Regular readers of this blog will know that the statistics of remembering are unkind to public speakers everywhere. The research shows that people don’t remember much overall of what they hear and see in a speech, they don’t remember the details well, and they don’t retain stuff, especially, that they disagree with or that conflicts with their worldview. Apparently, when we don’t like what we hear, we just tune it out. Followers of the recent American political-campaign-turned-soap-opera may marvel at the country’s long, aimless and yet fratricidal attempt to elect a President, but should not be surprised at both sides’ ability to ignore the data coming from the other.

Into this depressing landscape comes a spate of recent studies finding simple ways to improve memory and retention. Public speakers will want to take note of these ideas in order to ensure that their eager audiences still remember something of what was so brilliantly said during the speech — at least an hour later.

Behind these modest techniques lurks a larger point, however; one that will permit a big uptick in retention of that speech you’ve put so much work into. So unless you deliberately want your audiences to forget what you’re saying, then it’s time to think about an overall strategy and five techniques that will help you implement it.

First, the overall strategy. Most people think of keynote speeches as a form of entertainment. The speaker arrives on stage to great fanfare, uses slides, video or song and dance to keep the audience dazzled while imparting a soupcon of insight calculated to be just enough to allow the meeting planners to say that there were takeaways. I once witnessed a senior executive in the airline industry give a talk to a large audience of sales people during which he offered bromide after cliché after hackneyed insight to the accompaniment of slides stolen from other speakers, some of them a decade or more old. Midway through the talk he – I’m not making this up – exhorted the audience to ‘think outside the box’.

The point of a speech like this is to reassure, not challenge, inspire, or even teach the audience in front of the speaker. You’re OK, is the implicit message – don’t worry. Don’t think. Don’t change. Just continue the mediocrity that got you here.

If, on the other hand, you actually want to challenge, inspire, or teach the audience, then you have to approach things a little differently.

You need to make the audience do some of the work. That way, the audience will feel like it owns, at least in part, the result. For this to work you have to go well beyond the usual modes of audience participation – “By show of hands, how many people here think that education is a good idea?” – because that treats your audience like automatons, capable only of binary activities like “raise or do not raise your hands. “

Instead, you need to get them telling stories, designing solutions, playing games, competing for recognition, brainstorming, making real choices, or teaching each other.

When an audience helps co-create, in effect, the outcome of the speech, then it feels like it is deeply involved, and it remembers far more of what has gone on.

Now, of course this is difficult. Of course it is messy. And of course, it is harder to fit into the neat lines of a keynote speech with its split-second timing.

But it’s the difference between entertainment and the possibility of real change.

Now, if you’ve come this far with me and you’re still on board, then you’ll be wondering about those five simple techniques to enhance audience retention. If you’ve got your audience doing something, how can you shape what they do in a way that is more memorable for them?

Have them close their eyes. If you want to fix some particular message in the audience’s memory, ask them to close their eyes and think about the idea for a few seconds. Something about the visual shift helps people remember.

Have them replay the idea for 40 seconds. If you can involve your audience in a little role play – or replay – that lasts for about 40 seconds, you’ll strengthen the recall. Perhaps you can get them to turn to their neighbors and tell them what they’ve heard, for those magic 40 seconds. Or shut their eyes and replay something for 40 seconds – a double dose of memory enhancement.

Have them handwrite something. Nowadays the most prevalent form of note taking is to whip out your cell phone and take a picture of a slide, or a flip chart, or some sort of visual. Nothing wrong with that. But if you get people to handwrite their notes, something about forming the words or numbers of images yourself sears the concepts into memory more powerfully. Don’t neglect old-fashioned paper and pen!

Have them draw a simple picture. The quality of the drawing doesn’t matter. The idea is to draw pictures of the concepts, rather than just write the words themselves. We are all visual learners, and we retain pictures better than other forms of memory.

Have them imagine how the idea you’re imparting relates to them. This one is important. Don’t simply ask an audience to take an idea at face value. Ask them to go farther and imagine the idea in relation to their own worlds, or jobs, or plans. A simple exercise in making something your own means that you’re far more likely to recall it.

These specific techniques can help your audience remember what you want them to; but first you have to design an interactive exercise that will give them the opportunity in the first place. Giving your audience interactive opportunities requires planning, effort, and improv skills, but the results are certainly worth the effort – if, in fact, you want your audience to remember what they hear and see.