Make It Clear
by Patrick Henry Winston, Anonymous, Gill Pratt · first published 2020
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Structured, practical system for speaking and writing clearly, covering prose documents as well as decks and pitches; recommended by readers who want to communicate ideas more effectively and remember them.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…popular talk titled How to Speak. Here is a recording of the talk from 2018: How To Speak by Patrick Winston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzc731iCUY A book of his insights was published in 2020: Make It Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade and Inform. I'm half-way through the book and it is good so far. Although the book pitches itself as suitable for anyone who writes or speaks, many of the examples in the…
on “Ask HN: Books for Effective Communication” ↗…audience's attention. Here is a recording of the talk from 2018: How To Speak by Patrick Winston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzc731iCUY He also published a book of his insights in 2020 titled Make It Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade and Inform. Many of the examples in the book have an emphasis on speaking in an academic or teaching setting. However, there are good insights that anyone can learn from.
on “Ask HN: Any resources you recommend on capturing and holding peoples attention?” ↗Seconding this, and also wanted to recommend the book "Make it Clear", which contains a lot of PHW's communication advice beyond just talks. https://www.amazon.com/Make-Clear-Speak-Persuade-Inform/dp/0...
on “Ask HN: Best Talks of 2020?” ↗Make It Clear by Patrick Henry Winston has a permanent place on my bookshelf. He breaks communication down into a structured system and applies it to a variety of forms including (beyond standard prose documents) things…
on “Ask HN: Any great books about technical writing?” ↗…2004. I have no idea why I was there, what the conference was about, or what he said— OK, so if your goal is to not have a forgotten message, watch How to Speak by Patrick Winston and then read his book Make It Clear. The advice is as good as gold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzc731iCUY https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4874/Make-It-ClearSpeak-an... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Winston
on “A gambler's guide to giving talks” ↗…Hadn’t the author heard that? Then, when I read the piece, most were already known to me. One should watch the marvelous guide by Patrick Henty Winston- "How to Speak". He also has a book called- "Make it Clear". I highly recommend this.
on “Tech talks don’t have to be boring” ↗Make it Clear by Patrick Henry Winston [0] is slightly related to this. I learned a lot of things from it. I first got to know about him through his now famous video- How to Speak [1]. [0]: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/make-it-clear…
on “How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]” ↗…exhausting to read; short, unvaried sentences are boring. For informative writing, I agree that ideas should be clearly and concisely expressed for the intended audience. For this purpose I'd highly recommend "Make it Clear" by Patrick Winston, who was known for his work in AI, but also a lecture series at MIT called "How to Speak". Which words are deemed "fancy" in the English language requires knowledge of fluent English…
on “Write Simply” ↗…often treated like country-club dues; you need to use it to belong. Patrick Henry Winston was well known his achievements in machine learning, but also for his yearly lectures on communication. His book "Make it Clear" is full of great lessons, which have improved my writing/speaking. As basic as it sounds, considering my audience and intent have greatly improved my ability to express my ideas.
on “Use Simple Language” ↗He actually wrote a recent book: Make It Clear https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B084V84PM7
on “Ask HN: Books for Effective Communication” ↗Patrick Winston also wrote a book about presentation and communication: Make It Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade and Inform. It was published a year after he passed away. https://www.amazon.com/Make-Clear-Speak-Persuade-Inform/dp/0...
on “Patrick Winston: How to Speak (2018) [video]” ↗