Introduction: The Secret to True Understanding
There’s a famous quote often attributed to Albert Einstein: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” While he probably wasn’t the person who actually said it, the idea behind the quote is a powerful secret to effective studying.
The concept of learning by teaching is a highly effective study technique. In his “Study Less, Study Smart” lecture, Dr. Marty Lubdell highlights the power of explaining what you’re learning to someone else to deepen your own understanding.
This post will break down a step-by-step process for this exact idea, a method called the Feynman Technique. Named after a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, this technique is a game-changer for exam preparation. It helps you quickly find and fix the weak spots in your knowledge, no matter the subject—from history to web development. It’s your secret weapon for turning shaky knowledge into true confidence before an exam.
Who Was “The Great Explainer”?
Richard Feynman was a brilliant physicist who won a Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in quantum electrodynamics. But beyond his scientific achievements, Feynman was a phenomenal teacher.
He earned the nickname “The Great Explainer” for his exceptional skill at boiling down incredibly complex scientific concepts into simple language that anyone could grasp. His ability to make the difficult intuitive was so legendary that Bill Gates called Feynman “the greatest teacher he never had.”
To see his genius in action, just look at how he explained the concept of heat:
“hot and cold are the speeds that the atoms are jiggling… what’s spreading is just jiggling and irregular motions which is easy to kind of understand.”
That’s it. No dense formulas, just a simple, powerful image. The technique named after him is built on this very principle of achieving true understanding through simple explanation.
The Feynman Technique: A 4-Step Guide to Deeper Learning
Step 1: Study the Concept First
This is the most important rule. The Feynman Technique is for reviewing and deepening your understanding, not for learning something for the very first time.
Crucially, you must first learn the material by reading the textbook chapter, watching a lecture, or having a friend explain it. Attempting to explain a topic you don’t understand at all is not just counterproductive—it’s dangerous. You risk solidifying wrong information in your brain, which, as study experts will tell you, is a “big bad no-no.”
Step 2: Teach It to a 12-Year-Old
Grab a blank piece of paper and write the name of the concept at the top. Now, explain the concept out loud in the simplest terms possible, as if you were teaching a 12-year-old.
Why a child? Because a kid’s favorite question is “Why?” This forces you to move beyond simply stating a formula or fact and challenges you to explain the underlying principles and assumptions, which is where true understanding lives.
Don’t just write down a dry definition. Work through examples to ensure you can apply the concept in practice. The goal is to articulate your knowledge so clearly that a child could follow along.
Step 3: Identify Your Knowledge Gaps
Pay close attention as you explain. Whenever you get stuck, hesitate, or find yourself using complex, technical terms because you can’t think of a simpler way to say it, you’ve found a knowledge gap.
This moment of hesitation is pure gold. It’s a spotlight showing you exactly where you need to go back and review. These sticking points are the precise areas where your understanding is weak. Stop and go back to your source material—your textbook, notes, or lecture videos. Study that specific part again until your understanding is solid enough to explain it simply.
Step 4: Simplify and Use Analogies
Once you can explain the concept from start to finish, review your explanation. Challenge yourself to eliminate any jargon or convoluted language. Like Feynman describing heat as atoms “jiggling,” the ultimate goal is profound simplicity.
For instance, a jargon-filled explanation of mitosis might sound like: “Microtubules attach to the centrosomes of sister chromatids…” But a simplified Feynman explanation gets to the core idea: “Anaphase is when the condensed genetic material… is pulled apart to the separate sides of the cell.” You can picture that in your head.
Try to create a vivid analogy that makes the concept stick. If your final explanation is wordy or confusing, you haven’t understood it well enough. Go back to Step 3 and refine it until it’s crystal clear.
Pro Tips to Level Up Your Learning
- Choose the Right Topics: The Feynman Technique works best for big, general concepts that require deep understanding (e.g., the difference between obstructive and restrictive lung diseases). It is less effective for topics that rely on pure visual memorization (like histopathology slides) or remembering lists of isolated facts.
- Make It Stick for the Long Term: You just spent an hour or more mastering a topic with the Feynman Technique. Don’t let that effort go to waste. Studies show we can lose up to two-thirds of new information within just 48 hours. To combat this, create one flashcard for the concept (e.g., “Explain Mitosis – Feynman”) and put your simple explanation on the back. This allows you to use spaced repetition tools like Anki to lock the knowledge in for good.
- Try Teaching for Real: One study found that students who actually taught a topic to other people had better information retention than students who only prepared to teach. Grab a study partner, a friend, or even a willing roommate and explain the concept to them for real. The students I coach who remember topics years later are often the ones who taught them in study groups. The act of teaching doesn’t just review the information; it cements it.
Summary: Your Takeaway Box
- The core idea: You only truly know something when you can explain it simply.
- Step 1: Study First. Learn the material before you try to explain it.
- Step 2: Teach It. Explain the concept in simple terms on a piece of paper, as if you’re teaching a kid.
- Step 3: Find the Gaps. Go back to your notes whenever you get stuck.
- Step 4: Simplify. Remove all jargon and use simple analogies.
- Lock it in: Use flashcards and try teaching a real person to ensure you never forget it.
Sources
Your Turn!
What complex topic from your classes are you going to try explaining with the Feynman Technique? Share it in the comments below!