The Psychological Rule of 7±2 (seven plus or minus two)

The Psychological Rule of 7±2 (seven plus or minus two)

Psychologists have long known that the human brain has a finite capacity to hold information in short-term or 'working' memory.
Equally, the brain is also structured to retain information in 'clusters' or groups of items.
These clusters or groups average, across the whole of mankind, at seven items, plus or minus two.
Which means that your audience is only able to hold on to between five and nine pieces of information at any one time.
Similarly, your audience will group your business communication's message with between four and eight other messages in their long-term memory.
Now do you see the importance of clarity of message and of having a distinctive and memorable opening and close?
If you want your key points to be remembered even five minutes later, it is essential that you limit your business communication to between just five and nine key points.
Equally, if you want your key action points to be remembered five weeks later, ensure that your communication is amongst the five to nine most memorable messages your audience has attended to in the last five weeks.
The human brain 'chunks' information together, so if you have a long document or communication that you want to deliver, especially on paper, then structure your document so that you have:

• 7±2 'chapters' or sections
  
• 7±2 sub-sections in each section

If you find that you end up with 10 or 11 sub-headings in a chapter, or sub-sections in a section, see if you are able to either consolidate two or three sub-sections in to, or create a new main section out of them.