Research reveals key to information retention at meetings

An interactive presentation where delegates are encouraged to get involved with the learning process is of most importance to meeting attendees in helping them retain information, according to research carried out by imago.

The research – “Does the future have room for face-to-face communication” – was conducted earlier this year amongst a sample of more than 750 event organisers, delegates, graduate and undergraduate students – and is helping the conference arm of Loughborough University shape successful meetings for its clients.

Visuals, such as PowerPoint presentations, graphics and videos also ranked highly as an important way of retaining information, whilst technology such as audience response systems are only rated as of moderate importance. Social media ranked as the least important method of retaining information, particularly amongst students.

Emma Boynton, Head of Sales and Marketing at imago commented: “In line with other findings from our research into the value of face-to-face communications, we found that exercises and asking questions of the person leading the meeting help delegates retain more information. It confirms that people want to talk with other people face to face, as it is how they get the most out of meetings. As one of our focus group attendees told us, there is nothing better than a white board and pen or a flip chart to help with group cohesion. It was surprising to see social media ranked so low by students. They are considered its biggest group of supporters when using it socially so it is interesting that this isn’t reflected in a learning environment.”

The research was undertaken by Loughborough University and imago. The Right Solution provided methodology, analysis and validation of the research, which was conducted among 779 respondents using a mixture of focus groups, online and face-to-face questionnaires. The final research paper is available at go.welcometoimago.com/meet-the-future. Follow the debate and share thoughts about the research on Twitter via #futureF2F.