WEBVTT

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JustLearn. Explain something without making the listener feel small. A good explanation

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helps another person understand the subject while preserving their freedom to ask

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an ordinary question. This edition uses synthetic narration.

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Find the actual starting point. Someone asks how a process works. You

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begin with its history, specialist vocabulary and all the exceptions you have

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learned over years. The account is accurate, but the listener still cannot

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see the first step. Expertise has supplied too many possible beginnings. Ask

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what they already know and what they need to do with the

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explanation. A person choosing whether to use a tool needs a different

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account from somebody responsible for maintaining it. Starting at the relevant point

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is not oversimplification. It is a decision about what this particular conversation

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is for.

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Make the route visible. Offer a short outline before adding detail. ‘There

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are three stages: collecting the information, checking it and deciding what follows.’

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The listener now has somewhere to place each explanation. Use an example

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that resembles the task they face, rather than one chosen mainly to

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demonstrate how much you know. Introduce a technical term when it helps,

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and explain it without treating unfamiliarity as a failing. Avoid ‘obviously’ and

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‘as everyone knows’ when the very reason for the conversation is that

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someone does not yet know. The subject can be demanding without the

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explanation becoming a test of belonging.

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Check understanding without staging an examination. Instead of asking ‘Do you understand?’

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and moving on after a polite nod, invite the listener to apply

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the idea. ‘How would the first step work in your example?’ Their

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answer may show where your explanation needs adjusting. Treat that as information

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about the explanation, not an opportunity to expose them. For practice, explain

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a familiar task in five sentences, then remove one unnecessary assumption. The

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aim is not to make every subject effortless. It is to make

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the route through difficulty visible enough that another person can participate, ask

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a question and eventually work without needing your permission at every step.

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A question to take with you. What knowledge does my explanation assume,

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and have I checked that assumption? First published by JustLearn. Read the

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original article at justlearn dot online.