Teaching Structures
2025_Structures-for-teaching
I was curious about how the greatest communicators in the world structure their communication. The people I selected are my idols and role models for communication because they’ve been able to create amazing things and lead people to adopting new ways of life.
I asked AI to provide the communication structure in single line items for each of these people.
This is a resource you and I can now reference whenever we need to communicate an idea in a particular situation. Like teaching step by step, or projecting a vision, or sharing a personal story, or attracting viral attention.
A simple way to use these structures is to copy and paste the teaching structure into your AI prompt along with a brain dump of your idea. Then asking AI to organize the idea as (person) would say it.
Hope this is valuable to you.
With love.
Domenic, Mr.Grateful.
One of my personal teaching structures.
2025_09-23_Domenic
Interesting claim that you haven't thought about before
Set stakes, The real impact its making and why its important
Provide immediate value and answer
But it reveals another problem and question posed as a self reflective question that makes listener realize it applies to them
A fact or stat that backs it up and makes it real
Adjacent idea #1 that bring the viewer’s mind within the vector and make new connections
Quote from Historical figure who have also thought about it from a supporting angle
Vision of the Positive outcome if applied
Support for that vision, How it has been applied in the real world in the past or present
How it can be applied by the viewer immediately
Call for collaborative homework to do out in the world either as a mental model to remember or a specific action to take
Tell gratitude, thank you.
2025_09-23_Domenic_Placeholders_Quick Example
stunning fact
quote from credible figure
Evidence
visual description
step 1 for implementation
Example
step 2 for implementation
convicted controversial statement
devils advocate counter point
resource for follow up.
Everything below is generated by AI.
Tutorials → Jobs / GPT-5 flow / Buddha
Authentic → Oprah / Jesus
Lifestyle → Virgil / Domenic placeholders
Philosophy → Obama / Jesus / Oprah / Buddha
Viral → Ye / Neil deGrasse Tyson
2025_09-23_GPT5
Start with a hook that sparks curiosity or relevance.
State the core message in the simplest terms.
Provide context or evidence that builds credibility.
Break information into 3–5 clear, digestible points.
Use story, example, or metaphor to make it memorable.
Pause strategically to let ideas land.
Recap the key takeaway in one sentence.
End with a call to thought or action
2025_09-23_Obama
Invoke shared values or national ideals (“We the people … more perfect union”) Wikipedia+1
Acknowledge a real problem or tension (racial divide, systemic injustice) Wikipedia
Tell personal or communal stories that humanize it (his family, constituent stories) Wikipedia+1
Reframe the problem in a broader historical or moral context Wikipedia+1
Lay out a vision or aspiration that resolves the tension (“a more perfect union…”) Wikipedia+1
Offer concrete steps or policy direction (what must change, what he’ll do) SCIRP+1
Close by circling back to shared identity, hope, or “we” rhetoric
2025_09-23_Oprah
Begin with vulnerability or a personal anecdote (often from childhood or low point) Forbes+3presentationsbydeck.com+3wordsthatchangeminds.com+3
Connect that story to a universal theme or truth (“this is not just me—this is all of us”) Forbes+2Daniel Coyle+2
Layer in data or cultural references for credibility Forbes+1
Issue a moral or call to transformation/change TED Blog+2Forbes+2
Return to reaffirm the opening story or imagery to close the loop
2025_09-23_Steve-Jobs
Roadmap (here’s what I’ll cover) Neil Patel+2presono GmbH+2
Three core points or themes (the rule of three) presono GmbH+2Neil Patel+2
Problem / villain (the status quo) presono GmbH+2Entrepreneur+2
Hero / solution (his product) presono GmbH+2Forbes+2
Demonstration / proof (show rather than tell) Entrepreneur+1
“One more thing” surprise twist / extra reveal
2025_09-23_Virgil-Abloh
The arc feels personal, actionable, and reflective. Because he frames the lecture around you discovering your signature,
Pose a framing question (“What’s my DNA?”) Harvard Graduate School of Design+2DIRECTORS' LIBRARY+2
Reveal “cheat codes” (rules/shortcuts) to design practice DIRECTORS' LIBRARY+2Wallpaper*+2
Unpack each cheat code with examples (i.e. Readymade, 3% editing, “Work in Progress,” etc.) DIRECTORS' LIBRARY+1
Flip back on self: ask audience for their own DNA / how they’d apply the codes Harvard Graduate School of Design+1
Close with a manifesto or guiding principle about what work should exist
2025_09-23_Ye
Open by self-positioning with a mythic identity claim (e.g., “I am Shakespeare in the flesh”) to set status and stakes. Rolling Out
Spike attention through provocation and refrain (“You ain’t got the answers, Sway”)—repeat until the line becomes the moment. HipHopDX
Zoom out to a systems critique (elitism/classism/“every-ism”) to frame a moral context for the argument. Glamour
Cast a utopian vision and name the mechanism (collaboration) as the pathway from problem to solution. TIME
Claim lineage by name-checking greats (Jobs/McQueen/MJ) to borrow ethos and situate the mission in a tradition of innovators. TIME
Rapid-fire ideation in a public “tweetstorm” (86 posts), mixing personal history with concrete plans (DONDA with “over 22 divisions”). WIRED+1
Issue a recruitment/activation call (“put creatives in a room together”) to convert listeners into collaborators. TIME
Deliver in a stream-of-consciousness cadence—sometimes explicitly labeled as such—to sustain momentum and unpredictability. TIME
Use sticky aphorisms and loops (mantras, jokes, inside tags) to create quotable artifacts that travel beyond the room. WIRED
Land on a tangible next move (announce a product/vehicle—e.g., DONDA; later, a direct-to-consumer pivot for Yeezy).
2025_09-23_Neil-DeGrasse-Tyson
front-loads relevance (hooks/pop culture), then escalates depth only as curiosity permits
Start with a pop-culture hook your audience already understands (e.g., a sudden-death NFL kick) so you can “affix” the science to an existing scaffold. Physics Journal
Pose a curiosity gap and deliberately give only as much detail as the audience needs (e.g., “Earth is a sphere” → “oblate spheroid” if interest warrants). MasterClass
Tailor the message to the specific crowd—children, seniors, “hipper” audiences—using their references and reading the room in real time. MasterClass
Be physically vibrant: move, use facial expression and body language, and modulate voice for genuine emotion. MasterClass
Inject humor (learned from stand-up) so people “laugh while they’re learning.” MasterClass
Build from the hook to the concept: after the attention grab, walk through the underlying physics in plain language. Physics Journal
Communicate, don’t lecture—go “90% of the way” to the audience instead of making them come to you. Physics Journal
Write first, speak second: pre-write lines so the spoken version is tight (“90% of the sentences… previously written down”). MasterClass
Adapt to short attention windows by packaging ideas natively for platforms like TikTok while keeping substance. Physics Journal
Use timely cultural moments (e.g., Super Bowl chatter) as recurring entry points to seed scientific literacy.
2025_09-23_Jesus
Begin with a familiar everyday scene (fields, coins, vineyards). Loyola Press
Introduce simple, archetypal characters to lower cognitive load. Loyola Press
Develop tension using patterned repetition (often triads/threes). biblestudylessons.net
Deliver a surprising reversal that subverts audience expectations. Loyola Press
Pose or imply a probing question to force self-examination. Bible Gateway
Reveal the nimshal (the spiritual application) explicitly or leave it to discerning listeners. jesuscentricchristianity.typepad.com
Seal with the refrain “He who has ears, let him hear.” Bible Gateway
(In other settings) contrast with authoritative antitheses: “You have heard… but I say…” to elevate the ethic. Religious Studies Center
Frame with chiastic or parallel structure to aid memorability. Chafer College
Exit on a concrete image that lingers (seed/soil, lamp, mustard tree).
2025_09-23_Buddha
State the truth of suffering (diagnosis of the problem).
State the cause of suffering (identify the origin).
State the cessation of suffering (show the possibility of healing).
State the path leading to cessation (prescribe the treatment: the Eightfold Path).
Rhetorical Patterns
Anaphora — repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences or clauses.
Epiphora (Epistrophe) — repeating at the end of successive sentences.
Parallelism — repeating grammatical structure or rhythm to make ideas easier to process and remember.
Mantra — a spiritual or meditative repetitive structure, designed for memorability and internalization.
Formulaic speech — repeated patterns used as teaching or memory devices (e.g., proverbs, parables).
