test your knowledge of regular skills and gain mastery

I completed some work procedures from memory the other day. This struck me as a great tool for personal development. Prove you know something to yourself by performing it from memory. You will gain confidence and uncover weak points that may remain in your understanding.

cement your learning by summarizing it

I needed to learn a responsibility at work. By sticking to the instructions and persisting through several software errors, I learned the proper steps of the process. During this process I took notes on how I understood each step. Writing down the steps as I understood them helped solidify the process in my mind and gave me greater comfort that I both understand and have learned it. The additional touch point of writing and summarizing can be enough to memorize a new process after the first exposure.

tell, tell, tell

Today I’m going to give you a technique for organizing your communication – 3T (Triple Tell) method.

Tell them what you're going to say. Tell them. Tell them what you just told them.

This is a universal communication technique and applying it to any presentation will provide critical structure. The message will be easier to follow and more memorable. This is an incredibly effective and easy tool to improve any speech or presentation.

I just gave you a universal template for communication, the 3T method. Communicate well.

summarize your key points in writing to improve mastery

Write down what you want to say. I memorized and learned more of my presentation by spending time writing out my thoughts. I memorized the concepts faster than if I'd copied key messages from somewhere else.

mindful practice accelerates preparation

I was preparing a professional presentation for delivery. I took notes during an untimed dry run of my demonstration which helped me memorize key points and refine my content delivery while also illuminating gaps in the presentation.

Ask and Learn

I asked my manager for clarification of expectations. The reply eliminated a challenging process and cut out significant low value preparation. My mind was free to focus on the meat of the presentation. Instead of memorizing a script, I quickly learned the concepts and was able to present in my own words. Also, using slides with diagrams and pictures related to the key concepts helped me bypass memorization and led to a more natural style of presentation. Memorization exponentially becomes a less efficient strategy as the quantity of material increases. Learning is the meta-skill that becomes exponentially more efficient as the quantity and complexity of material increases. For many years I mistakenly conflated memorizing with learning. This is a Pareto Guide 2 in 1 tip. Asking for clarification can reduce the size of a challenge and learning can be much more efficient than memorization.