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Study Methods

The Feynman Technique: Learn by Explaining Simply

Moderate or mixed evidence 6 min read Level: Beginner Reviewed October 30, 2026

The Feynman Technique means explaining a topic in plain words to find gaps in your understanding. See the steps, examples and where it falls short.

Evidence rating: Moderate or mixed evidence. The Feynman Technique is a popular name, not a tested method with its own studies. It combines two ideas that researchers have studied: self-explanation (Chi et al., 1994) and learning by teaching (Fiorella & Mayer, 2013). A large review rated self-explanation as moderate in usefulness (Dunlosky et al., 2013), because results depend on the material and on how well students can explain it. How we rate evidence

What it is

The Feynman Technique is a way to check whether you really understand something. You pick a topic and explain it in simple words, as if you were teaching a younger student who knows nothing about it. When you get stuck or fall back on big words, you have found a gap.

The method is named after the physicist Richard Feynman, who was known for explaining hard ideas in plain language. There is no single official version, and he did not publish a study method by this name. The steps people use today are a modern summary of how he talked about learning.

Why might it help? Explaining forces you to put ideas in your own words and connect them. Research on self-explanation, where students explain to themselves why each step or fact makes sense, finds that it can improve understanding. Studies on teaching others point the same way, especially when the student expects to teach and then tries to recall the material first. Try it on a topic you think you know well. Many students are surprised at how fast the explanation falls apart when they cannot use the textbook words. That is the point of the exercise, and it is better to find the gap at your desk than during a test. Keep the sessions short, about ten to fifteen minutes per topic, and pick only one idea at a time. A simple test: if you can say what photosynthesis is and why plants need light without using the textbook's sentences, you probably understand it. If you can only repeat the definition, you may only remember the words.

When to use it

  • You have read a chapter and the ideas feel familiar, but you are not sure you could explain them.
  • The subject is built on concepts, such as how a cell makes energy, why supply and demand shift, or how a function changes a graph.
  • You are preparing for a test with short-answer or essay questions that ask you to explain why or how.
  • You study alone and have no one to quiz you. A pen and a blank page are enough.

How to apply it

  1. Choose one narrow topic. For example, how a bill becomes law in the United States, not all of civics.
  2. Write the topic at the top of a blank page. Without looking at your notes, explain it in your own words, as if to a 12-year-old.
  3. Mark every spot where you hesitate, guess or use a term you cannot define. These are your gaps.
  4. Go back to the textbook or notes and study only the gaps. Then close them again.
  5. Rewrite the explanation with simple words and a concrete example or comparison. Cut any phrase you copied.
  6. Read it out loud or explain it to a friend or family member. Ask them to say where they got lost.
  7. Come back to the topic a few days later and explain it again from memory.

Step-by-step examples

Example: explaining supply and demand in economics

  1. Write the title and explain it without notes: when many people want something and there is little of it, the price goes up.
  2. Notice that you cannot explain why a price settles at one level and not another.
  3. Check your textbook section on equilibrium and read only that part.
  4. Rewrite with an example: 100 concert tickets, 400 buyers. The price rises until only 100 people are still willing to pay.
  5. Two days later, explain what happens if the band adds 100 more tickets.

Example: explaining how to find the slope of a line

  1. Explain slope to an imaginary friend: it tells you how steep a line is, rise over run.
  2. Try to explain what a negative slope means. If you stall, mark it.
  3. Look at one worked example in your book with the points (1, 5) and (3, 1), where the slope is -2.
  4. Rewrite your explanation with a hill that goes down as you walk to the right.
  5. Solve two new problems without looking, and say each step out loud.

Advantages

  • It shows the difference between recognizing a term and understanding the idea behind it.
  • It needs no special tools, only paper or a willing listener.
  • Plain language makes it easier to spot vague parts of your notes.
  • It works well for concept-heavy subjects in science, math, history and economics.

Limitations

  • It has not been tested as a named method. The evidence comes from related research on self-explanation and teaching.
  • You can fool yourself. If you explain with the notes open, or accept a fuzzy explanation, you may think you understand more than you do.
  • It is a poor fit for pure memorization, such as vocabulary lists or dates, where flashcards suit better.
  • It takes more time and effort than rereading. Some students find it uncomfortable to say what they do not know.

Common mistakes

  • Explaining with the textbook open, which turns it into copying.
  • Using the same technical words as the book and calling it simple.
  • Picking a topic that is too big, so the explanation stays shallow.
  • Fixing a gap once and never testing it again on a later day.
  • Skipping the check against a reliable source, so a wrong explanation goes uncorrected.

Recommended next steps

Part of the path Start Studying Better (step 4 of 5). Next in this path: Learning Styles: What the Research Says.

References

  1. Chi, M. T. H., de Leeuw, N., Chiu, M.-H., & LaVancher, C. (1994). Eliciting self-explanations improves understanding. Cognitive Science, 18(3), 439-477.
  2. Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2013). The relative benefits of learning by teaching and teaching expectancy. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38(4), 281-288.
  3. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.

This guide is general educational information. Study methods work differently for different people, and no method guarantees better grades or results.

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