From Student to Study Coach — How to Teach to Learn

Why Teaching Others Is One of the Best Study Tools You’re Not Using Yet

If you think you need to master something before you teach it, think again.

One of the most effective ways to retain what you're learning, build confidence, and identify gaps in understanding is to start teaching — even before you feel fully ready.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about practice. And when you teach, you become the biggest beneficiary.

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Why Teaching Works as a Study Tool

There’s a powerful shift that happens when you go from passive learner to active explainer.

Suddenly, it’s not enough to sort of understand a concept — you need to know it well enough to say it out loud, in your own words, and maybe even field a few questions.

Here’s what that process activates:

• Active recall — you’re pulling knowledge from memory, not reviewing notes

• Deeper encoding — explaining requires reorganizing and reinforcing what you know

• Clarity over confusion — you find gaps faster when you try to articulate the full picture

• Confidence — the more you teach, the more capable you feel

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My Journey: From Couch Cushions to Director of Education

When I was studying for my exams, I used to line up my couch pillows and teach them as if they were students. It may have looked silly, but it forced me to say things out loud, which made a huge difference in what I retained.

Eventually, I started teaching small sessions to my team at the restaurant. That experience snowballed into something much bigger and I later became the Director of Education for SGWS Nevada.

What I learned was this: When you teach something, you study it more intentionally. You want to feel ready. You don’t want to get caught without an answer. (Although spoiler, you will. And it’s totally fine to say, “Great question, I’ll get back to you.”)

But that little pressure? It’s actually a gift.

It pushes you to go deeper, be clearer, and remember longer.

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How to Use Teaching to Lock in Your Learning

Here are some simple ways to start teaching — no certification required:

• Explain to your couch pillows (yes, really)

• Talk through flashcards out loud instead of just flipping them

• Pretend you're training a new staff member and walk them through a wine list

• Use a whiteboard or notebook to sketch out concepts as if you were leading a class

• Record a short voice memo of you explaining a region or tasting structure

• Teach in a study group — take turns presenting topics or quizzing each other

• Go live on social media and explain one concept in 3 minutes

• Apply to teach a free session on a platform like Education Exchange to share what you’re learning and build community

Teaching doesn’t have to mean knowing everything.

It means sharing what you’re learning, out loud, in your own words.

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From Student to Study Coach: Final Thoughts

You don’t need permission to teach what you’re learning.

You just need the willingness to speak it, explain it, and share it.

When you do, you’ll retain more. You’ll feel more confident. And you’ll build the kind of study habit that sticks — not because you’re memorizing harder, but because you’re engaging deeper.

So teach it to your pillows. Teach it to your pet. Teach it to your Instagram followers. Teach it to your study group.

And teach it to remember — because your brain learns by doing.