Tip #3 Socialising new learning for maximum knowledge retention

Today is Tip #3 in the series 5 Top tips for Embedding those new Leadership skills and actually value from your training.

We have covered #1 - Apply your new skills immediately, which discusses the importance of application before we forget the whole thing and gives us suggestions for how to apply. Tip #2 covered Visualising your new skills which explores the importance of visualising the PROCESS of successfully putting your new skills into practice, avoiding pitfalls and enabling good planning.
If you missed tip 1&2, check them out by scrolling down.
Tip #3 covers the importance of socialising new learning with others to reinforce neural pathways and maximise knowledge retention.

Have you ever found yourself explaining to another person something you have just learnt and in the process of doing so you find yourself immediately feeling more confident and knowledgeable? Assuming you learnt the subject comprehensively in the first place, this will be true for almost all of us, and for some it will be a crucial step in understanding the content. For many of us we get that feeling of suddenly everything becoming clearer.
There are good reasons for this phenomenon:
Studies have shown that whilst the push (knowledge in) of learning is of course necessary, repeated "pushing" does not make significant difference to retention. Karpicke and Roediger (2008)* found in their research that the retrieval of knowledge (pull) from the brain had a very large positive effect. In other words, once we have learnt content (built the neural pathway) repeating the learning only makes a small difference, but once we start regurgitating this knowledge, the pathways are significantly stronger. So why not simply test yourself after you have learnt something?
Yes, this can work for some. For others, sitting down in front of a self-imposed test is about as appealing as wearing a COVID mask on a humid summer day. As social creatures we long for interaction with others and having others hear and acknowledge our learning elicits positive emotions. It could be for reasons such as approval seeking or validation, or enjoying sharing knowledge, or simply because it is easier and more enjoyable than a paper test. It also supplies an opportunity to build on learning with inputs or examples from others.
Those of you who follow me know that I am all about practical implementation of knowledge, so let me give you a few tips to create retrieval of knowledge events after your learning.
1. Perhaps you are an L&D professional, or sponsor of training in the workplace and you have multiple employees attending the same training. You could arrange a discussion group in the first few days post the course to socialise what has been learnt and how everyone intends on applying it.
2. Arrange to teach someone what you have learnt. If you lead a team perhaps you can provide them with the highlights. Or you could identify someone in your workplace who could really benefit from the knowledge and ask them if they would like you to teach it to them. 
3. If all else fails, when you get home after your training, tell your partner, friends, kids etc what you have learnt. Even if you only cover it for 5 mins, it will start to reinforce your learning. You will also find that by explaining things to a lay-person, someone who does not have much prior knowledge, it will make you put concepts into everyday language, requiring more depth of understanding of the topic.

So, bounce out of your learning with the intent to talk to someone else about your new found knowledge as soon as you can. It will do wonders for your ability to remember it and use it well in the future, making sure you get maximum bang for your training buck.

To ensure you don't miss tip 4 & 5, follow MindCraft Leadership on LinkedIn or Facebook, or connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm also always happy to chat about my blog topics or anything Leadership Development related, so reach out here to connect. http://www.mindcraftleadership.com/contact.html

*Karpicke, J. Roediger, H. 2008, The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning, in Science, New York.