Learning to communicate

[Kimbell175113]

Here's the thing: I am a smart guy. I love to learn difficult concepts, and I can understand calculus, chemistry, and the poems of William Blake with a confident clarity.

But whenever I try to explain them to someone else, or to join in a discussion of others who are knowledgeable, I crash and burn. I can go maybe a few minutes without saying something stupid, or freezing up, or one of many other possible failures.

This effect is sometimes mitigated by the non-real time nature of message boards, but even then, if I'm at all hurried or excited, I'm no better here than in real life. In fact, I'm starting this thread in reaction to me flubbing a basic, though small, detail in the current AP thread. I knew it in my head, but somehow it doesn't translate to my words, and I made myself look dumb for no reason.

It's by far the most frustrating part of my life, that I cannot make people understand what I'm trying to get them to understand, and I feel like no one ever can really 'know' me until I fix this.

Has anyone else had this problem? overcome it? Suggestions? (lolz I know this is a big topic with no specific starting point; feel free to discuss whatever you think can help)

edit: changed thread title