How to learn to explain?

Question

IT education

There is a joke about a programmer. He knew only one phrase in English let me show you. Actually, I often feel like such a programmer. I do not abuse jargon, but all the same, even for colleagues, I speak extremely incomprehensibly, which takes quite a lot of time. Are there any techniques to make it easier for people to reach out to me?

Answer 1

There is a magical method called "decomposition". My observations say that 80% of people simply do not own it. From the word - in general. Not in professional or everyday life. But those who explain intelligibly - master it masterfully.
It consists in the following. If you need to explain something, and this is something a little more complicated than the multiplication table (but by the way, too), the problem can always be divided into parts, from which the finished solution is assembled. At the first "iteration" you must explain the answer "from a bird's eye view" as sequences of these same subtasks, without going into details, without detailed calculations, as they say - "on the fingers". And, of course, in a language understandable and perceived by the partner. When (and if) he understands your idea, understands the steps - you begin to delve into the explanation of specific subtasks. Here you are already starting to use less "his" terms, more "ours". At some point, he begins to understand himself and think of solutions on his own. Then move on to the next subtask. Certainly, each subtask can often (and sometimes - for very complex tasks - and should) be decomposed further. And so on until the moment when you can explain completely.
Then you yourself understand the "roadmap" of your explanation, do not lose the thread of reasoning and do not go astray, and it is easier for your partner to build a "chain of understanding", following the course of the explanation and immediately understanding where exactly he stopped catching the thought. Of course, it is very important that the interlocutor is interested in getting an explanation from you, and not just asking to "a talk."

Answer 2

There is a good parable on how to explain to a blind man what white is. It seems like it is like snow, but not cold, like sand, but not sweet ...
You need to read more fiction, then you can more easily select metaphors and analogies.
You also need to understand who is in front of you, in what subject area he is an expert. Doctors need to be explained in their language, logisticians - in theirs, programmers - in theirs.
I also recommend watching TED videos, where in short 15-minute videos they explain complex things to a wide audience.

Answer 3

In the context of development, it is useful to first find out if the interlocutor understands the concepts on which the explanation is based (for example, what is the point of talking in the context of SOLID or DDD if the person has never heard or read about them), and then explain the solution step by step at the level of those concepts which one understands. Often there is such a problem that the explainer does not let the word stand up, and when he has already finished, the thread of the first questions is still lost and you have to ask all over again)

Answer 4

the most reliable, of course, is like Barry the Baptist ,
but you can also approach
it semi-academically , I use this approach , i.e. the idea is compressed and then developed with accents where it is not necessary to turn off
and always, if you want the job to be done, you need to ask the subordinate again how he understood,
and even better - the opinion on what was said / described, then it will definitely be clear whether he understood and listened to the
terminology at all it is advisable to use the one used by the interlocutor ("tasks" and not "tasks", etc.)

Answer 5

Before explaining, write a short plan of what you will explain, and follow the plan.
By explaining the same thing several times to different people, you will gain experience of what exactly is obvious to you, which may not be obvious to others.
It's just an experience.
Well, what you know well - read books, maybe you are a genius in practice, but you swim a little in theory and terminology, and because of this, jambs climb out.

Answer 6

In my opinion, for understanding it is enough to use only two techniques.
1) The correct word order in a sentence
In the book "Business Copywriting" by Denis Kaplunov it is written that "many authors who write at the speed of thought and are always afraid to miss something" suffer from clumsy word order.
2) Linking sentences in the text
The sentences in the text should develop the theme, they should be interconnected, united by the main idea of ​​the author. There is a chain link and a parallel link. Read more here:
https://wordru.ru/o-sposobax-svyazi-predlozhenij-v...
The main thing is practice. I practice commenting on popular sites.
Pay attention to:

• Books on copywriting by Ilyakhov and Kaplunov.
  
• The concept of infostyle
  
• Delusion generator exercise from various sales trainings.
  

Answer 7

There is such a technique. Writing articles, books, notes, presentations. I had this problem myself about a year ago. It started with the writing of the book Programming on scratch. For me, everything is simple, clearly understandable. But as soon as I started writing the book, I was faced with the fact that it’s quite difficult to understand what I understand. An example is a simple program.
It would seem that there is nothing complicated here .... However, it is not so easy to explain each action step by step. Explaining the actions, I proceed from the fact that others do not know how it works.
The more I write, the easier it is for me to explain to others.
Therefore, the technique boils down to starting to spread in the form of books, textbooks or in the form of a master class of the knowledge that you have from the knowledge that the people who will read it do not know what.
I started with drafts, when I was learning languages, I kept a draft and posted it on the Internet for convenience, when the drafts got 10,000 views, I started to make a book out of drafts.
Currently I am learning how to make presentations, here is an example https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vR...
It doesn’t matter if it works or not, the more you write, the easier and easier it becomes not only to explain, but also speak in public.

Answer 8

You can learn how to tell, but listeners must also be able to understand what they were told.
If it is difficult to explain or understand any algorithm / architecture, etc., then it is easier to draw and show.

Answer 9

The problem of "understanding", "clarity", "intelligibility" - concepts from the field of philosophy and psychology. You have moved to the 2nd of 4 stages of competence: "I realize that I can't do something." Look for answers to your questions. Try what you think is reasonable. And be sure to go to level 3: "I realize that I can do something."

Answer 10

Earlier, when I just got a job and needed advice from colleagues, and I couldn’t really explain what I specifically want to convey to them, then ... I drew, yes, diagrams and so on, it’s better perceived and gives more information sometimes + reason for reflections to the one to whom he actually approached for advice.
Also on this paper will explain, explain what needs to be done and where.