Teaching Is The Definitive Way to Learn

And boost your credibility

Can’t stop learning?

There’s a golden rule: teaching is the definitive way to learn.

I thought about it when — asked about a book I just finished reading — I wasn’t able to explain the main concepts clearly and smoothly.

Why on earth couldn’t I remember all those exciting stuff I JUST READ?

Understand something doesn’t automatically form culture if you don’t keep in mind what you’ve learned. I discovered this fundamental principle on my skin.

I read a book; I attend a class or an online course; I talk with an interesting person: I usually understand everything and feel good. A few days later, my memory gets blurry, and 99% of that precious knowledge is gone. Just contents that won’t be a stable part of my culture. As they came, they left.

Every student on the planet works to retain information. It’s not a big deal. You could repeat out loud, but it’s not exactly the most entertaining activity in the world. 🤓

I suggest this alternative strategy instead.

Yo digest new concepts you have to practise. I usually do it in two steps.

First of all, after being exposed to something I need to learn, I write about it. It’s crucial for me! The process of reshaping everything I got with my own words and logic is 80% or the job. It helps me shift from “something was interesting in that book” to “these are the 3 main concepts I got”.

If possible, I try to expose what I write somewhere: one LinkedIn post, a Medium story, whatever. It gives me a bit of satisfaction (and it’s a point). But most importantly, I place myself in the position to receive feedback and share thoughts with others. Imagine when your friend Joe asks you about a book, and you answer with a crafted review with highlighted key points: isn’t it cool?

After this first step, I try to come back on my writing after 1–2 weeks to see if everything on the paper still makes sense to me. If yes, good news: it means I digested all that new knowledge, and even produced a new signed content to share.

It’s fair to be already satisfied.

Personally, I stop here the majority of the times. BUT — for those topics hyper-relevant to my job — I also write some Google slides. This becomes a killer asset: I not only have everything in my brain, but I get a shareable ready-to-use presentation in my archive.

When friends or colleagues ask me about something (and I’m this prepared), the satisfaction to share my own branded material is immense. It’s not all: when it happens, my knowledge increases too; every-single-time.

When I re-skim at my content, I find myself immediately able to explain the concepts. And that extra effort required to use a proper language (based on who’s listening), get questions, be interrupted, provide examples, just make the rest. All this “unexpected complexity” when you teach something makes you re-digest concepts with a more profound and different perspective.

Teaching what I’ve learned makes me master that knowledge!

And you don’t have to wait for people to ask you. When you want to deep dive with learning, consider talking about it with friends, or find creative ways to teach people what you got. You’ll notice the difference both in terms of storytelling and concepts’ retention!

Those who find helpful your contribute will definitely look at you in a new way. You become the “person who knows about that stuff”! So — to boost credibility or professional standing — seriously consider giving this method a try.

At the end of the day, you’ll merely capitalize twice something you already learned.

🏴‍☠️

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