Say it again (Yes, again)

Some numbers shocked me recently.

(No, not the cost of my favourite Pisco Sour cocktail at London’s NoMad hotel. Although it is eye-watering…)

No, they come in the form of research from cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Carmen Simon.  And they might surprise you too.

She has spent years researching exactly how much repetition is needed for a message to stick. Here’s what she found:

• 5-minute presentation: repeat your core message at least 4 times.

• 10-minute presentation: at least 6 times.

• 20-minute presentation: at least 12 times.

More than you thought? Me too.

Most of us repeat our main point once. Twice if we’re feeling brave. Then we move on, worried that saying it again will make it look like we think our audience isn’t awfully bright.

But Dr. Simon points out that even the most brilliant minds in the room still have fallible human brains.

She says you can back up your message with a story or an analogy. You can ask a question that points back to it, or show a statistic that supports it.

But…you then have to land back on the exact same words each time to make it stick.

I’m going to practise this in my next presentation. I expect it might feel a bit awkward at first – I’ll report back.