Guide · Universities & Higher Education · By the AutoScribble Team · Published 22 September 2026

How to create a research explainer video for a non-specialist audience

Who this guide is for

Researchers, research impact officers and university communications teams. It's part of our universities & higher education resources.

What you'll need

• Abstract or plain-language summary
• The one finding you want people to remember
• Any limitations the paper states
• Where viewers can read more

Step by step

1. 1

   Find the one-sentence finding

   If you can't say it in a sentence, the video will struggle. Write it first.

2. 2

   Use the four-part structure

   Problem → what we did → what we found → why it matters.

3. 3

   Replace jargon with pictures

   Ask for a visual metaphor for the method, and define any unavoidable term.

4. 4

   Keep the caveat

   A single honest limitation builds trust and stops the video overstating results.

5. 5

   Author approval

   The lead author checks accuracy before generation.

Illustrative storyboard (fictional study)

Scene 1 — Problem: a city map with heat shimmering over dense streets.
“Cities get hotter than the countryside around them, and that heat affects people's health.”

Scene 2 — Method: sensors on lamp posts, dots on a map.
“We placed temperature sensors on 200 streets for a year.”

Scene 3 — Finding: two streets side by side, one with trees and cooler colours.
“Streets with more trees were noticeably cooler on the hottest days.”

Scene 4 — Caveat and meaning: a question mark over a single city.
“We studied one city, so the next step is testing this elsewhere — but the results suggest trees are worth planning for.”

Fictional study for illustration only.

Copy the AutoScribble prompt

Create a 2-minute landscape whiteboard explainer of the research summarised below for a non-specialist audience. Structure it as: the problem, what the team did, what they found, and why it matters. Use one visual metaphor for the method, define any unavoidable technical term, keep claims within what the summary states, include this limitation: [limitation], and end with where to read the paper.

[Paste abstract or summary here]

Questions