People nod and do not understand
You see the polite face and know it did not land.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to get better at explaining things to people
Explain an idea to someone who does not share your background.
A suggested learning goal about explaining ideas to people outside your field. It covers finding where the listener starts, choosing what to leave out, and building an idea in the order a listener can follow rather than the order you learned it. Use the goal in Cadence to request a personal learning plan.
Want new features first?
A starting goal
I want to explain ideas clearly to people who do not share my background. I lose them in detail or skip the step they needed, and I want to know where to start and what to leave out.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Write the one sentence before you speak
Invented example: you need to explain a new expense rule to a colleague in another team. Write it first: "From Monday, claims over $500 get a second check by finance, so submit big ones early." If you cannot write that sentence, find it before you explain. Rozenblit and Keil (2002) found people rated their own understanding lower after trying to write a step-by-step explanation. They studied understanding of devices such as zippers, not workplace explanations.
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Put it in the order your listener needs
The order you learned it: "Under the revised policy, claims above the threshold are routed to finance for secondary review." The listener's order: what changes for them ("big claims take longer"), the one rule ("over $500 gets a second check"), then one example ("a $620 hotel claim sent on Friday may be paid the week after"). Purpose first, rule second, example third.
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Ask a question they can only answer if it landed
Swap "does that make sense?" for "So if you booked a $700 flight today, what would you do?" A good answer is "submit it now and expect the finance check". If the answer is off, explain that step again another way and ask again. The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describes this as teach-back: asking people to say in their own words what they need to know or do. Its guide is written for health care, not for explanations at work.
Sources: Rozenblit and Keil (2002): the illusion of explanatory depth; AHRQ Health Literacy Toolkit: use the teach-back method. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- Communication
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons
- Pace
- Yours. One lesson at a time, as often as you like.
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store and Google Play, with an optional early testing list
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- Who do you most need to explain things to: colleagues outside your field, customers, family, or students?
- Do you lose people in detail, or skip the step they needed?
- Is there a specific thing you keep failing to explain?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You start in the middle
Years of context make the beginning invisible to you.
Detail is your comfort
You add precision when the listener needed a picture.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06The curse of knowledge
Why experts explain badly, and what it takes to see your subject fresh.
Where are they starting
Questions that reveal what the listener knows, and adjusting on the fly.
The one idea
Deciding what this explanation is for, and what can wait.
Order
Concrete before abstract, example before rule, and why the textbook order is usually wrong.
Analogies and their limits
Using comparison to give an idea a foothold, and knowing when it misleads.
Checking it landed
Reading understanding without asking do you understand.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Find the starting point
Learn what the listener already knows before you begin.
Choose what to leave out
Decide what an explanation needs and cut the rest without lying.
Build in listener order
Sequence an idea so each step stands on the last.
Ideas this course corrects
A complete explanation is a good one
A complete explanation is a lecture. A good one gives the listener what they need next.
Simplifying means dumbing down
Simplifying means choosing. Precision belongs where the listener can use it.
A nod means it landed
A nod or a yes to "does that make sense?" can be politeness rather than understanding. Ask the listener to use the idea, then fix the step they miss.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to get better at explaining things to people: what can I do today?
Write the one sentence before you speak. Invented example: you need to explain a new expense rule to a colleague in another team. Write it first: "From Monday, claims over $500 get a second check by finance, so submit big ones early." If you cannot write that sentence, find it before you explain. Rozenblit and Keil (2002) found people rated their own understanding lower after trying to write a step-by-step explanation. They studied understanding of devices such as zippers, not workplace explanations. Put it in the order your listener needs. The order you learned it: "Under the revised policy, claims above the threshold are routed to finance for secondary review." The listener's order: what changes for them ("big claims take longer"), the one rule ("over $500 gets a second check"), then one example ("a $620 hotel claim sent on Friday may be paid the week after"). Purpose first, rule second, example third. Ask a question they can only answer if it landed. Swap "does that make sense?" for "So if you booked a $700 flight today, what would you do?" A good answer is "submit it now and expect the finance check". If the answer is off, explain that step again another way and ask again. The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describes this as teach-back: asking people to say in their own words what they need to know or do. Its guide is written for health care, not for explanations at work.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A suggested learning goal about explaining ideas to people outside your field. It covers finding where the listener starts, choosing what to leave out, and building an idea in the order a listener can follow rather than the order you learned it. Use the goal in Cadence to request a personal learning plan. It sits under Communication in the Work & ambitions part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Most courses run 7 to 30 lessons. The course length is sized to what you asked for. You set the pace: one lesson at a time, as often as you like. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
A starting goal
I want to explain ideas clearly to people who do not share my background. I lose them in detail or skip the step they needed, and I want to know where to start and what to leave out.
Want new features first?