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Ask HN: How can I get better at explaining things?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I get better at explaining things?

#11

Post by shymaple »

bruce511 wrote: post #5

For me the secret is better listening. Coupled with understanding well what the person already believes. As an explainer my job is to take you from where you are at, to where I'm at. That's not one step, it's a number of steps. In some cases we first have to undo something you already absolutely positively know to be true, that is no longer true. Because nothing stops you learning like a false premise that collides w…

Agree with you, active listening and observing people has improved my vocabulary and articulation.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get better at explaining things?

#12

Post by morgango »

bruce511 wrote: post #5

For me the secret is better listening. Coupled with understanding well what the person already believes. As an explainer my job is to take you from where you are at, to where I'm at. That's not one step, it's a number of steps. In some cases we first have to undo something you already absolutely positively know to be true, that is no longer true. Because nothing stops you learning like a false premise that collides w…

An easy way to see how well you are listening is to try and have conversations where you speak less than 50% of the total time.

You don't have to time yourself with a stopwatch (although that would be more accurate), but you can look back on conversations and easily see where you said far more than you heard.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get better at explaining things?

#14

Post by _akhe »

In terms of spoken explanations, YouTubers like those often write scripts beforehand. An alternative to following a script is to freely speak when recording audio but just edit out a lot - any vocalized pauses like "um" or any stumbling over words or irrelevant tangents - sometimes even attempting the statement multiple times until it sounds perfect.

What the approaches have in common is knowing what you want to say.

Beyond speech, those channels heavily use visual aids to convey what they mean. The use of visuals can amplify and focus your message so that the audience has a clear understanding of what you're talking about, and it's just a more entertaining way to digest a description if you can see images and animations and the video has an overall theme and flow.

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