The goal of every presenter is to have their message remembered. In her book, Impossible to Ignore, cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Carmen Simon explores this goal. She reminds us that people can forget 90% of our content within a few day is of our presentation. She describes this as the Point A to Point B Problem. Understanding this problem is especially important if your presentation is trying to influence a decision.
Point A is the point where a communication is delivered and Point B is the point in the future where a decision is made. To have a chance at influencing the decision, your key messages need to be remembered at Point B. Also, between Point A and Point B there is often a time gap. Depending on the type of project, the gap between Point A and Point B might be measured in weeks or months.
Dr. Simon recommends that way to be remembered is through the use of cues or triggers, sticky notes for the memory. These cues should be something your audience will come across in their world. Something that will remind them of your key messages. She states that:
“This memory trigger method is certainly more powerful than the standard leave-behind. In fact, as the world is becoming increasingly more complex, you will only be as memorable as the items that are likely to trigger memories of you in your clients’ environment. Create a strong association between your content and sub-sequent triggers and you will be consistently and effortlessly on people’s minds.”
It’s a tough job designing and delivering an interesting and audience focused presentation. It is even tougher to create memory cues and get them into your presentation. I have been experimenting with some ideas, I will let you know how the experiments turn out in a later blog post.
But for now, how can you make sure your messages are unforgettable?
Joe Pops
R2BB