Teaching Technical Subjects: Why Clear Explanations Matter

Automatically transcribed from the original recording. Small transcription errors may remain.

Consider for a moment the challenges of teaching complex subjects such as electrical engineering or computer science. It's no easy task. Even those who work in the industry sometimes express confusion, asking about equations and laws that seem to create more questions than answers. So I ask that my brilliant friends who comment on my videos expressing frustration that I left some details out or emphasizing technical jargon, that they remember that we all have unique brains and we all process information differently. For instance, perhaps you are a mathematical genius who struggles to draw even a simple stick bigger. If an artist were to tell you, just draw it like this, you might feel overwhelmed. And overwhelming a student or audience is the last thing you want to do because you'll extinguish their passion before it has a chance to take root. So just because one is talented at something does not necessarily mean that they are a great teacher, communicator, or storyteller. Those skills require a different kind of artistry, one that not everyone possesses. And when teaching someone, you must give them room to breathe intellectually to absorb the information at their own pace. You don't dump a whole bag of fertilizer on a small plant and expect it to absorb all the nutrients overnight. You'll kill it. Similarly, if you overwhelm someone with information, you'll kill their curiosity and potential passion for the subject. Or even worse, you'll deprive the world of potential innovators that can help solve of humankind's greatest obstacles. So my teaching philosophy is to unveil the mystery of the subjects I teach just enough to inspire my audience to dive deeper, to pick up the nuances and details on their own. The delicate balance of teaching is to keep your audience just as passionate, if not more so, after the lesson ends. And to do that, you must give their minds the space and time they need to grow.