….that if you can’t explain it to a child (he even gave it an age!) then you don’t really understand it. Sounds like good advice about making presentations, to me.
I’m often struck by the fact that would-be presenters miss the fundamental truth of his point. All too often I find people rushing into explanations of ‘how’ without thinking about the fundamentals of ‘what’. The thing is, audiences don’t know as much as you do (otherwise they would be giving the presentation, not you!) and so it’s not so easy for them to understand the details.
Besides, the details aren’t all that important (nor is a presentation the best way to pass details over!). If you go into too many details too soon your audience won’t follow you…. and you’ll bore them to death.
So how to avoid this?
Listen to Einstein – imagine you’re making a presentation to a smart 12 year old, say. That way you’ll avoid the temptation to rush into details and instead you’ll stay at a more sensible level of detail. Think of it as a more user-friendly version of the old adage: think of your audience as an intelligent lay person.
What’s more, the process of translating what you were going to say into what you’re now allowed to say is only going to help firm up your understanding, too! Â :)
So true – and I forget who the quote is attributed to, but it reminds me of “It is easy to over-complicate something, but difficult to simplify it.”
The true mark of really understanding your subject is identifying what the key points are, and successfully explaining these in a way that everyone can understand.
For surely, when presenting, what is the point in delivering a presentation if half of your audience will walk away confused?