Welcome to the Common Craft newsletter, a free resource for educators, communicators, and explainers. Subscribe or read past issues.

Hello friends. Last year I published a free mini-course called How to Create Readable Videos. Hundreds of you have taken the course and I'm excited about the feedback. It's a simple idea with real power. Soon I'll publish a comprehensive course that teaches the method and how to make the videos look polished and professional. Stay tuned.

This week our focus is thinking about your communication across on spectrum from abstract to concrete. Let's get to it!

The Ladder of Abstraction

You've probably been in situations where someone is speaking and they seem to only focus on general ideas and concepts. They are not specific and you find it hard to relate the points to the real world. This is because their communication is more abstract.

The opposite may be even more prevalent. In this example, the person speaking is focused on very specific data points and examples. The data are interesting, but you find it hard to see the big picture. This communication is more concrete.

The best communicators are able to use both these ideas in tandem: a combination of abstract and concrete. You can think about this spectrum as a ladder: the ladder of abstraction. Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa developed this idea in 1939 in his book Language in Thought and Action.

When planning a presentation or classroom lesson, you can use the ladder to consider your points. You might ask yourself: Am I being too abstract? If so, move down the ladder to more concrete examples.

A simple example is photography:

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A Video Explainer

Our Explanation Master Course includes this video, which will give you clear understanding of how the ladder can be put to work and improve your communication.

You can find this video on YouTube or our blog.

That's what I have for now. See you next week!

Lee LeFever, Common Craft​