Pinpoint where the explanation breaks

Treat every stumble, hand-wave, or jargon-grab as a flag for a real gap.

Why it works

The places where your explanation stalls are where understanding is actually thin — the generation effect exposes them because you cannot fluently produce what you do not truly know. Marking those points converts a vague sense of "I sort of get it" into a precise list of what to fix.

How to do it

1. Mark each spot where you got stuck or fell back on undefined terms.
2. Ask "why?" and "how?" at each flag until you hit the edge of what you can say.
3. Write the gap as a specific question you cannot yet answer.

Evidence

This step targets the illusion of explanatory depth — the well-documented finding that people believe they understand mechanisms far better than they can actually explain. (observational)

Knowing a gap exists is not the same as closing it; this step diagnoses, the next step treats.

Common mistake

Glossing over a stumble as a wording problem and pushing on, instead of stopping to admit you have located something you do not understand.