Strategies for Enhancing Retention.

Another Word About Comprehension.

The most important element of Retention is Comprehension. The easier material is to follow, the easier it will be to recall. If you want your audience to remember what you say, work hard to invest it with all of the Strategies for Enhancing Comprehension about which you just read.

Especially relevant here is the subject of using Reduction to Enhance Retention. The average person can only keep about seven discreet thoughts in his or her head at a time. So if you have a set of directions, for instance, that contains fifteen steps, you need to organize them in a way that is a little more congenial to your audience members' capacities.

One way to do this is with what we can call Tactical Reduction. Tactical Reduction is the creation of components that aid memory. Consider the following recipe:

1. Cut the tomatoes.
2. Cut the Cucumbers.
3. Cut the peppers.
4. Tear the Lettuce.
5. Slice the onions.
6. Get croutons.
7. Get bacon bits.
8. Put the lettuce in the bowl.
9. Put the cucumbers in the bowl.
10. Put the peppers in the bowl.
11. Put the onions in the bowl.
12. Toss the ingredients in the bowl.
13. Garnish around the sides with the tomatoes.
14. Add a layer of cruotons in the center.
15. Sprinkle bacon bits over the cruotons.
16. Chill until served.

That is a pretty cumbersome list of steps for such a simple recipe. Instead, we can tactically reduce by creating Umbrella Steps or linked categories of activities. Compare the following outline to the former. Which are you most likely to recall?

Keep in mind, this is a demonstration, not a proper outline!

1. Prepare the ingredients.
   1. Lettuce.
   2. Onions.
   3. Cucumbers.
   4. peppers.
2. Prepare the garnish.
   1. tomatoes.
   2. bacon bits.
   3. Cruotons.
3. Mix the ingredients.
   1. Lettuce.
   2. Onions.
   3. Cucumbers.
   4. peppers.
4. Add the Garnishments.
   1. tomatoes.
   2. bacon bits.
   3. Cruotons.
5. Chill until ready to serve.

The material does not demand this reduction, but it does allow it. And invoking this strategy is almost certain to considerably aid retention.

Another strategy of comprehension with special relevance to retention is Analogy. Visual images rest much more comfortably in the memory than words or numbers, so analogies can be invaluable memory aids.

Strategic Repetition.

The more often we hear something, the more likely we are to recall it. So, it is sound strategy to incorporate some artistic repetition into your content. By artistic, I simply mean try to be a little subtle. Don't turn your speech into a mattress commercial or turn your key words into a mantra. Just find non-abrasive ways to repeat the essential content.

Some Repetition Considerations:

• Use it sparingly. Decide what really is essential, and repeat. Repetition in talk is a little like underlining in writing. Overkill does more harm than good.
• Once you have committed to material as essential, use clear signposting to drive the overt repetition home.

  "I'm going to repeat this, because it is really important. Fold the batter; don't stir it."

• Multiple sources of support permit smooth repetition. Consider the following:

  "The claims of astrology are refuted by even the most basic tenets of science. Dr. Lucius Saggitarian, of Middle States University points out that the nurse standing by your bed at birth exerts more gravitation against you than any of the planets or stars. Cindy Rabe 'The Science Babe' agrees, saying 'It is impossible to pass a basic high school physics class and still believe in astrology.'"

  Couching the thought in the words of multiple sources allows this speaker to say it twice without drawing undo attention to the repetition.

• Summarizing permits smooth repetition. Almost everyone has heard the standard advice on organizing:
  1. Tell them what you are going to tell them.
  2. Tell them.
  3. Tell them what you told them.

  This is one of those rare occasions on which the standard advice is also good advice. Preview and Concluding summaries guarantee that the audience member will hear at least your basic point a minimum of three times!

Mnemonics.

Mnemonics are memory tricks. They are essentially gimmicks with which we put enough of a subject into our heads that we can recall the whole on demand.

Probably the most commonly encountered mnemonic device is the ACRONYM. An acronym is a string of initials that represent the whole name of the organization, concept or whatever.

Some Favorites.

There are directories full of them.

But while acronyms are the most common mnemonics, they are by no means the only ones. Everyone in America who ever took a piano lesson retained

Every Good Boy Does Fine (or deserves favor if you learned it in Prep School).

How many telephone numbers do you remember by turning them into words?

"Call our professional, certified psychics at 1-900-ESP Scam.

Remember Derek Flint, who constructed an entire secret code based on the measurements of his lady friends (Hey, it was the 60s)?

Mnemonics, creatively constructed, can be entertaining and memory enhancing. The next time you have a body of information to convey, see if you can dream one up.

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