree as an EV car brand.

Now that we have narrowed the subject to a specific tree, we can consider the trunk. This is the subject of the explanation. It sets the course and provides a concrete direction. For our example, the trunk is how the brand is reacting to problems.

With a trunk in place, we can consider its branches. These are the major points of the explanation that set the stage for the big reveal. In our example, let's say the branches represent specific issues facing the brand's EV lineup: range, charging time, and safety. This sets up problems that need solutions.

Now that we have a tree with branches, we can focus on the leaves of each branch. These are specific ideas that show a solution to the problems on each branch.

Range? Here's how that is solved now
Charging time? Here's why it's better
Safety? Here's what has changed

By visualizing a tree, we can think about ideas having support. The leaves need the branches, the branches need the trunk, etc. At heart, this is a template for effective writing. In the context of explanation, it can serve as a memorable way to think through what you'll explain.

Explaining Quantum Computing

leelefever — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:57:53 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

One of my favorite tech podcasts is Hard Fork. Hosts Kevin Roose of the NYT and Casey Newton often try to understand new and emerging technologies. To do so, they bring on expert guests and pepper them with questions.

Last Friday, they discussed Google's announcement of a new "quantum chip" called Willow that seemed to have amazing power. To help understand this news, they brought on Julian Kelly, Director of Hardware at Google Quantum AI. Julian and the hosts did a good job of trying to explain one of the hardest concepts in tech.

Listen to the Episode

To me, the explanation problem lies in the nature of quantum mechanics, which operates at such a small scale that it appears to break the rules of what we expect. It's counter-intuitive. We don't have familiar concepts to say, "It's like that thing you learned in school." Even the scientists working on it don't claim to understand exactly what's happening, even though they can measure it precisely.

In preparation for the interview, Kevin Roose asked a chatbot to "explain quantum computing to an idiot". What he got back was an interesting analogy that uses a comparison to a normal computer:

In a regular computer, it's like flipping a coin that must land either heads or tails. Every "bit" that goes through a processor must be either one or zero. And this produces a sort of very clear and definite state. In a quantum computer is more like a coin that is spinning on a table, and while spinning, it's both heads and tails at once. These things are called qubits, and they can exist in multiple states simultaneously until you measure them.

This state of being both heads and tails at once is called superposition and it's one of the fundamental ideas.

Kelly points out that a quantum computer can solve new, different kinds of problems because it's a fundamentally different kind of computing:

Normal computers are ubiquitous in everything that we do, but they all operate the same way. So like an abacus, or a vacuum tube, or a transistor computer, the principles are the same. They're basic in classical computation, and that just fundamentally has limits. And so quantum computers will unlock the opportunity to solve problems that no other technology can solve.

Part of the problem with quantum computing is that the qubits are fragile. Google's new chip is an improvement because it makes the qubits less fragile, allowing them to scale more easily. This is called "error correction"

Once again, the hosts asked AI how to think about this idea:

It said, think of quantum computers like trying to conduct an orchestra where all the musicians are extremely caffeinated and jittery. The more musicians (or qubits) you add, the more chaos you typically get. Before Willow, adding more qubits was like adding more caffeinated musicians. It just made things messier. What Google did was figure out how to make the orchestra play better when you add more musicians.

Kelly added another analogy that relates to the threshold that quantum computing has to reach in order to improve versus becoming more chaotic:

Suppose you want to make a rocket and you wanna explore the universe, right? If you wanna do that, you have to go faster than what's known as "escape velocity" of the earth, right? Otherwise, if you don't, you're gonna come right back into the planet. But if you can achieve escape velocity, you actually can get out of the clutches of Earth's gravity and go explore wherever you want. And so it's another example of one of these thresholds you have to cross.

It's important to know that quantum computing is a field of research that will likely take years to produce products or solutions for everyday life.

The Lesson

Yes, quantum computing is exciting and confusing. But the lesson I learned from this interview is that most ideas can be learned by asking an AI chatbot to explain a subject "to an idiot." I do this all the time, and it's incredibly helpful. I say this as someone whose career is based on explanations.

Listen to the Episode

How to Make Ideas Memorable

leelefever — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:03:00 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

As a daily user of NYT Puzzles, I signed up for the Gameplay Newsletter which provides tips, behind-the-scenes looks at how the puzzles are made, and more. This week's newsletter introduced me to a new term: Tricolon.

From the newsletter:

Chandler [a speech writer] put it like this: A tricolon is essentially a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. “We like learning about a subject, the journey it takes, and where it ends up,” he said. Chandler even noted that the most popular adage about the power of the tricolon was, itself, a tricolon: “Tell ’em what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell ’em what you said.”

A tricolon is usually a series of three phrases, words, or sentences that create meaning or emphasis when combined. A classic tricolon is "Live Laugh Love". The words, when read together, say more than the words alone.

Usually, the third and final part of the tricolon carries more weight, emphasis, or surprise. FDR's famous quip is an example: "Be sincere, be brief, be seated." Used effectively, it can help the audience remember an idea, situation, or feeling.

Ben Franklin once said: "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

Julius Caesar is credited with saying "Veni, vidi, vici", which is Latin for "I came, I saw, I conquered"

I like this version from Quinten Crisp: "If you describe things as better than they are, you are considered to be a romantic; if you describe things as worse than they are, you will be called a realist; and if you describe things exactly as they are, you will be thought of as a satirist."

Tricolons in Explanations

When writing a script or working through a longer explanation, I consider the three big ideas that every viewer needs to remember. While the explanation may have analogies, stories, and examples, the summary is what often brings the idea home. Here, a tricolon can serve as a reminder of the big points to remember.

Imagine pitching a new product or idea to a group of investors. Over thirty minutes you provide details and walk-throughs. You show features and discuss strategies. It's a lot to remember. In the end, you bring it all together with a tricolon that's engaging and memorable. Examples could include:

All you have to do is select, summarize, and send.
The pain will be gone, the solution will be cheap, the joy will be lasting.
When we're done, customers will see that we support them with integrity, treat them with respect, and serve them with a smile.

The next time you're introducing an idea, consider how a tricolon can help you package the big ideas into a memorable sentence that makes an impression:

Engage, Empathise, Explain

That's what I have for now. Cheers!

Explaining the Electoral College Process

leelefever — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 19:03:45 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

Every four years, a Common Craft video gets renewed attention. Why? Because it clearly explains how the US elects a president.

Watch the video below on YouTube:

About the Video:

The electoral college process is complicated. When we decided to make the video in 2008 it took research to see the big picture and that was part of the fun. We set out to be non-partisan and give the video a long shelf life. This meant, in part, symbolizing the parties as shapes: circle, square, rectangle.

As always, the goal is not describing the process, but explaining it. This meant addressing common misconceptions and focusing on why the system works as it does. For example: how does the system account for the difference in population across states like California and Kansas?

This video has over 2 million views, 10k likes, and 2,500 comments. Here are a few:

"Man, I've been watching videos on this matter all day long, and this is BY FAR the most explicative one. Thank you so much."
"Thank you! This is the only explanation that I’ve understood so far"
"Oh my gosh thank you! I finally, finally, finally get how this works!!!"
"I'm doing a report on this topic and this summed up 4 weeks of searching in a little less than 4 minutes thank you so much!"

As an explainer, this warms my heart.

Watch the Video

Office Hours with Lee

leelefever — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:25:17 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

Are you working on something complicated? Needing to communicate change? Hoping to get support for a new direction or educating a team? In these situations, clear explanations are essential.

Working with an outside partner can help you see new opportunities and avoid getting stuck. This person can help develop your points and ensure you get the results you want. I want to be that resource for you. See below.

Office Hours with Lee

It's simple. My hourly rate is $225 per hour. Contact me when you need help, and I'll be your personal explainer and help you get unstuck.

We'll work together, as needed, until you're satisfied. Often, this work results in a set of explanatory talking points, a script, or a presentation that explains an idea effectively to your audience.

Here's how it works:

Email Lee to schedule a brief introductory meeting at no cost. Or, pick a time that works for you.
We'll start with a 1-hour "discovery" call to learn more, set the stage, and outline deliverables/goals.
From there, we'll work collaboratively, online and off, in whatever style works for you.
Along with text-based explanations, I can create visuals, diagrams, animated GIFs, and more
Pay-as-you-go: No long-term contracts or hourly minimums

From a recent consulting client:

I came to Lee feeling stuck. I was working on a presentation and struggling to explain my work in a brief and engaging way. Lee listened carefully to my experience, goals, and ideas for the presentation and asked multiple questions. Within a few days, he came back to me with clear talking points that helped me see new opportunities to frame the ideas. Over time, we worked together to turn those talking points into visuals for my presentation. Now, when someone asks, I can explain my work with a few short sentences and even draw a quick diagram on the back of a napkin. Our time together was well with it!

~Jake McKee

To learn more, schedule a brief call with Lee.

Why YOU Are a Designer

leelefever — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 19:49:08 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

When you hear the word "design" you might think about fashion, art, graphics, or devices, and that's accurate. Apple is famous for its emphasis on design as a competitive advantage. It might seem that design is the sole domain of professionals with experience and degrees, but I beg to differ.

I believe we are all designers. That's because design, in its simplest form, is identifying a problem and planning a solution. In this way, design can be simple (planning a meal) or extremely complicated and rigorous (planning a VR headset). If you've ever built a campfire, you've used design skills to achieve the desired outcome.

Design Thinking - A Primer

Professional designers often use a concept called "Design Thinking" to guide the design process. It's human-centered and creates a foundation for thinking through the steps and big ideas that lead to a good design. The main steps are:

Empathize - Who is the audience, and what do they need?
Define - What problem needs to be solved? Why?
Ideate - What is likely to work?
Prototype - Quickly create or build something that can be tested
Test - Show it to people, ask for feedback
Iterate - Make changes based on feedback

These steps are also a useful guide for designing explanations:

Empathize - Who is the audience, and what do they need?
Define - What needs to be explained? Why?
Ideate - What is likely to work? Analogy? Visual? Example? Video?
Prototype - Write a script, develop a presentation
Test - Share a draft script, ask for feedback
Iterate - Make changes based on feedback

This may seem like a lot to consider for an explanation and in most cases, that's true. But some explanations are important enough to deserve planning and design thinking.

If you're going into a job interview, introducing a new product or service, communicating a new policy, or asking for funding or support, clarity is essential. Your success depends on your audience understanding what you have to say and without planning, the task becomes more difficult.

The best, most impactful explanations are designed. They are premeditated. They are explanations in the first degree and an essential skill for the 21st century. Soon we'll take more steps in this direction.

Designing Explanations

leelefever — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 01:28:29 +0000

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

Over the last couple of years, my focus at the Explainer Academy was how to make animated explainer videos. I created a new course called Ideas in Motion that teaches every step of the process. I'm a little biased, but I think it's pretty great.

While explainer videos can be powerful, they aren't for everyone. But you know what is? Clear and understandable communication. Explanations help us earn respect and attention. They help us collaborate and iterate. The right explanation at the right time can move mountains.

Unlike videos that require tools, these explanations happen in conversations, meetings, and presentations. They solve a problem we all face: helping our audience understand an idea.

For a lot of people, an explanation is just something that...happens. We don't often step back and consider what makes an explanation work, or how to improve. In my 2012 book THE ART OF EXPLANATION, I used this analogy:

It's a little like dancing. Your grace on the dance floor may mean that you take dancing for granted: it just happens when there is a rhythm. But even the best dancer can only get so far without defining specific dances, such as what makes the samba the samba and the waltz the waltz. These definitions create a standard form and shape that can be honed and refined. Only by defining the standards of the dance can we hope to improve it.

I want the skill of explanation to have a form and shape in your mind. I want you to see that explanation is a creative act that can be planned and executed in almost any context.

How? By connecting the skill of explanation to the basics of design thinking. I will share a method for designing explanations that solve specific problems for specific audiences. You'll learn how designers approach their craft and how to use those lessons for your explanations.

More coming soon!

Ideas in Motion Course + Webinar

leelefever — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:48:56 +0000

Our new online course, IDEAS in MOTION, is a comprehensive guide to developing animations and animated videos that do the heavy lifting when words aren't enough. The course teaches a simple method for producing short animated videos using only presentation software.

Course and Webinar Combo

For a limited time, enrollment in the IDEAS in MOTION course is available with a live, 90-minute webinar with Lee LeFever, on June 18th.

Pricing: Course + 90-Minute Webinar: $149 Enroll Now

What you'll learn in the webinar and course:

Essential explanation skills
Writing and editing your script
Developing ideas for visuals and scenes
Finding, creating, and using visuals
Using generative AI
Animating visuals with PowerPoint
Preparing for your voice-over
Producing your video using only PowerPoint
Sharing your video

Learn More

Webinar Details:

Date: Tuesday, June 18th, at 10am PT (1pm ET)
Location: Zoom. The recording will be sent to all enrollees.
Details: Lee will contact you with webinar details after you enroll

Enroll for $149

New Video: The Fediverse Explained by Common Craft

leelefever — Wed, 22 May 2024 18:47:45 +0000

Over the past decade, social media has become centralized around a few big tech companies. New technologies and ideas are changing this environment by allowing apps and platforms to work together in a federation that provides more choice and flexibility. This new version of the social web is called The Fediverse.

Watch this video in full (3m 27s)

Also available for free sharing on YouTube

The term 'Fediverse' refers to a fresh approach to the social web, derived from the words 'federated' and 'universe.' A key idea is the concept of federation: independent apps and platforms can now be connected by a new protocol. With the protocol in place, people and content can move across the fediverse, creating flexibility and choice. This decentralized model could become the future of online communities. This video teaches:

The drawbacks of centralized platforms
The essence of federation
Criteria for platforms to join the Fediverse
Navigating Fediverse apps and platforms
The significance of portability
The impact of established platforms embracing the Fediverse

Curious? Download this video's Lesson Plan: Common Craft Lesson Plan - Fediverse

Do You Teach Technology or Internet Safety?

If you're interested in making Common Craft videos available to your students, evaluate the videos in our library.

All videos have open captions and can be embedded, downloaded, and streamed. We offer a variety of plans and options for integrating the video library into your systems.

Bottom line: if you want to use the videos, we'll ensure they work for you. Contact us.

Common Craft - Common Craft - Our Product is Explanation

New Video: Deepfakes Explained by Common Craft

Do You Teach Technology or Internet Safety?

Supporting Your Message with Trees, Branches, and Leaves

An Example

Explaining Quantum Computing

The Lesson

How to Make Ideas Memorable

Tricolons in Explanations

Explaining the Electoral College Process

About the Video:

Office Hours with Lee

Office Hours with Lee

Why YOU Are a Designer

Design Thinking - A Primer

Designing Explanations

Ideas in Motion Course + Webinar

Course and Webinar Combo

Pricing: Course + 90-Minute Webinar: $149 Enroll Now

What you'll learn in the webinar and course:

Webinar Details:

New Video: The Fediverse Explained by Common Craft

Related Video: Mastodon Explained

Do You Teach Technology or Internet Safety?