The study method used by the smartest man in the world: The Feynman Technique

Richard Feynman was an American theoretical physicist at Princeton University. In 1979 he was named ‘The Smartest Man in the World’ by Omni Magazine.

But how did the smartest man in the world study? The answer you’re looking for is the Feynman Technique.

By the end of this blog, you will understand:

What the Feynman Technique is
How to use the Feynman Technique to retain information long-term
Why the Feynman Technique is effective
How to use the Feynman Technique with other learning tools

What is the Feynman Technique?

The Feynman Technique is a 4-step learning method that emphasises understanding over simply memorising information in the short term.

The creator of this method, Richard Feynman, believed in active learning and found that one of the best ways to understand what you are learning is by teaching it to someone else in a simpler way.

What are the 4 steps of the Feynman Technique?

These 4 quick and easy steps will help you succeed.

Step 1 - Select a concept and map your knowledge

What do you currently know, and how can you figure it out?

Start this method with a blank page. There, you'll write all that you know about your chosen topic to create a visual map of your understanding.

Facing what you know or don’t know can be quite challenging. By making your learning focused and specific, you can pinpoint what you need to learn moving forward, and you’re less likely to get bored while revising.

Step 2 - Explain it to a child

Fun fact: The learning pyramid shows that you remember 10% of what you read and 90% of what you teach to others.

The second step of this method is to put the content you learned into your own words. This should be simple enough that a child could understand. Why does it work? Simplifying an idea helps you develop better thinking and thought organisation.

How could you take this to the next level? Teach the topic in your own words to another person, like your parents, or use AI tools that support a talking feature. This way, you can get real-time feedback and questions that will sharpen your thinking.

This repetition will strengthen your neural connections and help you remember topics for a long time because you need to think about how you will introduce the topic, actively recall information, and organise it into simpler ideas.

Step 3 - Review and refine

This method encourages you to keep refreshing your knowledge.

Step 1 should help you spot gaps and weak spots in your knowledge. Return to your source material and focus on the parts that need more attention. You’ll need to move back and forth to study until you can fully explain your chosen topic.

Learning works best when it’s repetitive because you can concentrate on the areas you’re struggling with, and at the same time, you can use your sources to develop your explanations. Keep returning to the information until you have a strong understanding.

Step 4 - Test and archive

Break down your ideas and make up your own analogies that can help you remember and explain quickly.

In this final step, test your knowledge again by teaching it to a family member or AI tools without any notes. This is where analogies become a useful way for you to show your understanding of complicated ideas.

Happy with your ability to remember your chosen topic? Write down your explanation in a learning journal and revise it often.

How does the Feynman Technique use active recall?

The Feynman Technique uses active recall by forcing your brain to pull the information from your memory. In the Feynman Technique, active recall is important for steps 2 and 4 because you test your knowledge by breaking down complicated concepts into bite-sized and memorable information. The neural connection pathway to memories gets stronger because of this process of active recall, and your brain gets better at finding information in the future.

How to use the Feynman Technique for studying?

The Feynman Technique can be used in many different ways, here are a few ideas:

How to use the Feynman Technique on Claude/Gemini/ChatGPT (LLMs)

Use the voice mode to practice your teaching ability. Ask the AI to spot where you have gaps in your knowledge. This is an ethical way to use AI to study, as you're using it to prompt your own learning, just like having a study partner.

Paste the following prompt into your chosen LLM or AI study tool. Replace the words in brackets with the topic you're revising:

"I'm revising [Insert topic name] for an upcoming exam. I want to use the Feynman Technique to test my understanding.

Act as a curious student who has no prior knowledge of this topic.

I will provide an explanation of a core concept.
You will review my explanation and identify 'blind spots' where my language is too technical, vague, or relies on jargon I haven't defined.
Ask me one or two probing follow-up questions that force me to use a simple analogy or go deeper into the 'why' behind the concept.
Do not give me the answers immediately. If I struggle, guide me with a hint toward the right logic.

To start, ask me: "What is the first concept you'd like to explain?""

How to use the Feynman Technique on Notebook LM

Upload your learning materials and instruct the AI to create a podcast. When the podcast is finished, you can use the interactive mode and have a conversation.

How to use the Feynman Technique in person

Organise a study session with friends who don't know the subject, family members or other trusted people. Do a mini class where you teach them the subject. If they don't get what you're trying to explain the first time around, don't panic. This is a great first step, which will help you identify where you can be clearer, and what ideas you might need to understand more before you teach it again.

More ideas

Practice questions: Look at past papers and create your own questions in the structure of the exam.

Summarising: The Feynman Technique gets you to summarise key points in your own short and simple words. This method lets you check what you understand from the topic.

Todoist: You can use the app Todoist to keep track of the Feynman Technique steps as subcategories for your chosen topic.

Does the Feynman Technique actually work?

Studies have shown that people who taught others a new concept outperformed those who simply studied it on a test. This shows that the Feynman Technique does work, and is an effective method for long-term learning.

The key takeaway is that learning something doesn’t always equal understanding it. In the Feynman Technique, the way to get past this is by being able to explain information simply and clearly.

The effectiveness of any learning method will depend on your learning style; however, the process of active recall has a life-long benefit to students in retaining and recalling information. It is easy to fall into the habit of memorising everything quickly for one exam and forgetting it afterwards because that information has a short lifespan in your memory. The Feynman Technique needs you to prove what you understand by being clear and concise.