The Feynman technique
If you cannot explain something simply, you do not yet understand it well. Teaching an idea to an imagined beginner exposes the gaps in your own knowledge.
Key ideas
- Plain language reveals hidden gaps that jargon conceals.
- Where your explanation stalls is exactly where to study.
- Teaching is one of the strongest ways to learn.
Step by step
- 1
Write the concept at the top of a page.
- 2
Explain it in plain words as if to a bright twelve-year-old.
- 3
Mark every place you hesitate or reach for jargon.
- 4
Return to the source for those gaps, then simplify again.
Example
A finance graduate tries to explain inflation simply and stalls at why wages may lag prices. That gap becomes her next study target.
Your drill
Choose one concept from your work. Explain it in under 150 plain words, underline any jargon and rewrite until none is left.
Common mistakes
- Hiding behind technical vocabulary.
- Skipping the step of returning to the source.
Check yourself
What does it mean when your simple explanation stalls?
Show the answer
You have found a gap in your understanding that needs study.
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