Written retrospectively for the 2011 archive.

I’ve been thinking about how I respond when somebody is confused by something I thought I explained clearly. My first impulse can be to repeat the explanation. It usually helps more to ask where they stopped following.

On a website, that might mean watching what somebody does after a form shows an error. In a conversation, it might mean letting the person finish their question before I start over. Either way, I want to hear enough to understand which part I need to explain better.