The Feynman Technique for Reading: Explain It Simply

Why the Feynman Technique Works

Richard Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for his ability to explain complex ideas in simple terms. His insight was profound: the ability to explain something simply is the truest test of understanding. If you can only describe an idea using the same jargon you read, you’ve memorized words, not grasped concepts.

The Feynman Technique exploits this truth. By forcing yourself to explain what you’ve read in plain language — as if teaching it to someone with no background — you immediately expose gaps in your comprehension. Those gaps are precisely where real learning needs to happen.

This method works because it shifts you from passive recognition to active reconstruction. Recognizing an idea when you see it is easy. Reconstructing it from memory, in your own words, without the scaffold of the original text — that requires genuine understanding.

The Step-by-Step Process

1. Read the Material Read a section, chapter, or article as you normally would. Take notes if that’s your habit, but don’t overthink this stage. The goal is to get the content into your mind. When you finish, close the book or look away from the screen. You’re about to test what actually made it in.
2. Explain It in Simple Terms Pretend you’re explaining the material to someone who knows nothing about the subject — a child, or a friend from a completely different field. Speak out loud or write it down. Use simple words. Avoid jargon. If you find yourself reaching for technical terms, that’s a signal you’re about to expose a gap.
3. Identify the Gaps Pay attention to where your explanation gets vague, where you wave your hands, where you’d say “it’s kind of like…” without being able to finish the sentence. These moments of uncertainty aren’t failures — they’re discoveries. They show you exactly what you don’t yet understand.
4. Return to the Source Go back to the original text and reread the sections related to your gaps. This time, you’re reading with a specific question: “What exactly happens here that I couldn’t explain?” This targeted rereading is far more effective than passive review because you know precisely what you’re looking for.
5. Simplify and Repeat Try your explanation again. Keep simplifying until you can explain the concept clearly without notes, without jargon, and without hesitation. If you still struggle with any part, repeat the cycle. The goal is an explanation so simple that anyone could understand it — and so accurate that an expert would nod along.

Tips for Success

Actually Speak Out Loud

There’s a significant difference between thinking an explanation and saying it aloud. Speaking forces linear, complete thoughts. Your mind might skip steps silently, but your mouth can’t. If you’re somewhere private, talk as if you’re teaching. If not, write it out — the physical act of writing has a similar forcing effect.

Use Analogies and Examples

Feynman was famous for his analogies. If you can connect a new concept to something familiar, you’ve demonstrated real comprehension. Can’t think of an analogy? That often signals you’re still working at the surface level. Push yourself: “What is this like? What does it remind me of?”

Embrace the Discomfort

The moment when your explanation falls apart is uncomfortable — but it’s also the most valuable moment. That discomfort is the feeling of discovering what you don’t know. Don’t rush past it. Sit with it. Then go learn what you’re missing.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using Jargon as a Crutch

The whole point of simple explanation is to strip away the technical vocabulary that lets you hide from your own confusion. If you find yourself saying “the algorithm optimizes the parameters” — stop. What does “optimize” actually mean here? What are “parameters” in plain terms? Push through the jargon to the underlying reality.

Skipping the Return-to-Source Step

Identifying gaps is only half the work. You must actually go back and learn what you’re missing. Some people enjoy the feeling of spotting their confusion but don’t follow through with the harder work of filling it. The technique only works if you close the loop.

Applying It to Everything

The Feynman Technique is powerful but time-intensive. Use it strategically — for concepts that are foundational, for material you’ll need to apply, for ideas that seem important but feel fuzzy. Not every paragraph deserves this level of processing.

Practice Exercise

Try this with your next reading session to build your explanation habit:

This week: Choose one concept from something you’re reading — a book chapter, an article, a study guide. After reading it, close the source and explain the concept aloud for 2-3 minutes, speaking as if to a curious friend who knows nothing about the topic.

Notice: Where did you get stuck? Where did you resort to “it’s complicated” or technical jargon? Where did you realize you didn’t actually know the mechanism or the “why”?

Follow through: Go back to the source, specifically targeting your weak points. Read those sections with your questions in mind. Then try your explanation again.

The Feynman Technique takes more time than passive reading, but it produces genuine understanding rather than the illusion of it. For more on building effective reading and retention strategies, explore the complete Reading Concepts collection.