Four essential steps
What I have been seeking to understand and convey to others is actually the Richard Feynman’s technique known as The Feynman Learning Technique.
It’s an incredible framework for unlocking growth, supercharging your learning and approaching anything new you want to learn. New topics learned then can be written into essays, articles or even blogs.
Feynman technique focuses on four steps.
1. Pick and study a topic
- identify the topic you want to learn more about
- write down everything you know about the topic as if you’re teaching it to a child.
- research the topic and capture all of your new learnings
2. Explain it like I’m 5 or to someone unfamiliar with the topic
- use simple language and terms
- basic concepts and vocabulary
- focus of brevity
3. Reflect & Study (Identify any gaps in your understanding)
- identify gaps in your knowledge – what you forget, unable to explain, trouble thinking.
- how well did you explain to a 5 yr old?
- where did you get frustrated? where did you resort to jargon or get stuck?
- read, study to fill the gaps
4. Organize, Convey and Review (review and simplify)
- organize your elegant, simple language into a compelling story or narrative from beginning to end.
- test-and-learn. Convey to others. Iterate and refine your story or narrative accordingly
- master your topic, gain deeper understanding of the topic.
Now, select the topic we’ve always been wishing to learn more, follow the Feynman Technique and put in the work. If we stay consistent, we might come out with tons of topics to share.
