According to a new study published in the journal Memory, we are more likely to remember something if we read it out loud.

Share on Pinterest Reading aloud can boost verbal memory, new research finds.

The authors of the study, from the University of Waterloo in Canada, report that the “dual action” of speaking and hearing yourself speak helps the brain to store the information so that it becomes long-term memory. This process is called the “production effect.”

The new study builds on previous work by the University of Waterloo team that investigated the benefits of activities such as typing and writing words in boosting memory retention.

In 2015, Medical News Today reported on a study by researchers in Canada that also found that repeating words aloud boosts verbal memory.

In that study, 44 French-speaking students read a selection of words from a computer screen and were asked to repeat the words in four different ways. This involved reading the words silently, reading while moving their lips, repeating the words aloud while looking at the screen, and repeating the words aloud to another person.

The Canadian study reported that repeating the words to another person resulted in the highest verbal memory recall. By contrast, reading silently produced the lowest verbal memory recall.