How to Beat the ‘Forgetting Curve’

Professional trainers are obsessed with improving the learning curve that indicates how quickly trainees get up to speed on material, but they tend to take the “Forgetting Curve” for granted. While good training does help trainees to retain information, there will also be information that is lost either due to the quantity of information that is presented or because of the extremely technical nature of the material.

For example, trainees in a pharmaceutical sales training class may remember important information about the sales process, but they may wind up forgetting technical information about the products that will be important when they get into the field. Every trainer must be aware of the “Forgetting Curve” and have ways to combat it.

Use Mnemonics

According to TrainingIndustry.com, most important information in a training session is retained when tools such as mnemonics are used to associate the information with a pattern of words set to a particular rhythm. The most commonly known mnemonic is the poem that starts “30 days hath September.” Many people who try to remember the days in each month will recall that poem from their childhood and it will indicate to them how many days in each month. Mnemonics can be extremely powerful in corporate training to help reduce the amount of information that is lost.

Pharmaceutical Sales Training Can Benefit From Active Learning

According to Learning Solutions Magazine, it is extremely common for approximately Tweet: 70 percent of all training information to be forgotten within 24 hours of a training session ending. In the world of pharmaceutical sales training, losing  70 percent of information from a training course could be catastrophic in the field.

Active learning is helpful in various training goals, including skills development. Whether learning new skills or learning new techniques that can be used to improve on old skills, role playing and real field work are ideal.

In addition, seasoned reps, as well as new hires, can benefit from active learning. Interactive training is more engaging and can make training sessions more fun. The result is, trainees are more open to learning and more information is retained.

One solution that can be used by trainers is to include either field simulations during the training session or real field work almost immediately after training has ended. Giving trainees an opportunity to use what they have learned reinforces the training in a very positive way. Because trainees know they will need to immediately use what is learned, they will be more engaged as the training unfolds. Participants are inspired to retain more information and study harder.

Retention is further enhanced because the information is actively used. Not only does this help participants defeat the forgetting curve, it also helps build confidence.

Information retention is greatly improved with the use of quality training techniques and materials. To learn more about how you can beat the ‘Forgetting Curve’ contact us.