The Art of Explanation -- Contents -- Preface -- Author Note -- Introduction -- Part 1 Plan -- Chapter 1 Learning to Run -- Chapter 2 What Is an Explanation? -- What Is Not An Explanation -- Defining Explanation -- Explanations Require Empathy -- Act and Art -- Look at Your Fish -- Explanation Lowers the Cost of Understanding -- An Explanation Is a Way to Package Ideas -- Explanations Answer the Question ``Why?'' -- Explanations Make People Care -- Chapter 3 Why Explanations Fail -- All About Confidence -- Assumptions Cause Failure -- Words Can Hurt -- We Lack Understanding -- We Want to Appear Smart -- The Direct Approach-No Context -- Summary -- Chapter 4 Planning Your Explanations -- Identifying Explanation Problems -- Part 2 Package -- Chapter 5 Packaging Ideas -- Stepping Outside the Bubble -- What Goes into the Packaging? -- Chapter 6 Context -- Forest then Trees -- Solving the Context Problem -- Context in Explanation-We Can All Agree -- Context and Pain -- Example: Google Docs -- On the Explanation Scale -- Summary -- Chapter 7 Story -- Stories Versus Facts -- But I'm Not a Storyteller -- Common Craft and Stories -- The Simple Ingredient: People -- Using Stories in Explanation -- Basic Story Format -- When Does Storytelling Not Work? -- Personification and Story -- On the Explanation Scale -- Summary -- Chapter 8 Connections -- Connecting Your Long Lost Uncle-Old Versus New -- Building-on Versus Establishing -- Analogy -- Common Craft Videos -- On the Explanation Scale -- Summary -- Chapter 9 Description -- Explaining Web Browsers -- Explanation Is Not a Recipe -- On The Explanation Scale -- Summary -- Chapter 10 Simplification -- Chapter 11 Constraints -- Common Craft and Constraints -- Constraints and Your Explanations -- Summary.

Chapter 12 Preparing for and Writing an Explanation -- The Common Craft Writing Process -- Big Ideas -- Research and Discovery -- Script Writing -- The Real Thing -- Chapter 13 Bringing an Explanation Together -- Part 3 Present -- Chapter 14 Common Craft's Lessons Learned -- Common Craft Gets Started -- Ten Lessons Learned from Common Craft Explanations -- Chapter 15 Right Medium for the Message -- A Transformation -- Media Options -- Presentation Modes -- Recording and Distribution Options -- Constraints Come to the Rescue -- Summary -- Chapter 16 Visuals -- You Can Use Visuals -- Dan Roam's 6 × 6 Rule -- Common Craft Visual Metaphors -- Noise and Simplicity in Visuals -- Infographics -- Creating Digital Visuals -- Summary -- Chapter 17 Emma and Carlos -- Epilogue -- Chapter 18 Explanation Culture and Your Life as an Explainer -- Your Life as An Explainer -- Acknowledgments -- Links to Common Craft Videos -- About the Author -- Bibliography -- Index -- Advertisment.