BBC News' Ros Atkins: My 7-step guide to mastering the art of explanation 

BBC broadcaster Ros Atkins makes complicated news stories accessible with his snappy viral explainers. Now, in his new book, he’s showing us how he does it. By Suzanne Harrington

Ros Atkins: the BBC News' analysis editor explains the art of explanation. Pic: Jeff Overs.

I recently went to a talk given by a psychologist on objective reality. 

What promised to be an interesting and thought-provoking event was marred by its presentation; the psychologist spoke too quickly and quietly, gave too much information too rapidly, and went off on too many tangents. 

He used too much jargon. I fell asleep with my eyes open and left at the break.

It served as a reminder that if you know stuff, and need to share the stuff you know — from concepts of objective reality to how to boil an egg — good explanation is crucial. BBC News analysis editor Ros Atkins examines how to do this in his new book, The Art of Explanation.

Atkins has been presenting and reporting global news stories for over twenty years, and created the short explainer videos, ‘Ros Atkins On…’, which takes a topic and crunches it down into bite-size information nuggets. 

He has explained everything from the shooting down of Wagner militia leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, to the opaque finances of Manchester City to what’s going on in Sudan effectively, clearly, and concisely, in just a few minutes.

And now he’s sharing how he does it, and how good explanation — which he defines as identifying and communicating what we want to say — can be applied to anything: Work presentations, job interviews, educational spaces, social purposes, whatever. 

He covers every aspect of explaining from sources and formats to script versus bullet points versus memorisation to how to stand and what do to with your hands — basically, he’s sharing everything he has learned during his own career, and making it accessible for all.

Atkins has form in this respect, having founded the 50:50 gender parity initiative while still working as a presenter in 2016 — the result has been equal representation of women in BBC journalism and content, and the initiative rolling out globally in other news organisations. 

Now he wants us all to share equally in how to explain stuff clearly and successfully.

“All of us are surrounded by experiences and comments and insights from others which could trigger something within us which helps us communicate and handle information,” he tells me on Zoom.

“What might be a trigger for me to gain an insight may not be the same for you — in the world around us, there are different things for each of us that will help us understand how we communicate better. You have to be open to seeing those things in order to make the most of them.”

He says that if we can distil the crux of the information we want to communicate, and find ways to communicate it that are digestible, engaging, perhaps even enjoyable, it’s going to serve two purposes — you have a better chance of getting the information across, and the people listening have a better chance of understanding it.

A side benefit, he adds, is that people may feel positively towards you because you’ve made accessing that information easier for them. Nobody likes a waffler.

“If you can give people a lot of highly relevant information in a short space of time, that’s going to go down well,” he says.

Atkins gives an example from his own life. In his twenties, he had an interview with the Independent newspaper in London. He fluffed it — “a disastrous melange of poorly defined hopes and observations” — and didn’t get the job. Years later, he’d honed his technique to a pithy 45-second pitch which worked on a senior BBC boss famous for his short attention span (he got the job).

He says there’s nothing beyond explanation if you have the right information, though he admits that when it comes to personal motivations, there are some things that are impossible to explain: “Like, say, why Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, because we can’t know his mind.” He says one of the most personally challenging things he ever had to explain involved macroeconomic trends. “It was very complicated,” he says. “I’m not an economist. I had to get lots of advice.”

Atkins lists ten aspects as the anatomy of a good explanation: 

• Simplicity (“Is this the simplest way I can say this?”)
• Essential detail (“What detail is essential to this explanation?”)
• Complexity (“Are there elements of this subject I don’t understand?”)
• Efficiency (“Is this the most succinct way I can say this?”)
• Precision (“Am I saying exactly what I want to communicate?”)
• Context (“Why does this matter to the people I’m addressing?”)
• No distractions (“Are there verbal, written or visual distractions?”)
• Engaging (“Are there moments when attention could waver?”)
• Useful (“Have I answered the questions that people have?”)
• Clarity of purpose (“What am I trying to explain?”)

Pic: iStock

SEVEN WAYS TO SET OUT YOUR STALL

But, before you start on your actual explanation, you need to know your audience (the psychologist at the talk I attended gave an excellent example of What Not To Do, by speaking as though to academic peers, rather than to Joe Public). 

Think carefully — on the chosen subject, what do they already know, and what would they like to know? 

How do they like to receive their information — and how can you tailor it to suit them? How best can you make the information more personal/relatable to them? 

And how best can you be credible, so that the audience believes you? 

Then comes the actual explanation, which Atkins breaks down into seven chunks.

SET UP

This could be, he says, “an essay, a report, presentation, a speech, a lecture, a work briefing” rather than a dynamic situation involving two-way conversation.

So you think about who the information is for, about the specific questions the explanation needs to answer, the duration of your explanation etc. — before you ever start information gathering.

FIND THE INFORMATION

This can involve a summary of what you’re explaining, and for whom; a list of questions your audience might ask; a list of what you’re not clear about; a list of areas you need to cover; and lots of information about the subject. 

Basically, a lot of lists.

DISTIL THE INFORMATION

Are there gaps in your information? What about sources – are they direct and reliable?

Beware of information from unreliable/biased sources. And is all the information you have in its simplest form?

ORGANISE THE INFORMATION

Make a list of the main strands – introduction, main ideas, conclusion — and think about what story you want to tell. Try different starting points, consider different story structures, add high-impact elements and visual elements.

Does it work when you put it all together?

LINK THE INFORMATION

When you start writing, use clear language and avoid hard stops — abrupt gaps that give people a chance to tune out. 

Instead use trailing techniques — “If you’re wondering how…..”, “I promise to show you….”, “And then afterwards we will……” which keeps people engaged.

TIGHTEN

Read aloud and ask yourself things like — are there any obstacles to understanding, any unnecessary complications, could anything be made shorter and snappier without losing content and meaning? 

Is there anything unexplained that could be distracting? Does the start hook you in, and does the finish give a clear conclusion? 

And finally — are all the strands and elements essential? Get a second opinion.

Present your explanation to another person to test its punch and clarity — a second opinion can also be a confidence boost as well as constructive criticism.

DELIVERY

You have your material collated and prepared. Now practice delivering it. 

Delivery involves verbalisation (“Does it sound like me? Does each sentence logically move on to the next?”), having your visual elements lined up, whether to use a script or using your memory (or a bit of both); the pace of your presentation; sticking to time limits; feeling comfortable in your clothes; and the importance of rehearsal. 

You need to practice, practice, practice. And then deliver. “All our lives our shaped in part by the information we share, the information we seek and the information we receive,” Atkins concludes. 

He recalls how one of his BBC colleagues compared the art of clear explanation to cleaning a window — “You can see through a dirty window but if you clean the window you can see so much better.” 

Once you start doing it, Atkins says, there’s no going back.

• The Art of Explanation is published by Hachette