
If you sit through business meetings, presentations or lectures, you recognize that afterwards not much is retained unless you took notes and referred back to them. If you hark back to your high school or college days, listening to teachers/professors, the same principle applied: A lot went in one ear and out the other.
Part of the human learning process involves cutting out unnecessary or complex information. We need to make information elegant and add emotion, while eliminating excess and complexity. The message becomes more tangible to us then, and we own it.
Taking ownership of a new business plan or sales pitch requires this simplification process. To succeed in transmitting these types of messages to others, you can’t solely talk it over with your staff or a potential customer and expect them to get it. If you explain a business plan to 10 employees, you’ll get 10 slightly different perspectives on what it means.
The best way to create a message retention model is to have your people take on the teaching themselves. Create the pitch. Then have them test it on their team or potential clients. Critique the effort. Provide feedback. Reinforce key points.
I attended a communications course recently, and one of the points stressed is how little we retain from a presentation. The GREATEST MESSAGE RETENTION PERCENTAGE occurred when those hearing the information then went on to teach it to others. They owned it. They bought into it. They LEARNED it because they taught it. Consider this approach next time you need to deliver significant information to your organization.
During that recent course, the presenter reported data that there is a 90 percent retention rate of core messages when the individual goes on to teach the material him or herself. I used to referee high school and college basketball, and attended many learning clinics. I mentored (and continue to mentor) other officials. I found that I most successfully incorporated key training tips, points of emphasis and rules when I owned the material and explained it to others.
Similarly, when I gave speeches on Y2K, renewable energy, nuclear power and our nation’s electric grid, I found I learned by doing. I absorbed the information because I was teaching others through those speeches.
Consider this approach for your team. If you have important information and it is complex, have them study the material and audience to deliver the most needed points in easily digestible and tangible ways. Then let them carry your water and explain it to others. Monitor how they do, so the statements are consistent. If you operate in a complex industry or have a large employee base, this approach will create far greater buy-in than you probably had on previous initiatives. Try it.
Part of the human learning process involves cutting out unnecessary or complex information. We need to make information elegant and add emotion, while eliminating excess and complexity. The message becomes more tangible to us then, and we own it.
Taking ownership of a new business plan or sales pitch requires this simplification process. To succeed in transmitting these types of messages to others, you can’t solely talk it over with your staff or a potential customer and expect them to get it. If you explain a business plan to 10 employees, you’ll get 10 slightly different perspectives on what it means.
The best way to create a message retention model is to have your people take on the teaching themselves. Create the pitch. Then have them test it on their team or potential clients. Critique the effort. Provide feedback. Reinforce key points.
I attended a communications course recently, and one of the points stressed is how little we retain from a presentation. The GREATEST MESSAGE RETENTION PERCENTAGE occurred when those hearing the information then went on to teach it to others. They owned it. They bought into it. They LEARNED it because they taught it. Consider this approach next time you need to deliver significant information to your organization.
During that recent course, the presenter reported data that there is a 90 percent retention rate of core messages when the individual goes on to teach the material him or herself. I used to referee high school and college basketball, and attended many learning clinics. I mentored (and continue to mentor) other officials. I found that I most successfully incorporated key training tips, points of emphasis and rules when I owned the material and explained it to others.
Similarly, when I gave speeches on Y2K, renewable energy, nuclear power and our nation’s electric grid, I found I learned by doing. I absorbed the information because I was teaching others through those speeches.
Consider this approach for your team. If you have important information and it is complex, have them study the material and audience to deliver the most needed points in easily digestible and tangible ways. Then let them carry your water and explain it to others. Monitor how they do, so the statements are consistent. If you operate in a complex industry or have a large employee base, this approach will create far greater buy-in than you probably had on previous initiatives. Try it.