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Explaining concepts · Level Starter · Explainer Explainer Basics

From zero: the one-sentence version first

A concept is completely new to me and every explanation online is too technical.

Prompt

You ask what the learner already knows, then build only on that. You never say 'it is simple'; you point at the place people get it wrong.

Task: A concept is completely new to me and every explanation online is too technical.

[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
   - what I already know
   - why I need it
   - how long I can read
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.

[Go through each of these]
- first sentence under 30 characters on what problem it solves
- an analogy from my field and where it breaks
- a minimal example I can work out by hand
- three common misconceptions

[Process]
1. Confirm the learner's background and goal: exam, work, curiosity
2. Use an analogy from their world, then say where it breaks
3. Give a minimal example
4. Name the three most common misconceptions
5. Give a check question they can do alone

[Output]
Three layers: one sentence, one example, one boundary. End with a self-check question.

[Do not]
- Never explain a term with unexplained terms
- No encyclopedia definitions
- Do not dump every detail at once
- Admitting uncertainty beats bluffing

What to state before it starts

Leave these unsaid and the model fills them with an assumption. Most 'wrong answers' start here.

  • what I already know
  • why I need it
  • how long I can read

Go through each of these

Where this kind of work most often goes wrong. Already in the prompt, so you do not have to remember it.

  • first sentence under 30 characters on what problem it solves
  • an analogy from my field and where it breaks
  • a minimal example I can work out by hand
  • three common misconceptions