Say exactly what you see to expose gaps you can actually fix

A writing instructor I worked with had a rule for drafts: read exactly what’s on the page, not what you meant to say. The first time I tried it, I cringed. I heard gaps I’d been smoothing over in my head. I used a voice memo on my phone and explained my argument in one minute, like I was talking to a smart ninth‑grader. When I replayed it, I caught a leap from “this trend is rising” to “so policy must change” with nothing in between.

Students found the same thing in science labs. A partner would narrate their procedure, the other would tap the table when a vague sentence popped up. Tap. “Then we did the thing.” Tap. “It basically worked.” The taps were annoying, but they revealed exactly where to fix clarity. One group taped their phone to the fume hood, hit record, and heard the fog in real time over the hum of the blower.

There’s a micro‑anecdote from a project stand‑up. A developer said, “We should be fine,” and a teammate asked, “What does ‘fine’ mean in minutes?” That single question shifted the room from comfort to specifics. They replaced “fine” with “under 250 ms,” and suddenly the next tasks became obvious. I might be wrong, but most confusion hides in words we think are clear and aren’t.

This practice works because metacognition—thinking about your thinking—surfaces mismatches between your intent and your expression. By externalizing your understanding, you reduce illusions of knowledge created by familiarity. Immediate feedback loops then let you repair one gap at a time. Over weeks, your explanations get sharper, and your decisions benefit because they’re built on what you actually know.

Record yourself explaining the idea to a smart ninth‑grader, then listen for spots where you were vague, skipped a step, or leaned on fuzzy words. Mark those gaps on paper, pick one to fix right now using a reliable source or a colleague’s help, and re‑record a cleaner version to compare. Keep this as a five‑minute weekly ritual for the topics you lead so clarity compounds. You’ll feel the moment when your words match your understanding—try one memo tonight and see what shows up.