09 Explain Ideas Clearly with the Feynman Technique
Try the Feynman Technique when you feel you understand but cannot explain the reasons and relationships clearly. You explain first. The AI helps identify the most important gap, and you fill it and reorganize your explanation.
What Is the Feynman Technique?
Choose [Feynman Technique] from the mode row
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│ Feynman Technique [× Exit] │
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│ Let me explain … [Tier icon] [Send] │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┘The selected mode and any progress information appear at the top of the white message box, above a thin divider. If there is no conversation history, you will see icons, brief instructions, and an example. Select About this mode to ask the AI for an explanation. To switch modes, select × and choose another one.
The tutorial seems clear until you try to explain it and find that only a few terms come to mind. This is a useful moment to try the Feynman Technique: give the explanation and see which parts you can actually make clear.
You explain first. The AI then looks at what you said. A point may be vague, a reason may be missing, or an example may not quite fit. Its feedback helps you work on that part of the explanation.
Choose a topic → Explain it yourself → Clarify one gap using feedback
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Explain it againThe AI asks you to try first. If you get stuck, ask for help, then continue in your own words.
Choose a Topic
Keep the first topic small. It could be one concept, what a method is used for, or the difference between two approaches. A narrow topic makes it easier to see where your explanation is clear and where it becomes incomplete.
Suppose you are studying the water cycle. You could say:
I want to explain the difference between evaporation and condensation to someone learning about the water cycle for the first time.
Imagine the person listening is new to the topic. Where would you start? Explain it as you would in an everyday conversation, briefly defining any terms you use.
You could start with:
Evaporation is liquid water turning into water vapor, as when a puddle gradually dries up. Condensation is water vapor turning into liquid water, as when droplets appear on a cold drink bottle.
This explains the difference between the two changes and gives an example of each.
Improve Your Explanation
Suppose you say:
All water vapor turns into rain.
The AI may ask you to be more precise: water vapor can condense into droplets as it cools, but those droplets do not always become rain.
You could revise it to:
Water vapor can condense into droplets as it cools. Under certain conditions, those droplets may form precipitation.
Looking back, the gap was in how condensation relates to precipitation. Keep the parts you had right, add the missing part, and make that relationship clear.
If your first explanation is accurate and clear, the round can end.
Explain Key Conditions
Use familiar words and make the important distinctions clear.
For example, you can make “Water vapor turns into water” more specific:
Water vapor can condense into droplets when it cools. The droplets on a cold drink bottle are one example.
This uses everyday words to explain the change and includes the condition that the vapor cools. A useful test is whether a beginner can understand the key distinction and explain it with an example.
When You Need Help
If you run out of words partway through, ask for a little help: “Give me an opening,” “What does this sentence mean?”, or “Give me a small example.” A short sample explanation is another option. Use that help to get started again, then continue in your own words.
If the material is still unclear, use Q&A to clear it up or return to the tutorial. The Feynman Technique is better suited to checking and improving an explanation you can already attempt.
To check recall, choose Active Recall. To examine the reasons behind a judgment, choose the Socratic Method.
Start and Stop
Choose Feynman Technique and send “Start.” The AI will offer a small topic to explain. You can also submit your own explanation directly.
Say “Continue” for an unfinished explanation. Specify a new topic if you want to change it, or say “Pause” or “Stop” to stop. Once you have explained the topic clearly, the next topic begins only if you ask to continue.
Finishing an explanation lets you check how clearly you can express the idea. Correct flashcard answers are counted separately, and you choose when to change chapters.
If your explanation exposes confusing relationships, organize them with a Mind Map. Use the Socratic Method to examine the reasons behind a judgment.