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Comment by tndata | Hacker News Reader

For something that I really want to learn, then my approach is to create presentations or training material on the specific topic.

Like recently I wanted to learn HTTP/2 and gRPC, so I wrote some PowerPoints explaining those concepts and know I grok the fundamentals of those topics. My core mantra nowadays is "You don't know anything until you can explain it".

If I forget something I can always go back to my presentations, that are now the same as my notes.

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I really like this idea. Do you actually present the items or do you prepare the presentations just as a note-taking mechanism?

Yes, I do work a lot as a trainer and doing presentations, so most of the time I actually do present them. Perhaps 80% of what I do is actually presented once or many time. Often I create a class or presentation in something that I am curious about, for example for 2 years ago I went deep into OpenID-Connect, creating training material and also continued to keep my knowledge fresh by answering questions on Stack overflow in just that specific topic, earning me a bronze badge in the topic recently.

Its a challenge to break down a complex concept into suitable "parts" and create a good story, but as time goes you get better and better at it.

I’m not sure I’ve the confidence to present every deep topic I get into but I may still give this a go and I’ll have the slides off the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks for ask the details though, it’s given me a lot of food for thought…

I was in the same situation for 10 years ago, I did not want or like talking in front of people. But I today have the mantra "You should do the things you are afraid of more often!" and of course I started easy, learning beginners programming and if you know your stuff then the fun is how to break down a concept and try to explain it,.

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