Books That Made Me Better at Explaining Complex Ideas
Lessons that turned out to be surprisingly useful in my client projects.
I’ve been producing animated explainer videos since 2008.
Over the years, I’ve worked on projects across software, healthcare, finance, logistics, cybersecurity, and plenty of industries that don’t naturally lend themselves to simple explanations.
All I do is create visuals to help people understand what matters.
These three books helped me think about that process differently.
1. Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
The biggest lesson from this book is that memorable ideas are often surprisingly simple.
When clients come to us, they’re usually very close to their product. They know every feature, every process, and every technical detail.
The audience doesn’t.
Whenever a script feels overloaded, I find myself returning to a simple question:
What’s the one thing people should remember after watching?
If we can answer that clearly, the rest of the story usually falls into place.
What I took away:
- Simplicity is not the same as oversimplification.
- One strong message beats five competing messages.
- Clarity is often a subtraction exercise.
2. Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks
Most complex topics become easier to understand when they’re attached to a human experience.
That’s why the best explainer videos rarely start with technology.
They start with a problem.
A frustrated customer.
A missed opportunity.
A confusing process.
People naturally follow stories because they’re easier to relate to than abstract concepts.
What I took away:
- Start with people, not features.
- Context makes information easier to absorb.
- Stories create attention before explanations begin.
3. The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto
This book had one of the most direct impacts on how I think about scripts.
The core idea is simple:
Start with the answer first.
Most people explain things in the order they learned them. Audiences prefer the order that helps them understand them.
Instead of building toward the conclusion, lead with it.
Then support it.
It’s a small shift, but it can dramatically improve clarity.
What I took away:
- Lead with the main point.
- Group related ideas together.
- Make information easy to follow, not just accurate.
What’s interesting is that none of these books are about animation.
Yet their lessons show up in almost every successful explainer video I’ve worked on.
When I look back at projects that landed well with audiences, they usually had three things in common:
- A clear message.
- A relatable story.
- A logical structure.
The visuals help. But understanding starts long before the animation begins.
At Breadnbeyond, we craft cool, professional, animated explainer videos for your social media marketing strategy.
Check our works here.
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