“It isn’t so astonishing, the number of things that I can remember, as the number of things I can remember that aren’t so.”

– Mark Twain

Studies have shown that when presented with a list of ideas or facts, humans tend to remember the first one or two items quite well. They also recall the last element moderately well.

However, the balance of the list is remembered quite poorly. This suggests that each chunk should focus on no more than three specific ideas.

Even more concerning is how people “remember” information that was never presented! In these same studies, participants frequently invented or synthesized information on their own, yet believed that it had been presented.

Reducing the length of chunks helps to combat this, as does summarizing the (three) key points you want people to remember from each chunk.

Next: What IS a Good Chunk in a Demo?

Resources:

Leveraging Attention-Retention Curves in Demos

https://greatdemo.com/leveraging-attention-retention-curves-in-demos/

Monty Python “Three shall be the number…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IOMNUayJjI

Great Demo! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/