Our memories are not as good as even the most pessimistic of us fear they are, alas. That has disturbing implications for speakers. We study our field, master it, craft a speech, master that, practice delivery – and give the speech with as much passion as we can muster.
And the audience remembers perhaps 10 percent of what they hear, according to one classic study.
Beginning speakers are often worried about people stealing their ideas. But after you’ve been in the business for a while, you’ll start to realize that your problem is actually the reverse. You have to ram ideas down people’s throats for years before they even begin to have a nodding familiarity with them. Getting traction with ideas is the real challenge. There are already too many ideas out there competing for too little mental real estate.
Sadly, the human brain is filled up thinking about coffee and donuts, last night’s game, and next month’s vacation. There’s very little room for your dissertation on the Six Ways to Improve Business Productivity with Slinkies.
Now, readers of this blog will know that I advocate telling stories to improve the stickiness of your ideas. If I tell you a story about how a Slinky escaped my grasp when I was six, did its sinuous thing down the stairs, frightened the babysitter at the bottom of the stairs, causing her to fall and break both legs, ultimately leading to a $40,000 lawsuit, you’ll remember the point: the opportunity cost of unlicensed Slinky use.
And that’s a (nearly) true story.
But new research yields some surprising ways to improve the memory of your audiences. A recent study found that if you simply told the subject that he or she was going to be tested on something, they remembered the data three times longer.
A 3x return merely for threatening a test.
That’s amazing. But do you really want to threaten your audience with a test at the end of your speech?
You’d have to follow through, and that is already beginning to sound like a lot of work – and potential awkwardness. Most grownups don’t like tests.
So we need some subtle ways to accomplish the same result. Following are three ways to increase your audience’s retentiveness without actually frightening them.
Make it a game. Audiences are willing to do nearly anything a speaker requests of them, provided it seems fair, fun, and familiar enough. So if you announce at the beginning that you’re going to run some sort of contest, and then follow up with prizes, for audience members who recall certain aspects of the speech – clearly explained up front – you should get the effect from the more competitive audience members without the fear.
Raise the stakes. We remember things that we believe have immediate utility. If you attend a day of lectures on health and healthy living, you’re liable to remember the one tip that can add ten years on to your life, or cut your risk of cancer in half, or the like. So give the audience a (life and death) reason to remember your key points. But don’t fake it. If there’s no real reason why we have to be able to recite Baskin Robbins’ 30-odd ice cream flavors, don’t make up a false one. We’ll see through your shenanigans and discount your ideas even further.
Make it interactive. Don’t push your audience’s attention span. Stop regularly and ask them what they’re getting, what they’re not getting, and what questions they have. You have to be comfortable with your material and good at handling audience interaction to take questions as you go along (rather than at a Q and A at the end), but interrupting yourself to allow the audience in will have a payoff in retention.
A misconception about attention span is that once it’s lost, it’s gone forever. Actually, all we need to refresh our attention spans is to have a 10-second stretch, or a deep breath, or a change of position. Get your audience to stand up, even if only for a moment, and you’ll renew their interest, their attention, and their ability to remember what you’re saying.
You should take your audience’s memories seriously. After all, they are your customers, and at the very least, you want them to keep what you’re selling. You can’t change the world with a speech if no one remembers what you’ve said.
Hi Nick
I like to beat an audience a stick of anaphora. They will hear the message for the first time. They will recognize the message the second time. They will remember the message the third time or I will beat them again.
Show no mercy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kind regards
John Keating
Thanks, John — repetition is great as long as it’s artful. And as long as the beatings are metaphorical.
Nick, once again you hit salient points in the realm of speaking, providing interesting context(your stories!) and practical advice. I am presenting on Saturday and I have put notes in the margins to stop, breathe, connect, engage or re-engage, whatever is needed to keep a bond with my audience.
Thanks! Keep these posts coming, they are very valuable!
Hope life is excellent,
Betty
Thanks, Betty! And have a blast on Saturday!
Great post Nick. Very helpful. We’ve been using a “Gold Sheet” as a reinforcement tool for our workshops. It’s a one pager, with the top half leaving room for Key Lessons. The bottom half is for actions they’ll take. Since the page might have to compete with other paper on their desks when they return, the gold or yellow color helps it stand out. It’s usually printed on card stock so it’s more durable.
It helps with retention.
But many clients allow me to say this, “Your manager will be following up with you after the workshop to find out the key lessons you’ve learned and the actions you want to take. Use this Gold Sheet to prepare for that discussion.”
Though it’s not a test, per se, it sets some stakes for retaining the learning. Now that I’ve read your post, I have even better understanding of why it works! Thank you Nick!
Thanks, Andy — the key step is getting your audiences to write on the handout — that makes it theirs, and much more likely that they’ll hang on to it rather than just toss it.