Rob D. Willis

@robdwillis

2 transcribed videos

I analysed 30 Hannah Fry videos. Here is the 4-part structure. Why is Hannah Fry so good at making maths go viral? I transcribed 30 of her highest-performing videos to find out. The reason her videos work is not the maths. It is the structure. Almost every one follows the same four-part formula. One: she never starts with the concept. She starts with something you have experienced. 'Have you ever noticed your laptop feels slightly buzzy when it is charging?' Something physical, something you can picture. Then she creates a gap. Two: she spends most of the video explaining the mechanism. Cause and effect, one link at a time. You feel like you are discovering it alongside her. Three: she creates the satisfying click. The thing you thought was happening is not what is happening. The weird feeling on your laptop is not electricity. It is something much stranger. Four: she ends smaller than she started. A small joke, an observation, a practical tip. No huge inspirational takeaway. Great educational content is not about making a complicated thing simple. It is about making people curious enough to want the explanation. Whose explainer videos do you always watch to the end? Drop a name below. 🎙️ Chief Story Officer #communication #storytelling #publicspeaking #presentationskills #educationalcontent

I analysed 30 Hannah Fry videos. Here is the 4-part structure. Why is Hannah Fry so good at making maths go viral? I transcribed 30 of her highest-performing videos to find out. The reason her videos work is not the maths. It is the structure. Almost every one follows the same four-part formula. One: she never starts with the concept. She starts with something you have experienced. 'Have you ever noticed your laptop feels slightly buzzy when it is charging?' Something physical, something you can picture. Then she creates a gap. Two: she spends most of the video explaining the mechanism. Cause and effect, one link at a time. You feel like you are discovering it alongside her. Three: she creates the satisfying click. The thing you thought was happening is not what is happening. The weird feeling on your laptop is not electricity. It is something much stranger. Four: she ends smaller than she started. A small joke, an observation, a practical tip. No huge inspirational takeaway. Great educational content is not about making a complicated thing simple. It is about making people curious enough to want the explanation. Whose explainer videos do you always watch to the end? Drop a name below. 🎙️ Chief Story Officer #communication #storytelling #publicspeaking #presentationskills #educationalcontent

Why is Hannah Fry so bloody good? She has this amazing ability to make maths and science feel impossible to ignore. Well, I did what any normal pe...

11.3K600Jul 15, 2026

There’s a storytelling rule Pixar uses in every single film — and it can transform the way you communicate at work. In this breakdown, we explore one of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling and why defining the stakes is what makes ideas impossible to ignore. From Toy Story to Finding Nemo, Pixar always asks two questions: What happens if the character fails? And why should we care? The consequences are clear, the stakes are real, and that’s why we stay engaged. The problem in most corporate communication? We describe problems and present data, but we never explain what happens if nothing changes. Without stakes, there’s no urgency. Without urgency, there’s no action. If you want executives, stakeholders, or teams to care about your ideas, stop just presenting solutions — start defining the consequences.

There’s a storytelling rule Pixar uses in every single film — and it can transform the way you communicate at work. In this breakdown, we explore one of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling and why defining the stakes is what makes ideas impossible to ignore. From Toy Story to Finding Nemo, Pixar always asks two questions: What happens if the character fails? And why should we care? The consequences are clear, the stakes are real, and that’s why we stay engaged. The problem in most corporate communication? We describe problems and present data, but we never explain what happens if nothing changes. Without stakes, there’s no urgency. Without urgency, there’s no action. If you want executives, stakeholders, or teams to care about your ideas, stop just presenting solutions — start defining the consequences.

There's actually a rule that Pixar has for storytelling, which you can use to make your work communication way more compelling and impossible to i...

165.3K8.1KMar 3, 2026