You've spent years mastering your subject, and somewhere along the way, the specialized vocabulary became invisible to you. You don't notice that "proprioceptive awareness" or "pedagogical scaffolding" or "conversion funnel optimization" means nothing to the people you're trying to teach. ChatGPT and Claude can help you spot the jargon you've stopped seeing and rewrite it into language your students actually understand — without losing the substance of what you're teaching.
What you’ll walk away with:
- A list of every term in your content that could trip up students
- Plain-language alternatives and analogies for complex concepts
- A readability assessment with specific suggestions for improvement
- Content that's clear without being patronizing
The curse of expertise
There's a well-documented phenomenon called the curse of knowledge: once you know something, you can't un-know it, and you lose the ability to see it from a beginner's perspective. I've experienced this firsthand building Ruzuku — I'll write something about "prerendering" or "hydration" and forget that these words mean nothing to most people.
For course creators, this curse is the single biggest barrier to effective teaching. You're not intentionally being obscure. You just don't realize that "evidence-based practice" or "somatic processing" or "agile methodology" needs unpacking for your audience. AI tools are uniquely good at catching this because they can evaluate your text from a specified knowledge level — something that's nearly impossible to do yourself.
Three levels of simplification
Not all jargon needs the same treatment. When I review course content, I think about three categories:
- Replace entirely. Terms that have a perfectly good everyday equivalent. "Utilize" → "use." "Facilitate" → "lead." "Pedagogical approach" → "teaching method." No loss in meaning, immediate gain in clarity.
- Keep with definition. Terms your students need to learn as part of the subject matter. If you're teaching nutrition, "macronutrients" is a word they need. Introduce it with a clear definition and use it consistently.
- Use analogy alongside. Complex concepts that need both the technical term and an accessible way in. "Proprioception — your body's sense of where it is in space, like how you can touch your nose with your eyes closed."
Rewriting with AI
Prompts to try
Jargon audit
"Here's a lesson from my [topic] course. My students are [describe: e.g., 'smart adults with no background in nutrition science']. Read through this and highlight every word, phrase, or concept that someone at this level might not understand. For each one, tell me: (1) what it means in plain English, (2) a one-sentence analogy a beginner could grasp, (3) whether I should replace it, define it, or keep it with explanation. [Paste lesson content]"
Analogy generator
"I need to explain [technical concept] to [audience description]. Give me 5 different analogies drawn from everyday life — cooking, sports, home repair, parenting, or any common experience. Each analogy should make the core mechanism clear, not just the surface similarity. Tell me which analogy is most accurate and which might create misconceptions. I'll pick the one that fits my teaching style."
Readability check
"Analyze this passage for readability: [paste content]. Tell me: (1) the approximate reading grade level, (2) the average sentence length, (3) any sentences over 25 words that could be split, (4) any paragraphs that try to cover too many ideas at once. Then rewrite the passage at a [target grade level, e.g., 8th grade] reading level while keeping all the substantive content. Show both versions so I can compare."
When to keep the jargon
Simplifying everything isn't always the right move. If you're teaching a certification course, your students need to learn the professional vocabulary — that's part of what they're paying for. If you're teaching yoga teachers, they need to know "pranayama," not just "breathing exercises."
The question isn't "should I use jargon?" but "does my student need this specific word to succeed in their field?" If yes, teach the word deliberately — introduce it, define it, use it in context, and give them the plain-language equivalent they can fall back on. If no, just use the simpler version.
The human layer
AI is good at detecting jargon and generating alternatives. What it can't do is feel the difference between "simplified" and "patronizing." There's a fine line between explaining a concept clearly and explaining it in a way that makes your audience feel talked down to. You know your students — are they professionals who'd find "let me explain what a protein is" insulting? Or real beginners who need exactly that?
The analogies AI generates also need your judgment. A cooking analogy might land perfectly with one audience and feel forced with another. I'd always generate multiple options and pick the one that feels most natural in your voice. The analogy should feel like something you'd say in a conversation, not something manufactured by a tool.
What it gets wrong
It oversimplifies nuanced concepts.
When you ask AI to "explain like I'm five," it strips out nuance that actually matters. "Inflammation" isn't just "swelling" — the distinction matters in a health course. Be specific about your target level: "explain for an adult with no medical training" produces much better output than "explain simply."
Analogies can mislead.
AI-generated analogies sometimes capture the surface similarity but miss important differences. "Your immune system is like an army" is a common analogy, but it implies a level of coordination that isn't accurate. Always check whether the analogy breaks down in ways that would confuse your students later in the course.
It flattens your teaching personality.
Plain language doesn't mean bland language. When AI rewrites your content, it often strips out the personality along with the jargon. After simplifying, go back and add your voice: the humor, the opinions, the "here's what I actually think about this."
Related guides
- Creating a Course Glossary with ChatGPT — define the terms you decide to keep
- Improving Existing Course Content with ChatGPT — broader content audit beyond just jargon
- Translating Course Content with ChatGPT or DeepL — simplify first for better translations
- Creating Course PDFs in Google Docs — format your simplified content as downloadable guides
Find your jargon blind spots
Take your most technical lesson — the one you suspect might be losing people. Paste it into ChatGPT or Claude with the jargon audit prompt. The list of flagged terms will probably surprise you — we all have blind spots about the language we've internalized. Simplifying those barriers is one of the highest-impact changes you can make to your course. Start free on Ruzuku and teach in language your students can actually use.