“Explain it like I’m five” is a meme because it works. How to get ChatGPT to explain things simply? It’s a specific skill — part prompt craft, part knowing which simplification techniques to request. Whether you’re learning something new or need to explain it to others, here’s the toolkit.
How to get ChatGPT to explain things simply
The core techniques (request these explicitly)
1. ELI5 (and its grown-up cousins)
“Explain like I’m five” gives you the simplest version — useful for the core intuition. But don’t stop there: “now explain like I’m a smart high schooler,” then “now like I’m a college student in the field.” The ladder technique — climbing complexity levels — builds genuine understanding instead of just simple facts. Each level adds precision without losing the intuition from the level below. This beats any single explanation.
2. Analogies (the understanding shortcut)
“Explain using an analogy from cooking” / “…from football” / “…from something I know: [your domain].” Analogies map the unknown onto the known — the fastest route to intuition. Pro move: supply your own domain. “Explain neural networks using restaurant kitchen analogies” works because you know kitchens. Generic analogies help; personal ones stick.
3. Concrete before abstract
“Give me a concrete example first, then the general principle.” Human brains learn specific→general better than general→specific, but AI defaults to definition-first. Flip it explicitly. “Show me what this looks like with real numbers, then explain the formula.”
4. The “why should I care” frame
“Explain X and why it matters — what goes wrong if I don’t understand it?” Motivation first, mechanics second. Explanations land harder when the stakes are clear.
5. Strip the jargon (then reintroduce it)
“Explain without using any technical terms. Then give me the technical terms for what you just described.” This two-step builds intuition and vocabulary — you understand the thing before learning its name, which is how experts actually learned it (they just forgot).
The Feynman check (verify you actually get it)
After the explanation: “I’m going to explain this back to you — correct me.” Then explain in your own words. The gaps in your explanation are the gaps in your understanding — the AI points at exactly what to revisit. This Explain Like I’m Five spirit (simple enough to teach) is the gold standard: if you can explain it simply, you understand it; if you can’t, you don’t yet.
Common failure modes (and fixes)
- Too simple (patronizing): “that’s too basic — assume I’m smart but new to this topic.” Calibrate up.
- Still too technical: “simpler — no jargon at all, use an everyday analogy.” Calibrate down. Iterate until it clicks.
- Long-winded: “in 100 words or less.” Brevity forces clarity — for the AI and for you.
- Abstract with no examples: “give me three concrete examples.” Always.
- Wrong level entirely: state your background: “I’m a [profession] with no background in [field].” Context calibrates everything.
Using simple explanations to explain to others
The meta-use: get ChatGPT to help you explain things to other people. “Help me explain [complex topic] to my [audience]: give me an analogy, three key points, and answers to likely questions.” Teachers, managers, parents, presenters — this is quietly one of AI’s highest-value uses. The better you understand something (via the techniques above), the better you can make the AI help you teach it.
Where this fits in learning
Explaining to kids (special case)
Children need a different approach: shorter (their attention is the constraint — 3-sentence explanations, then check understanding). More concrete (every abstract idea needs a physical example — “like when you…”). Interactive (“what do you think happens next?” — questions beat lectures for young minds). Patient with repetition (kids ask “why” seventeen times; each answer should go one level deeper, cheerfully). Honest about limits (“I don’t know — let’s find out together” models good thinking better than any answer). Ask ChatGPT: “explain [X] to a 7-year-old, then quiz them gently.” The explanations it generates are starting points — your knowledge of the child (their interests, their level) is what makes them land. AI supplies the pedagogy; you supply the relationship. That division is exactly right.
The Feynman test
Physicist Richard Feynman supposedly said that if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it. Flip it: use AI explanations as a diagnostic of your own understanding. After reading the simple version, close it and explain the concept aloud in your own words. Where you stumble, your understanding is thin — and now you know exactly what to ask next. This loop (simple explanation → self-test → targeted question) is the fastest way to convert AI explanations into actual knowledge. Consuming explanations feels like learning; reproducing them is learning.
Simple explanations are the entry point, not the destination. The learning arc: simple intuition (ELI5) → worked examples → technical precision → teaching it back. Skipping straight to technical precision is why textbooks fail; lingering only at ELI5 is why pop-science fails. Climb the ladder deliberately. ChatGPT to learn English and ChatGPT as math tutor apply these principles to specific subjects; get better answers from ChatGPT covers the general prompting craft. OpenAI‘s models are excellent explainers — but the technique is yours: ladder the complexity, anchor in analogy, verify by teaching back. Simple isn’t shallow when it’s the foundation for depth.
