Are there guidelines for how to explain things?

Different people use different means and different people need explanations in different ways.

My preference, and doing this is probably one of my unique skills, is to give a complete but abbreviated picture. I always have a yellow pad in front of me and I am drawing pictures as I go. I must make the subject concrete and tangible. I want full understanding of the brief verbal (and actual) picture that I have drawn before I go on. It’s second nature to me now after years of doing it. But the very first step is to clearly understand it myself in its complex form and then break it down into simple understandalble bites.

I generally tailor my approach to each person who requires an explanation. If I’m unsure, I’ll ask them to explain it to me, from their perspective. Then I can decide how thorough an explanation they require, and in what approach might work best for them.

Overview, example, rules, example, overview

This is how I see Edward Tufte doing his presentations. He’ll introduce an idea, and then give an example of it. This serves two different kinds of learning—those people who use sound or conceptual ideas, and those who need to see or touch something in order to get it.

Then he goes into the rules that make the system behave in the way he is describing.

He provides another example (or maybe more) to illustrate the rules.

Then he repeats what he was trying to show in the first place. Repetition is very important. People usually are lost the first time they hear something. The examples and explanation help ground them. You repeat the overview in order to show them how it all fits together. This time they can get it because they have a picture of what it is.

Here are notes from a lecture by Tufte explaining how to explain. These are rules for explaining to adults, but the principles will work with children, too. We all really do learn the same way. Some make a fuss about adult learners being different, but they tend to think that children are to be condescended to.

This is a GQ!!!
I like to keep in mind the idea of “Broad to Specific”. Start broadly on the topic, then hone in to specifics…keeping in mind the topic the whole time.

General: I forward it to smart people like Matt or Jeruba.

Social: I wing it.

I prefer asking questions – that way I at least know the answer – or can understand what the thread is about.