I had a junior high English teacher who had an unusual love for teaching prepositions. At that time, we were warned to never end sentences in prepositions, so she wanted us to be clear about how to identify them. She had the class imagine a box. She explained that if something was in the box, on the box, or over the box, those words were prepositions. She even had everyone imagine a jack-in-the-box popping out of the box to make it more visual, and that added a bit of surprise. It was simple, clear, and memorable. Decades later, I still hesitate before ending a sentence with words like on, over, or out because that box comes back to mind. Looking back, it worked because it tapped into three brain triggers. Her passion for the subject gave it emotion, the unexpected imagery created surprise, and the simplicity made it easy to explain to my students later. These elements explain why that lesson is still vivid today. The same formula can help leaders, teachers, and trainers develop programs. Whether the goal is to get a team to remember safety rules, help students grasp a new subject, or present ideas in a meeting, people need to not just hear information but remember it. Neuroscience helps explain why these brain triggers work.
First Of The Brain Triggers: What Role Does Emotion Play In Helping People Remember?
People remember moments that carry feeling. A story that stirs laughter, fear, or even mild embarrassment will be remembered long after a set of bullet points. There is neuroscience to explain this. The amygdala, which processes emotion, interacts with the hippocampus, which is tied to memory. The brain tags emotional experiences as important and keeps them longer.
For leaders and educators, this means that data and logic are not enough. Information sticks when it is tied to emotion. The good news is this does not require dramatic storytelling. A genuine example of a personal struggle, a touch of humor in the middle of a training, or a case study that connects to what people actually care about can all activate that emotional connector in the brain. Curiosity also plays a big part. The very act of wondering creates an emotional state that heightens attention. When people feel curious, they experience a small surge of dopamine, which not only drives them to seek answers but also strengthens the memory of what they learn.
Second Of The Brain Triggers: How Does Surprise Train The Brain To Pay Attention?
Surprise is another powerful memory trigger. The brain is wired to pay attention when something unexpected happens. You probably have seen many comedians do this. Jim Gaffigan is great at that. In his book Food: A Love Story, he includes a section on his love for steakhouses and a morbid fantasy about being buried in one. In the story, Gaffigan writes about his sincere love of steakhouses and shares that his dying wish was to have his casket displayed in a steakhouse dining room. He wrote the following dialogue:
Patron: “Why is there a casket in the middle of the room?”
Waiter: “Oh, that is a comedian, Jim Gaffigan. His only wish was to . . .”
Patron (interrupts): “I’ll have the rib eye, baked potato, and can I get blue cheese on the side?”
Waiter: “I’ll bring that right away, Mrs. Gaffigan.”
The absurdity of the situation and the twist of making his wife the patron catches the audience off guard. That unexpected turn makes the joke both memorable and funny.
In the classroom, in training, or in meetings, surprise can be built in with little effort. Instead of opening with a long outline, begin with a statistic that defies expectations. For example, research shows that up to eighty percent of employees forget safety protocols within a week if they are not reinforced. That kind of fact makes people perk up. Surprise can also be delivered through a counterintuitive story, a provocative question, or even a quick demonstration that changes what people thought they knew. That’s why you probably have seen a lot of TED talks where the title is compelling and not exactly what you’d expect. An example is Leon Windscheid’s talk “Want To Be Successful? Try Being Stupid,” or Simone Giertz’s talk “Why You Should Make Useless Things.” One of my own talks is titled “When Success Becomes The Enemy.”
Curiosity feeds directly on surprise. When something violates expectations, the natural response is to ask why. That spark of curiosity keeps people engaged and primes the brain to hold onto what comes next.
Third Of The Brain Triggers: Why Do People Remember What They Can Retell?
The third trigger is the ability to retell what you learned. Anyone who has explained a new concept to a friend knows the act of telling it again makes it stick. Psychologists call this the testing effect. Each time information is retrieved, the memory becomes stronger. Humans are also wired to share socially relevant information. People remember and repeat what feels worth passing along.
When designing a learning experience, try asking participants to explain a new idea to a partner in thirty seconds. Give them a simple phrase or analogy they can use. The easier it is to retell, the more likely it is to be remembered and shared. Curiosity enhances this because people enjoy passing along something that made them think.
How Can Leaders And Educators Apply Brain Triggers?
Here are a few ways to apply brain triggers at work:
• Start with a question. Questions create curiosity before any information is given. For example, begin a training by asking, “Why do most people forget new procedures so quickly?” I often ask people, “How would you define curiosity at work?” That sets the brain to search for answers.
• Use emotional storytelling. Replace boring explanations with stories that show conflict, discovery, or even humor. I find it helpful to jot down funny stories as I think of them. Every Hall of Fame speaker I interviewed told me they keep notes about their stories and embellish them later. The emotion they feel makes the lesson last.
• Add a surprising element. Bring in a counterintuitive fact or a twist. For example, I might tell them that almost forgetting something makes it more likely to stick. When someone just barely fails to recall a fact and then retrieves it again, that struggle strengthens the memory. That surprise will increase attention.
• Encourage retelling. Build in short exercises where participants explain the concept to someone else. In a sales workshop, you can ask someone to explain a new pitch to a colleague as if they only had an elevator ride together. The act of retelling strengthens memory.
• Keep curiosity alive. Think of how newscasters end their segments with what you can expect to learn after the commercial. Create loops that tease what is coming. Say, “Later today you’ll learn the one factor that makes people forget most of what they hear.” This keeps attention moving forward.
Why Understanding Brain Triggers Matters
I’ve seen a lot of training that did not stick and that wastes time and money. There is a reason that there is a book titled Death by PowerPoint. Presentations can be quickly forgotten. The goal should always be more than delivering information. The goal is to make it memorable enough to be applied, shared, and acted on. See what I did there with ending a sentence in a preposition? I realize they are now allowed (sometimes). The lesson from that box exercise in junior high still lingers decades later. It proves that even the simplest tool, when paired with emotion, surprise, and shareability, can make ideas last a lifetime. Using these brain triggers can make today’s lessons, trainings, and presentations unforgettable.