Plain English in Plain English
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Devoted to simple explanations of even the most technologically bewildering apps known to man, Plain English is a YouTube series created by a husband-and-wife team in Seattle that’s garnered an impressive following during its year-long run.
Using only paper cutouts, a whiteboard and a voiceover that sounds charmingly like Kenneth the Page, PE’s vids deconstruct various social and technological issues (wikis, podcasting, RSS, etc), sometimes veering into political and cultural topics, e.g., Electing a U.S. President in Plain English, and Zombies in Plain English.
The series’ latest is Google Reader in Plain English, and the explanation is 1-2-3 simple: the web moves fast, it’s time-consuming to visit multiple sites, Google Reader lets you subscribe to sites so the info comes to you. Each point in the explanation is illustrated with the aforementioned paper cutouts (a hand drawn browser window, a pen-and-marker-ed up Google Reader) which move across the screen by stop-motion.
It’s a very effective teaching strategy. The cutouts and whiteboard simplify the topic at hand by removing extraneous information from the screen; since there’s no visual clutter, you listen more attentively to what the narrator is saying. Easy. It’s an especially effective strategy with tech products, where unfamiliar interfaces can cause confusion.
Plain English is a hit by YouTube entertainment standards (5,000+ subscribers, several vids with six-figure views), but its real success is with private clients. The creators, Sachi and Lee LeFever, also create videos for successful tech companies (LinkedIn, Meetup, and Google, etc), as well as for cities and nonprofits that have complicated messages to deliver, e.g., California School Finance in Plain English and Vancouver’s I-Move in Plain English. (Check out Craig Rubens’ interview with Lee LeFever.)
Complex ideas, simply explained. For their next video, may I humbly suggest they recount their success with How to Survive Working from Home with Your Spouse in Plain English.
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NewTeeVee’s latest project, launched in June 2008, is NewTeeVee Station, an editorially-driven guide to quality online video. Want to find something good to watch? Want to get the lowdown on something all the kids are talking about, like “Soulja Boy” or combining Mentos and Diet Coke? Want to meet the rising stars of the new age of television before they get huge? NewTeeVee Station is your cheat sheet, cataloging the world of web video with an engaging voice and a critical eye. It’s also a community site, giving you increased power to express what you like, what you don’t, and what else you want to watch.
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Comments
Plain English, DNC Protester Smackdown: NTV Station Today « NewTeeVee, August 28, 2008 at 12:32 PM
[...] And Steve Bryant reviews one of the Internet’s most valuable resources — the Plain English series, which uses paper cutouts and simple stop motion to explain extremely complicated subjects (and zombies). Check it out at NewTeeVee Station! [...]
Lee LeFever, August 30, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Hi Steve.
Thanks a bunch for highlighting our videos (and the 4 star rating). I’m curious why you choose to use “Plain English” as the brand instead of “Common Craft” or “The Common Craft Show”? I’ve never seen anyone call us “Plain English” before.