How to Explain Things So People Actually Understand

I used to think that being a good teacher was all about explaining things clearly cuz as a doctor, I learned how to take the most complex ideas and make anyone understand them. But here's the big problem with my thinking. I could explain something perfectly and someone could even repeat it back to me word for word and nothing would change. It wasn't until two very distinct moments in my life that I finally understood what real teaching actually is and that's what I want to talk about today. So here's what I've learned throughout the years in building businesses and teaching creators and entrepreneurs. When you teach someone in a way that actually moves them to take action and that action changes their life, then they haven't just learned from you. They start to trust you. I mean, we've had so many clients say that our names, Mike and Matty, would come up in conversations when people talk about YouTube strategy, even when we're not in the room. So when you teach people correctly and they take action and they change their lives and they talk about you, then teaching is how you build trust. And teaching online through content is how you build trust at scale. That's the difference. So how did I start learning to become a better teacher? Well, let me take you back to my late 20s. This was around the time when I was working as a resident doctor in the hospital. So one of my patients who had chronic heart disease, he's, you know, probably in his 60s or 70s and he's always asking good questions and nodding along whenever I'm teaching him. And I would even explain the fundamental science, right? Like why is salt important? Why do you need to track your fluid levels? And why skipping certain medications is not a good idea. And so he's showing me that he understands it, right? He's repeating it back to me. He's asking clarifying questions and then I walk out of the room feeling pretty good about myself. Now fast forward a couple weeks later and that patient comes back to the hospital. Same problems, too. Fluid overload, heart failure exacerbation. Now when a patient gets readmitted within 30 days, it's something we call a bounce back. — It has real consequences. I mean, for one thing, my attending physician was not happy, right? Because when you get a bounce back, then there's no cap to however many patients you have to see. So, he just kind of added to our patient load that was already pretty heavy. But, beyond that, this patient is back and he's sick again. Now, the problem was that I thought I taught him everything, and I thought he understood everything, right? He wasn't confused about medications, he wasn't in denial. And as I started talking to him, it became more clear to me that he'd understood everything. He knew exactly what to do, but he just didn't do it. Understanding does not automatically translate into execution. So, I sat there with my patient and I started thinking about what I didn't do. I didn't help him restructure his habits. build systems to make sure that he stays consistent. I didn't help him troubleshoot the moments when he was unclear of what to do. I didn't prepare him for all these different scenarios. I gave him the knowledge, but I didn't give him capability. So, I failed at teaching. — I realized that being a doctor isn't just about giving people information. It's about helping them function when you're not even there. And that realization, it stuck with me for many patients and many years afterward. And at some point during my medical training, I started to think, maybe I'm a good teacher now. But, I actually didn't fully get it, like really get it, until this next moment. So, now, fast forward several years, I'm in my mid-30s, I'm a new dad, and my daughter's about a year old. Shout out to all the girl dads out there. We just want to give them the entire world. So, we have stairs in our house, and she just recently learned how to climb up the stairs, and she would just zoom up the stairs no problem, right? Like, I'd be at the top of the stairs, I'd turn around, and she'd be right there. Now, going downstairs, that is a completely different story. So, she would get to the top, and she would look down, and she would freeze. And then she would start crying and reaching out for me. And for me, my instinct as a dad is to help her, right? So, I go and pick her up, and I take her down the stairs. She stops crying, problem solved. But, then I started noticing a pattern, that every single time that we get to those stairs, she doesn't even try to go down the stairs anymore. She just immediately looks at me and starts crying and starts reaching out for me with both her arms. So, she's learned that if she cries, then I will go and rescue her. So, one day, we get to the top of the stairs, and when she looks down and starts to cry, this time, I don't pick her up, but I stay right next to her. And she makes it down maybe three or four steps, and she slips and falls. Now, during that time, she was probably really scared, but in that moment, I think she realized that she could do it, and I would be there to catch her if she fell. Because now, when we do go downstairs, she wouldn't cry or look at me at all, right? She would just attempt to go down by herself. But that was a big learning moment for me. Just standing there, watching my daughter figure out the stairs, it clicked for me that whenever I picked her up, I would help her succeed, but I wasn't helping her become capable. And those two are not the same thing. So, a good teacher is like scaffolding. They exist to support something while it's being built, but it's temporary. It's designed to come down. If the scaffolding stays up forever, then you never actually know if the building can stand on its own. Because the whole point of a teacher

isn't to be needed forever. The point is to make yourself unnecessary. Good doctors discharge patients who don't come back to the hospital. Good parents raise kids who thrive without them. — And good teachers create thinkers who go on to do things that the teacher never imagined. But bad teaching, it feels good to be needed. It feels good when someone keeps coming back to you to get help. It feels validating to be the person with all the answers. But that's not teaching. That's creating dependence. Good teaching is harder to do. It takes longer, and it requires you to let people struggle when you could just fix it for them. And so, reflect back to your life. Why are you teaching? Who are you teaching? For me, I want to be an educator on the internet, but I really want to teach other educators. I believe that every creator, entrepreneur, founder, business owner, you are all educators. And business is just education at scale. If you can build an audience, not necessarily of followers, but of advocates, right? Who understand who you are, understand your values, understand your brand, and they can go out there and spread your message, then you have taught well. And that's one of the reasons why I do what I do. Because when I teach someone to create content or grow their business, that person goes out and teaches more people, and the impact just spreads. Now, if you want more frameworks and mental models on how to become a better teacher and make better content, then check out this video right here.