The Art of Explanation: Making your Ideas, Products, and Services Easier to Understand

Chapter 1

Learning to Run

Trevor limped through the front door, sore again. These past few months had been tough on his joints. Six months ago he picked up running again after his doctor said he needed to get more exercise. To help keep himself motivated, he set a goal of completing a half-marathon within a year. But it didn't seem like this was going to happen—not the way things were looking now. Trevor was beginning to realize that his body just couldn't take a beating these days, and he joked with friends that he felt like an old man at 45.

It wasn't always this way. Trevor had always been a runner in one way or another. He played soccer in high school, and started to run as a way to stay in shape in college. He took to it naturally. But as he moved onto a career, his time became limited and he ran less and less frequently.

Trevor knew that something needed to change if he was going to complete the half-marathon. He tried a variety of tactics—buying new running shoes, wearing knee braces, and concentrating on stretching. However, nothing seemed to work, and the date for the half-marathon was drawing closer.

Trevor had recently been enjoying a drink with a friend and mentioned that he was having a difficult time preparing for the race. After some probing, his friend asked a simple question that he wasn't sure how to answer: “Have you tried changing how you run?” Perplexed, Trevor ...