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If you’ve ever led a workshop and watched your team’s enthusiasm fade faster than the weak coffee in the breakroom, you’re not alone. Research shows that people forget about 80% of what they learn within a week if they don’t practice or revisit it. Eighty percent! That’s like paying for a full tank of gas and getting enough to make it halfway to Starbucks.
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can help your team remember what matters by working with how the brain learns instead of against it.
The Science Behind the Forgetting
The Science Behind the Forgetting
Back in the 1880s, psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus studied memory and discovered the Forgetting Curve, a steep drop in retention that happens when we don’t reinforce what we learn. Modern neuroscience confirms it: our brains are built to prune away unused information so we can focus on what’s relevant. This is why you might not remember the drive home from work once you get home… unless some jerk cut you off! Your brain instantly labels that event as relevant!
The secret is not to fight that curve, but to flatten it. You do that by creating experiences that engage, repeat, and connect learning to real life. In other words, by showing your brain that the information is critical for survival or success.
Here’s how to make that happen before, during, and after training.
Before Training: Set the Stage for Success
Before Training: Set the Stage for Success
Start with Why: Explain why the training matters to them. When people understand how it connects to their personal goals, they activate the part of the brain responsible for attention and motivation. What specifically will benefit them?
Get Leaders Involved: When leaders champion a skill, employees follow. If the boss is replying to emails during training, the message is clear: “This isn’t important.” Leaders should also take the time to connect with learners to discuss the value of the time spent learning and the expectations for application.
Prime the Brain: Send a short pre-training video, question, or reflection to get people thinking. Even five minutes of novelty-driven pre-work helps create “neural hooks” for new information to stick to. Make it funny, personal, or connected to a current issue in the workplace.
Reduce the Noise: Protect the learning space. Turn off notifications, close laptops, and set expectations: “This is time to focus on your growth.” Crucially: ensure that the work is covered while they are away so they aren’t coming back to a crushing backlog after the course.
During Training: Make It Stick
During Training: Make It Stick
Keep It Active: Learning works best when people do something with the content. Swap long lectures for discussion, reflection, or real-world scenarios. Brains learn by doing; just listening is not enough.
Make It Social: Learning is a team sport. When people laugh, share, and talk, their brains release oxytocin, which increases trust and retention. (So yes, a little laughter really is good for learning.) You can even use tools like DISC, HBDI, or Clifton Strengths to help participants understand how they and their peers think, instantly making learning social and relevant.
Bring Emotion and Story: People remember stories 22x more than facts alone. Connect learning to real experiences—both successes and struggles. Emotion helps the brain flag information as “important.” Invite participants to share their own examples.
Chunk and Pause: Break the session into small, digestible pieces. Give time to reflect, practice, and ask questions. Silence might feel awkward, but it is powerful. You are giving the brain time to process and encouraging participation in the content. Embrace the awkwardness… I mean, the thoughtful pause!
If you’re in one of my classrooms, you’ll notice that we move, talk, and laugh a lot. We reflect, we test ideas, and we connect concepts to real life. You don’t have to be a professional facilitator to do this. Even in an internal meeting, try posing a question, giving time to think, or asking people to share a short story about the topic. It’s all about participation and connection.
After Training: Make Learning Last
After Training: Make Learning Last
Reinforce Right Away: Within 24 hours, send a recap or ask a reflection question. Something as simple as, “What’s one thing you’ll apply this week?” instantly turns insight into action. This can be as easy as an email or as big as a Slack conversation with the entire group.
Coach and Check In: Have leaders talk about new skills in 1:1 conversations or team meetings. It shows that learning matters beyond the classroom and can spark ideas and action on using what they learned. Leaders must model the new skill or behavior.
Celebrate Progress: Recognize small wins. A quick “I saw you using that feedback model today—nice work” can keep momentum going and reinforce the new neural pathways.
Space the Learning: Schedule a follow-up a few weeks later to revisit key ideas and share stories of what worked. Each repetition strengthens memory and confidence. It can be nice to send additional resources to those who are ready to take the concepts further.
My Final Thoughts
My Final Thoughts
Training that fades fast isn’t a people problem, it’s a process problem. Real learning takes intention before, during, and after the event. When you make space for reflection, connection, and practice, your team will remember more and apply more.
People forget because they’re human. They remember when learning feels meaningful, social, and alive. That’s the spark we specialize in.
If you’re ready for training that sticks, and maybe even sparkles, let’s talk. Contact SparkGrowth Consulting to bring learning that lasts to your organization.
The Research (click expand to see)
The Research (click expand to see)
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. Dover Publications.
Cepeda, N. J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., & Pashler, H. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095–1102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02209.x
Soderstrom, N. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2015). Learning versus performance: An integrative review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 176–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615569000
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408
Guo, J., Yang, J., Zhang, L., & He, Y. (2023). Communication networks and team performance: Selecting members to network positions. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1141571. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1141571
Doblinger, M., Schmitz, H., & Weiss, M. (2022). Individual competencies for self-managing team performance. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/10464964211041114
Meyers, M. C., Van Woerkom, M., Bakker, A. B., & Van Den Heuvel, M. (2023). Stronger together: A multilevel study of collective strengths use in work teams fosters individual and team performance. Journal of Business Research, 159, 113821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113821
National Research Council. (1991). 3 Optimizing long-term retention and transfer. In In the mind’s eye: Enhancing human performance (pp. 89–114). National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/1580
Awan, G. M., Amin, R., & Baloch, Q. B. (2021). Role of interpersonal competencies in academic performance. Sir Syed Journal of Education & Social Research, 4(1), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.36902/sjesr-vol4-iss1-2021(371-378)
Healy, A. F., Schneider, V. I., & Barshi, I. (2019). Training, retention, and transfer of data entry perceptual and motor processes over short and long retention intervals. Memory & Cognition, 47(8), 1606–1618. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-019-00955-z
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