Helping Dental Trainers Improve Their Memory

One of the great joys about the work I do is the wide variety of people I get to meet and work with.  I encounter all sorts of different people from all sorts of different backgrounds in all sorts of different places.  Often, even in completely different sectors and industries, I keep bumping into the same sorts of problems and challanges….And today was no exception.

As someone who has run hundreds of training courses, personally working with over 90,000 people in a variety of industries and professions, I am often called upon to share my experiences with trainers.  In particular, given my area of specific interest, trainer groups are very interested to find out more specifically about Memory Improvement.

There are two angles trainers tend to look at when it comes to Memory Improvement:

• First of all professionally, I have yet to meet a trainer who wasn't keen on understanding more about how to make their training more memorable for the people who attend their sessions.
• Secondly the majority of people I meet are usually keen to discover more about improving their own memory

 This last one always makes me chuckle because I think there are two subjects people that people ALWAYS love to talk about and they are 1) the weather and 2) how bad their memory is! I have lost count of the number of times I have struck up conversations with people I have just met and the subject of how poor their memory crops up.

So yesterday I was at the Mount Somerset Hotel in Taunton working with Dental Trainers and Course Designers from Bristol University running a session called "Perfect Recall, Myth or Magic" and my objectives were:

• 1.  To enhance their knowledge of recall techniques
• 2.  To look at ways to enhance the learning experience of their own course participants.

We only had a few short hours but managed to pack a huge amount in.

Here is what I was looking to achieve with the group:

• The experience of improved recall during the session
• Greater confidence in their ability to learn and remember
• Increased motivation to engage in Continual Professional Development
• Perfect recall of the main points of the presentation

In the short space of time allocated I was able to do this (and more:-)) by covering these points:

• Why a poor memory is not necessarily age related
• The 10 reasons why we forget and what you can easily do about them
• A simple understanding of how the brain remembers
• 4 steps to a better memory
• The World's most powerful thinking tool

 One area we concentrated on in some depth was that of  how to remember names and faces as it was a challenge many of them faced.  I covered my HANDSHAKES process for remembering someone's name and gave them a few tips and tricks to of what to do if you meet someone but can't remember their name.

It was a successful day and despite the post lunch slot and a hot afternoon, many of them even stayed awake to listen to what I had to say.  Possibly the highlight of the day was trying to compete with a Peacock who insisted on schreeching at me from the courtyard outside the open door to the seminar room.

I heard the feedback the group gave him was incredible and that he is back next month for their next session!