Great Speech....But I Don't Remember What She Said...

Great Speech....But I Don't Remember What She Said...: "

I learned a
few things when I was in graduate school studying cognitive and experimental
psychology that have proven useful to me when I'm trying to send a message that
will stick, either in a presentation or a blog.
Knowing about human beings' limited short-term memory and attention comes
in quite handy. These limitations are hard-wired into us, regardless of how
smart a particular person is. So, here are three important things I learned
about making points memorable.

First, people
will remember the first and last thing you tell them. It is much harder to remember what's in the
middle. This is caused by a combination of the primacy effect (remembering the
first thing on a list) and the recency effect (remembering what you heard
recently or last). Even though human short-term working memory can hold seven
bits of information (plus or minus two), that information rapidly dissipates
and is gone in seconds or is pushed out my more incoming data. That's why you
can't remember the names of people when you first meet them at a party or
retain a phone number long enough to write it down if there isn't a pencil
handy. You are pushing your audience's limits if you ask them to remember more
than three points, unless you give them handouts as memory aids. That may be the reason for Death by
PowerPoint: We have more than three things we wish our audience would remember,
so we blast it out in 24 point font.

Second,
people will remember the unusual or the amazing--anything that violates their
expectations. We are hard-wired to detect something unexpected (like a lion
leaping from an acacia tree in Ethiopia to eat one of our forbearers). So, if
you want someone to remember what you tell them, find the nugget that is
counterintuitive. Like it is amazing that we can remember for several seconds
the last thing we heard if no other sound or distraction occurs in between.
Like your spouse telling you a profound story and you just check in,
attention-wise, near the end. You hear enough to make an educated guess on what
supportive noise to make.

Third (and
this one you will remember), what people will really remember is a story,
especially if it has drama, makes a point, or has a surprising conclusion (see
No. 2 above). That's why Steve Denning's work on storytelling
is so profound and evergreen in its appeal. Stories work.

So, if you want someone to
remember what you say, tell them you have three key points (two is better),
illustrate each one with a dramatic or counterintuitive story, and then repeat
your three points at the end. Voila."