This effect means we remember the first and last items in a list best, and the middle items worst.
How should you use it?
Writers have been banging on about ‘starting with your main point’ for years: well, here’s the proof. If you bury important information somewhere in the middle of a long-winded email, nobody will remember it (if they even see it). But because we also remember final points: end on a bang.
Where can you learn more about it?
Try it yourself: read out your next shopping list to someone else and see what they remember. We promise it’ll be the first and last things you say.