Question : Explain to me something as if I was a 7 year old
Solution : This question will be asked in an interview only when the interview has picked up good speed. So, you are busy answering every question correctly, and once the tone has been set, your interviewer can try to put you off-guard. Explaining something to a 7 year old takes special effort. Here's how you should approach this question :
1. Your interviewer is trying to test how quickly you can switch context from one to another and yet not be thrown off the gear.
2. This question is similar to being asked " Explain to me as if I were a layman " . So, when asked, you should pick a topic which is of common/general interest. (Example : Democracy is widely understood. Cricket / Baseball as a game is also widely understood)
3. Once you have chosen a topic, start explaining the concept as if your interviewer is a complete lay man on the topic. ( Example : I am going to tell you what democracy is all about. When I was a kid, I used to go out with my parents for occassional family dinners. In the city where I lived, there were multiple dinner places. While I loved to go to Hotel A, my sister loved to go in to Hotel B. My parents had their choices too. So to decide where to go, my father always asked us where we would like to go. If most of the members voted for A, our dinner used to be at that hotel. This is called democracy)
Classic Mistakes :
1. Participants "ass-u-me" certain details. Remember, a layman knows nothing about a topic. You need to explain even the most obvious basics.
2. Participants get too technical in answering such questions
Some other variations :
1. Explain to me something, as if I was a complete layman to the topic
2. Explain to me the 4 P's of Marketing, as if I do not know what Marketing is all about