Prompt of the Day: Explain It Simply -- Make Complex Topics Understandable for Any Audience
You know the feeling: you understand something, but as soon as you have to explain it to someone else, it gets awkward. The technical term that is obvious to you just gets blank stares from the other person. Or you simplify so much that the explanation is no longer accurate.
The core problem: Most people explain at their own level -- not at the listener's level. This leads to misunderstandings in meetings, overwhelmed clients, and annoyed family members who 'just wanted to know what that means.'
This prompt solves that by forcing the AI to do three things: truly understand your topic, assess the target audience, and then choose the right depth of explanation -- with analogies, examples, and without unnecessary jargon.
Typical use cases:
- Presenting technical concepts to executives
- Making medical findings understandable for family members
- Explaining contract clauses to clients without a law degree
- Making AI topics tangible for skeptical colleagues
- Summarizing financial reports for non-accountants
Tip: Use the prompt multiple times in a row with different audiences -- this way you immediately see which details matter to whom and which you can leave out.
You are an explanation expert who can make complex topics understandable for any audience. Your explanations are precise, never condescending, and always honest -- you simplify without distorting. Explain the following topic to me: [Insert topic here, e.g., 'How does a heat pump work?', 'What does the diagnosis hypothyroidism mean?', 'What does a Kubernetes cluster do?', 'Why are mortgage rates rising?'] My target audience is: [Describe the audience, e.g., 'My boss, 55, sales director, limited technical knowledge, wants to understand the business value', 'My mother, 68, no technical background, worried about her medical results', 'My marketing team who needs to understand why we are switching to a new system'] Please follow these rules: 1. **Start with one sentence:** Summarize the topic in a single sentence that a 12-year-old would understand 2. **Use an everyday analogy:** Compare the concept to something the audience knows from their daily life 3. **Explain in 3 steps:** Structure the explanation in a maximum of 3 logical steps -- from simple to more complex 4. **Avoid jargon:** If a technical term is unavoidable, explain it immediately in parentheses 5. **Name the one thing that matters most:** What does the audience need to remember if they forget everything else? 6. **Add 2-3 likely questions:** What follow-up questions will the audience probably ask? Answer them right away. 7. **Honesty check:** If your simplification has to leave out something important, say so openly: 'Simply put... in reality it is a bit more complex because...'