Are You Too Expert To Teach Beginners Effectively

How to see your content through a beginner’s eyes

Creating effective e-learning isn’t just about knowing your subject well. It’s also about remembering what it’s like not to know it.

When you’ve been working in a field for years, the biggest challenge can be seeing your content through your learners’ eyes.

What expert blind spot really means for your courses

When you’ve mastered something, you perform many steps automatically without conscious thought. This makes you efficient as a professional but can make you skip crucial steps when teaching.

An expert blind spot happens when you’re so familiar with a topic that you forget how confusing it was when you first learned it.

Signs you might be teaching with blinders on

Your expertise is valuable, but it can sometimes get in the way of effective teaching. Look for these warning signs in your course design and learner feedback:

• You frequently use phrases like “as you know” or “obviously” in your content
• Learners ask questions about concepts you didn’t think to explain
• You’re surprised by what trips people up in your courses
• Your completion rates are lower than expected despite “simple” content

The hidden costs of teaching from expertise alone

When we design with an expert blind spot, we create frustrating experiences for our learners. They can feel:

• Overwhelmed by content that assumes too much background knowledge
• Lost because foundational concepts were skipped
• Rushed through material that needs more explanation
• Discouraged because they “should” understand but don’t

Four practical ways to see through your learners’ eyes

Teaching effectively means bridging the gap between your expertise and your learners’ needs. Here are four approaches that really work:

Find a beginner to review your content

Ask someone with no background in your topic to review your materials. Their questions will reveal what you’ve been taking for granted.

I recently had a colleague review a technical course, and she immediately pointed out jargon I didn’t even recognize as technical terms.

Watch someone learn in real time

Nothing beats watching a real beginner try to follow your instructions. You’ll be amazed at where they get stuck.

Set up short observation sessions where you can watch without helping, taking notes on what confuses them.

Break every task into micro-steps

Think you’ve explained something fully? Break it down even further. For a simple task like “saving a file,” include where to find the button, what dialog box appears, and what options to select. The steps that seem trivial to you are often exactly what beginners need.

Interview recent learners about their struggles

People who recently learned your subject remember exactly what confused them. Ask questions like “What was the most confusing part when you started?” and “What do you wish someone had told you on day one?”

Turning expertise into effective teaching

Instead of writing broad instructions for your subject matter experts like “Create a learning objective,” try breaking it down:

• What makes a good learning objective? (Give examples)
• What verbs work best for different types of learning?
• How specific should the objective be?
• How will you measure if the objective was met?

Remember that being detailed isn’t the same as being condescending. You’re not “dumbing down” your content—you’re building a proper bridge between the expert’s knowledge and your learners’ needs.

Key takeaways: Seeing through the expert fog

Your expertise is valuable, but recognizing your blind spots is essential for effective teaching. Start by having beginners review your content, observe real learning in action, break tasks into smaller steps, and talk to people who recently learned your subject.

These practical approaches will help you create e-learning that truly connects with beginners and helps them succeed.