How to enhance book content retention!
Have you ever read a really good book with insight and wisdom that is beneficial to you, but failed to retain the content after a few weeks? Does it feel like you might as well not have read the book at all, as you cannot recall the content?
Oftentimes trainees attending courses I deliver ask, how do I retain so much content from the books I read? My answer sometimes horrifies them, as I go to extraordinary lengths to retain great content from great books.
Here’s how I do it:
Underline key points in the book as I read the book, I use a red pen to highlight sections, the more highlighting on the book, the more powerful the content.
Write notes on the book for future reference.
Read the book more than once.
Create a detailed summary of the book on a word document, so I can read a quick recap at any time, usually this will mean a word count in the region of 10% to 20% of the original book.
Summarise the summary, to condense the material further.
Create memory aids such as mnemonics, acronyms and info-graphics to trigger recall of the book content. Sometimes in a moment of inspiration it is possible to encapsulate an entire book into a single acronym. For example, The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini, which is 320 pages long, in the smallest font size I’ve ever seen, can be encapsulated in the word, RASCALS. Based on that single word I can explain the entire book within five minutes!
Share my knowledge of the contents of the book on a regular basis with other people, this significantly aids recall. In addition, this helps other people by increasing their knowledge in a short time span and can also encourage them to read the books referenced.
Discuss the contents of the book with others who have read it. This is very helpful as you obtain another perspective on the book. It is surprising how others interpret a book and focus their attention in areas you may not have.
As the old saying goes, “it’s not what you know that matters, it what you can recall that matters.”
What do you think?
Would you dare to try such an onerous system?
Let me know your thoughts, post a comment, like, share, or send me an e mail, michael@michaellukecollins.com
