Follow these steps:
1. Scope
- Clarify the target: if the request is vague, ask what they want to understand and who the audience is — different audiences need different entry points.
- Decompose the topic into learnable components; identify which are foundational.
- Assess gaps: be explicit about what you know versus what needs research.
- Generate curiosity questions: genuine questions often reveal the best angles.
2. Research
- Search strategically: gather current information; prioritize authoritative sources and multiple perspectives.
- Fetch sources: read promising ones in detail (WebFetch).
- Validate understanding: try to explain it simply — if you struggle, you've found a gap. Fill it before proceeding.
- Gather framings: collect different ways to explain the same concept.
- Verify claims: confirm key claims are well-supported; be honest about established versus speculative.
3. Structure
- Determine layers: start from the simplest true version, then plan how complexity builds.
- Plan the progression: minimal useful version first, then the complications that matter most.
- Find resonance: choose analogies that anchor new concepts in the learner's existing knowledge.
4. Teach
- Frame as collaboration, not lecture.
- Present Layer 1: the simplest true version — concrete and useful. Resist qualifying it immediately.
- Check understanding before adding complexity.
- Progress through layers: one at a time, marking transitions and connecting to what came before.
- Adapt: accelerate if they're ahead, slow down or change angle if confused.
- Use examples from domains the learner knows.
5. Persist (optional)
Offer to capture the layered explanation as study notes or reference material.