How to Teach What You Know Without Getting Stuck

How to Teach What You Know Without Getting Stuck - Photo by David Geneugelijk on Unsplash

Have you ever tried to teach something you thought you knew inside out, only to find yourself stumbling over your words, struggling to make things clear? That’s exactly what happened to me recently. I was working on a new course about marketing, and I realized I wasn’t as good at explaining things as I thought. It made me wonder: why is it so difficult to re-explain a subject, even when you’re passionate and knowledgeable about it?

The Hidden Challenge of Teaching

When you try to break down what you know for others, you quickly see that it’s not just about knowing your topic. It’s about restructuring information in a way that’s clear and easy to follow. That’s a real challenge. Even if you’re an expert, teaching forces you to look at your subject with fresh eyes. You have to figure out what’s important for beginners, what’s useful for those in the middle, and what’s relevant for advanced learners. And you can’t just jump from the basics to the complex stuff in one leap.

For me, my biggest weakness is getting scattered. When I’m excited about a topic, I want to share everything at once. I jump from one idea to another, and before I know it, the person on the other side of the screen is lost. I realized that my course notes looked like a mess. I had to stop and ask myself, “Pierre, what are you doing? You need to go step by step, be precise, and build things up logically.”

Some people are naturally methodical, like historians or mathematicians, who love detail and logic. I’m more of an artist, a creative type, and I tend to go in all directions. That’s great for brainstorming, but not so great for teaching. In the end, if you try to give everything at once, your audience will just be confused.

Feeling Like a Beginner Again

After my marketing lesson, I felt pretty bad about myself. But then I realized: it’s normal. If you’re creating your first course or trying to explain something new, you’ll probably feel the same way. The key is not to judge yourself too harshly. I try not to watch my own courses just to criticize myself. I watch them to improve, not to feel miserable. Negativity only drags us down and destroys our confidence. What we really want is to feel good about ourselves, to be confident, and to enjoy what we’re doing.

How to Teach What You Know Without Getting Stuck - Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. — Stephen Hawking

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

Your mission, if you’re teaching or sharing knowledge, is simple: don’t judge yourself. Just look for ways to get a little better tomorrow, and the day after that. Try to become a better teacher than you were yesterday. Don’t compare yourself to others. We’re all different. If you compare your inside—your doubts, your feelings—to the polished outside of others, you’ll always feel behind. Just compare yourself to who you were yesterday, and make a plan to improve, step by step.

Even if you only spend ten minutes a day working on your teaching, after a week, that’s over an hour of experience. After a month, it’s four and a half hours. That’s huge! Tiny improvements add up. With each small step, you build a career you love, doing something that fascinates you.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. — Robert Collier

Don’t Wait—Start Now

If you want to get better, the best time to start is now. Don’t put off what you want to do today. Take one step forward, even if it’s a small one. That’s how you make real progress.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. — Walter Elliot

How to Teach What You Know Without Getting Stuck - Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash

Key Takeaways

• Teaching is hard, even when you know your topic well.
• Don’t try to explain everything at once—go step by step.
• Avoid judging yourself harshly; focus on improving a little every day.
• Compare yourself only to your past self, not to others.
• Small, daily efforts add up to big progress over time.

Action Steps

• Break your topic into clear, logical steps.
• Spend at least 10 minutes a day improving your teaching.
• Review your work to improve, not to criticize.
• Make a simple plan for what you want to get better at tomorrow.

Reflection

How can you make your explanations clearer for others? What’s one small thing you can improve today? Are you comparing yourself to others, or just to your own progress?