Pre-Testing: A Learning Technique to Learn Faster

Pre-Testing: A Learning Technique to Learn Faster

This learning technique was mind blowing to me but it works incredibly well. 

The technique is called “pre-testing” and it’s easy to execute. 

1. Open the blog you are going to read and read the headline. 

2. Open your learning journal and write out what you think the blog is going to teach you 

3. Now read the blog

4. Update your notes with anything you had incorrect or learned 

The idea is to try and guess what you are going to learn between steps 2 and 3. This engages your brain in forming a mental model of the material, even if you get it wrong. Your brain is then well primed for new information to correct the mental model. 

You will read faster because you are focused on new information to correct your “pre-test.” You can move at a faster pace through the material, comprehend it better, and improve your retention of the information. 

Here’s my example from this morning. 

I subscribe to a newsletter called GTM Newsletter. There was a new post called, 6-Month Comp Plans for Sales Reps with the subtitle Why GitHub’s 6-month compensation plan can be a game changer for sales teams. 

I opened my learning journal and wrote the following: 

This was my pretest. I felt some cognitive struggle (which is great for learning) as I tried to guess what the benefits and downsides are. 

Then I read the article. I moved quickly though the normal fluff of a post to the key things I wanted to learn. Why would a company want to do a 6-month comp plan? What works and what doesn’t? 

I updated my journal with what I learned.

Try it out. Let me know how it works for you!