The “What? So what? Now what?” framework turns scattered thoughts into clear, compelling communication — for grant reports, social posts, donor pitches, and everything in between.

We’ve all been there. Someone asks you to describe your work. You tense up, your mind races, and then you toss together a word salad. You share every detail that comes to mind, rambling on for several minutes. When you’re done speaking, the other person looks slightly befuddled, says a polite “um, thanks, great talking to you” and walks away.

Unfortunately, word salad is not very appetizing to your listeners or readers, delivering very little informational value. Our audience ends up confused, and we end up frustrated by a missed opportunity.

We have to communicate in countless ways every day: sharing ideas in a meeting, writing an email, speaking to donors, or writing a social media post, and so on.

Regardless of the situation, the solution to the word salad problem is structure. By organizing our thoughts with a well-defined structure, we can share our ideas in a way that informs and engages our audience. 

One such structure is called What? So what? Now what?, which provides a flexible framework you can apply in any form of communication.

What? So what? Now what?

Originally created in the 1970s by Terry Borton as a facilitation activity, the What? So what? Now what? framework has served as a valuable tool for teachers, healthcare professionals, therapists, and now communicators. Traditionally, it would have been used as a tool for reflection. Teachers, medical professionals, or others would use it to reflect back on what happened, the effects an activity caused, and what actions we will take.

While designed for reflection, it can also help explain our mission and work to others. Here’s how it works.

What?

Begin by briefly describing the context of an activity, program, etc. Focus on objective facts rather than subjective experience. This is reporting — just telling it like it is.

Some questions to guide your thinking for the What?:

• What happened that led to the need for this activity? 
• Who is involved?
• What are their goals? 
• What barriers or setbacks exist? 

So what?

Next, describe why this work matters to the people involved — and to the listener or reader. Share any insights that help to understand the issue and its impacts. At this stage, you can introduce more subjective experience, such as how people involved feel about this issue.

For this part, you can ask yourself:

• What is the current state of affairs?
• What are the implications of not addressing this issue? 
• Who will be affected?
• What has changed or will change, and in what ways?

Now what?

Finally, describe what you’re doing about the issue, current or upcoming actions, or other ways that the activity will continue to unfold. If relevant, include calls to action to the listener.

Some questions to consider:

• What are you doing next?
• How can negative outcomes be prevented?
• Who else needs to be involved in addressing the issue going forward?
• How can the listener or reader help?

Examples

Here are three short (and fictitious) examples showing what the framework can look like in practice. (Note that I’ve included the prompts, but of course these wouldn’t be included in the actual content.)

Big cat conservation program: Grant report section

[What?] The Pantanal wetlands of Brazil and Bolivia are home to the largest jaguar population on Earth. Unfortunately, their survival is under threat. Ranchers protecting their livestock often leads to jaguar killings.  

[So what?] We’re working with local ranchers, Indigenous communities, and government agencies to change the story. Jaguars are a keystone species and an important cultural symbol in the region — protecting them means keeping ecosystems healthy and preserving local traditions. By training community rangers, implementing livestock protection measures, and monitoring jaguar movement, we reduce human-jaguar conflict. 

[Now what?] Funding through this grant to date has contributed to a 25% reduction in jaguar killings in pilot areas. Through continued funding, we can protect more jaguars — allowing us to expand our training and community support programs. 

Rooftop solar program in urban area: Social media post

[What?] What if we could turn urban rooftops into clean, affordable energy for local residents? 

In historically redlined neighborhoods in Baltimore, low-income homeowners and renters pay a disproportionate chunk of their paychecks for power bills.

[So what?] Our rooftop solar program aims to flip the switch. 

We’re bringing lower-cost energy to low-income homeowners and renters. Local electricians and solar installers outfit local apartment buildings with solar panels — creating jobs and reducing energy bills.

[Now what?] The results so far? 120 households enrolled, 25 jobs created, average energy bill reduction of 40%. Help us bring equitable energy to more Baltimore residents: CAMPAIGN LINK

Community health program in rural area: Donor pitch

[What?] The United States has some of the best medical facilities in the world. But not all parts of the country have equal access. The Mississippi Delta is one such area — a medical desert.

[So what?] Unlike most regions, residents of the Delta often travel dozens or hundreds of miles to visit a doctor. Because of the difficulty in accessing healthcare, thousands of people each year get sick from preventable illnesses. Our program aims to bring care to the people. We train and deploy community health workers — trusted local residents — to provide preventive care and other health services.

[Now what?]  In pilot programs, we’ve already seen meaningful change: a 15% reduction in emergency room visits, and 40% of enrolled diabetes patients achieved improved blood sugar control within 12 months. With $150,000 in funding, we can make an even bigger impact, reaching 4,000 more residents in the region.

Putting it into practice

The examples above show the flexibility of the format. You can use this for very short-form content like social media posts or answering an interview question. You can also use it to structure longer pieces like articles or even reports.

Rather than overwhelm your audience with endless facts, give those facts a clear function. Choose the ones that help set the stage, demonstrate the stakes of your work, and inspire action.

The next time someone asks you about your work, you won’t need to panic. You’ll have a solid framework to rest your words on.