The tools in this section help you to improve your memory. They help you both to remember facts accurately and to remember the structure of information.
The tools are split into two sections. Firstly you'll learn the memory techniques themselves. Secondly we'll look at how you can use them in practice to remember peoples names, languages, exam information, and so on.
As with other mind tools, the more practice you give yourself with these techniques, the more effectively you will use them. This section contains many of the memory techniques used by stage memory performers. With enough practice and effort, you may be able to have a memory as good. Even if you do not have the time needed to develop this quality of memory, many of the techniques here are useful in everyday life.
Mnemonics'Mnemonic' is another word for memory tool. Mnemonics are techniques for remembering information that is otherwise quite difficult to recall: A very simple example is the '30 days hath September' rhyme for remembering the number of days in each calendar month.
The idea behind using mnemonics is to encode difficult-to-remember information in a way that is much easier to remember.
Our brains evolved to code and interpret complex stimuli such as images, colors, structures, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, positions, emotions and language. We use these to make sophisticated models of the world we live in. Our memories store all of these very effectively.
Unfortunately, a lot of the information we have to remember in modern life is presented differently - as words printed on a page. While writing is a rich and sophisticated medium for conveying complex arguments, our brains do not easily encode written information, making it difficult to remember.
This section of Mind Tools shows you how to use all the memory resources available to you to remember information in a highly efficient way.
Using Your Whole Mind to RememberThe key idea is that by coding information using vivid mental images, you can reliably code both information and the structure of information. And because the images are vivid, they are easy to recall when you need them.
The techniques explained later on in this section show you how to code information vividly, using stories, strong mental images, familiar journeys, and so on.
You can do the following things to make your mnemonics more memorable:
- Use positive, pleasant images. Your brain often blocks out unpleasant ones
- Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images - these are easier to remember than drab ones
- Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image. Remember that your mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.
- Give your image three dimensions, movement and space to make it more vivid. You can use movement either to maintain the flow of association, or to help you to remember actions.
- Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image
- Use humor! Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than normal ones.
- Similarly, rude rhymes are very difficult to forget!
- Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, road signs, etc.) can code quite complex messages quickly and effectively
The three fundamental principles underlying the use of mnemonics are imagination, association and location. Working together, you can use these principles to generate powerful mnemonic systems.
Imagination: is what you use to create and strengthen the associations needed to create effective mnemonics. Your imagination is what you use to create mnemonics that are potent for you. The more strongly you imagine and visualize a situation, the more effectively it will stick in your mind for later recall. The imagery you use in your mnemonics can be as violent, vivid, or sensual as you like, as long as it helps you to remember.
Association: this is the method by which you link a thing to be remembered to a way of remembering it. You can create associations by:
- Placing things on top of each other
- Crashing things together
- Merging images together
- Wrapping them around each other
- Rotating them around each other or having them dancing together
- Linking them using the same color, smell, shape, or feeling
As an example, you might link the number 1 with a goldfish by visualizing a 1-shaped spear being used to spear it.
Location: gives you two things: a coherent context into which you can place information so that it hangs together, and a way of separating one mnemonic from another. By setting one mnemonic in a particular town, I can separate it from a similar mnemonic set in a city. For example, by setting one in Wimbledon and another similar mnemonic with images of Manhattan, we can separate them with no danger of confusion. You can build the flavors and atmosphere of these places into your mnemonics to strengthen the feeling of location.
-------------------------Remembering a Simple List
The Link Method is one of the easiest mnemonic techniques available. You use it by making simple associations between items in a list, linking them with a vivid image containing the items. Taking the first image, create a connection between it and the next item (perhaps in your mind smashing them together, putting one on top of the other, or suchlike.) Then move on through the list linking each item with the next.
The Story Method is very similar, linking items together with a memorable story featuring them. The flow of the story and the strength of the images give you the cues for retrieval.
How to Use the Tools:It is quite possible to remember lists of words using association only. However it is often best to fit the associations into a story: Otherwise by forgetting just one association you can lose the whole of the rest of the list.
Given the fluid structure of this mnemonic (compared with the peg systems explained later in this section) it is important that the images stored in your mind are as vivid as possible. See the introduction to this section for further information on making images strong and memorable.
Where a word you want to remember does not trigger strong images, use a similar word that will remind you of that word.
Example :
You may want to remember this list of counties in the South of England: Avon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, and Surrey.
You could do this with two approaches, the Link Method and the Story Method:
Remembering with the Link Method
This would rely on a series of images coding information:
- An AVON (Avon) lady knocking on a heavy oak DOoR (Dorset)
- The DOoR opening to show a beautiful SuMmER landscape with a SETting sun (Somerset)
- The setting sun shines down onto a field of CORN (Cornwall)
- The CORN is so dry it is beginning to WILT (Wiltshire)
- The WILTing stalks slowly droop onto the tail of the sleeping DEVil (Devon).
- On the DEVil's horn a woman has impaled a GLOSsy (Gloucestershire) HAM (Hampshire) when she hit him over the head with it
- Now the Devil feels SoRRY (Surrey) he bothered her.
Note that there need not be any reason or underlying plot to the sequence of images: only images and the links between images are important.
Remembering with the Story Method
Alternatively you could code this information by imaging the following story vividly:
An AVON lady is walking up a path towards a strange house. She is hot and sweating slightly in the heat of high SUMMER (Somerset). Beside the path someone has planted giant CORN in a WALL (Cornwall), but it's beginning to WILT (Wiltshire) in the heat. She knocks on the DOoR (Dorset), which is opened by the DEVil (Devon).
In the background she can see a kitchen in which a servant is smearing honey on a HAM (Hampshire), making it GLOSsy (Gloucestershire) and gleam in bright sunlight streaming in through a window. Panicked by seeing the Devil, the Avon lady screams 'SoRRY' (Surrey), and dashes back down the path.
Key Points :
The Link Method is probably the most basic memory technique, and is very easy to understand and use. It works by coding information to be remembered into images and then linking these images together
The story technique is very similar. It links these images together into a story. This helps to keep events in a logical order and can improve your ability to remember information if you forget the sequence of images.
Both techniques are very simple to learn. Unfortunately they are both slightly unreliable as it is easy to confuse the order of images or forget images from a sequence.
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Remembering Simple Ordered Lists
A popular peg system
The Number/Rhyme technique is a very simple way of remembering lists in order.
It is an example of a peg system using – a system where information is 'pegged' to a known sequence (here the numbers one to ten) to create pegwords. By doing this you ensure that you do not forget any facts, as gaps in information are immediately obvious. It also makes remembering images easier as you always know part of the mnemonic images.
At a simple level you can use it to remember things such as a list of English Kings or American Presidents in their precise order. At a more advanced level it can be used, for example, to code lists of experiments to be recalled in a science exam.
How to Use the Tools:
The technique works by helping you to build up pictures in your mind, in which you represent numbers by things that rhyme with the number. You can then link these pictures to images of the things to be remembered.
The usual rhyming scheme is:
- Bun
- Shoe
- Tree
- Paw
- Hive
- Bricks
- Heaven
- Gate
- Line
- Hen
If you find that these images do not attract you or stick in your mind, then change them for something more meaningful.
Link these images to ones representing the things to be remembered. Often, the sillier the compound image, the more effectively you will remember it – see the introduction to this chapter to see how you can improve the image to help it stay clearly in your mind.
Example :
For example, you could remember a list of ten Greek philosophers as:
- Parmenides – a BUN topped with grated yellow PARMEsan cheese.
- Heraclitus – a SHOE worn by HERACLes (Greek Hercules) glowing with a bright LIghT.
- Empedocles – a TREE from which the M-shaped McDonald's arches hang hooking up a bicycle PEDal.
- Democritus – a PAW print on the voting form of a DEMOCRaTic election.
- Protagoras – a bee HIVE being hit by an atomic PROTon.
- Socrates – BRICKS falling onto a SOCk (with a foot inside!) from a CRATe.
- Plato – a plate with angel's wings flapping around a white cloud.
- Aristotle – a GATE being jumped by a bewigged French ARISTOcrat carrying a botTLE.
- Zeno – a LINE of ZEN Buddhists meditating.
- Epicurus – a flying HEN carrying an EPIdemic's CURe.
Try either visualizing these images as suggested, or if you do not like them, come up with images of your own. Once you have done this, try writing down the names of the philosophers on a piece of paper. You should be able to do this by thinking of the number, then the part of the image associated with the number, and then the whole image. Finally you can decode the image to give you the name of the philosopher.
If the mnemonic has worked, you should not only recall the names of all the philosophers in the correct order, but should also be able to spot where you have left them out of the sequence. Try it – it's easier than it sounds.
You can use a peg system like this as a basis for knowledge in an entire area. The example above could form the basis for knowledge of ancient philosophy. You could now associate images representing the projects, systems and theories of each philosopher with the images coding the philosophers' names.
Key Points :
The Number/Rhyme technique is a very effective method of remembering lists. It works by 'pegging' the things to be remembered to images rhyming with the numbers 0-9. By driving the associations with numbers you have a good starting point in reconstructing the images, you are aware if information is missing, and you can pick up and continue the sequence from anywhere within the list.
---------------------------Remembering Simple Ordered Lists
The Number/Shape system is very similar to the Number/Rhyme system. It is a very simple and effective way of remembering a list in a specific order. It is another example of a peg system based on pegword images.
How to Use the Tools:
The technique works by helping you to build up pictures in your mind, in which the numbers are represented by images shaped like the number. You can then associate these with the things you want to remember using striking images.
One image scheme is shown below:
- Candle, spear, stick
- Swan (beak, curved neck, body)
- Bifocal glasses, or part of a "love heart"
- Sail of a yacht
- A meat hook, a sea-horse facing right
- A golf club
- A cliff edge
- An egg timer
- A balloon with a string attached, flying freely
- A hole
If you find that these images do not attract you or stick in your mind, then change them for something more meaningful to you.
As with the Number/Rhyme scheme, link these images to ones representing the things to be remembered.
In some cases these images may be more vivid than those in the number/rhyme scheme, and in other cases you may find the number/rhyme scheme more memorable. There is no reason why you cannot mix the most vivid images of each scheme together into your own compound scheme.
Example :
We can use a list of modern thinkers to illustrate the number/shape system:
- Spinoza - a large CANDLE wrapped around with someone's SPINe
- Locke - a SWAN trying to pick a LOCK with its wing
- Hume - A HUMan child with BIFOCAL glasses
- Berkeley - A SAIL on top of a large hooked and spiked BURR in the LEE of a cliff
- Kant - a CAN of spam hanging from a meat HOOK
- Rousseau - a kangaROO SEWing with a GOLF CLUB
- Hegel - a crooked trader about to be pushed over a CLIFF, HaGgLing to try to avoid being hurt
- Kierkegaard - a large EGG TIMER containing captain KIRK and a GuARD from the starship enterprise, as time runs out
- Darwin - a BALLOON floating upwards, being blown fAR by the WINd
- Wittgenstein - a HOLE with a WITTy GENeral in it holding a STEIN of beer.
Key Points :
The Number/Shape technique is a very effective method of remembering lists. It works by linking things to be remembered with the images representing the numbers 0-9. By using it in conjunction with the Number/Rhyme system, you can build potent images that can make very effective mnemonics.
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Remembering Simple Ordered Lists
A popular pegword system
The Alphabet system is a peg memory technique similar to, but more sophisticated than, the Number/Rhyme system. It is a good method for remembering longer lists of items in a specific order, in such a way that you can tell if items are missing.
It works by associating images representing letters of the alphabet with images you create for the things to be remembered.
How to Use the Tools:
When you are creating images for the letters of the alphabet, create images phonetically, so that the sound of the first syllable of the word is the name of the letter. For example, you might represent the letter 'k' with the word 'cake'.
Tony Buzan, in his book Use Your Perfect Memory, suggests using a system for creating vivid images that you can reconstruct if you forget them. He suggests taking the phonetic letter sound as the first consonant, and then, for the rest of the consonants in the word, using the first letters in alphabetical order that make a memorable word. For example for the letter 'S' (root 'Es') we would first see if any strong images presented themselves when we tried to create a word starting with 'EsA', 'EsB', 'EsC', 'EsD', 'EsE', etc.).
This approach has the advantage of producing an image that you can reconstruct if you forget it. You might, however, judge that this is an unnecessary complication of a relatively simple system. In any case it is best to select the strongest image that comes to mind and stick with it.
One image scheme is shown below:
A - Ace of spades
B - Bee
C - Sea
D - Diesel engine
E - Eel
F - Effluent
G - Jeans
H - H-Bomb, itch
I - Eye
J - Jade
K - Cake
L - Elephant
M - Empty
N - Entrance
O - Oboe
P - Pea
Q - Queue
R - Ark
S - Eskimo
T - Teapot
U - Unicycle
V - Vehicle
W - WC
X - X-Ray
Y - Wire
Z - Zulu
If you find that these images do not attract you or stick in your mind, then change them for something more meaningful to you.
Once you have firmly visualised these images and have linked them to their root letters, you can associate them with information to be remembered.
See the introduction to this chapter to see how you can improve these pictures to help them stay clearly in your mind. Once you have mastered this technique you can multiply the it using the images described in the article on Expanding Memory Systems.
Example:
Continuing our mnemonic example of the names of philosophers, we will use the example of remembering a list of modern thinkers:
A - Ace - Freud - a crisp ACE being pulled out of a FRying pan (FRiED)
B - Bee - Chomsky - a BEE stinging a CHiMp and flying off into the SKY
C - Sea - Genette - a GENerator being lifted in a NET out of the SEA
D - Diesel - Derrida - a DaRing RIDer surfing on top of a DIESEL train
E - Eagle - Foucault - Bruce Lee fighting off an attacking EAGLE with kung
FU
F - Effluent- Joyce - environmentalists JOYfully finding a plant by an
EFFLUENT pipe
G - Jeans - Nietzche - a holey pair of JEANS with a kNEe showing through
H - H-Bomb - Kafka - a grey civil service CAFe being blown up by an H-Bomb
etc.
Key Points :
The Alphabet Technique links the items to be remembered with images of the letters A-Z. This allows you to remember a medium length list in the correct order. By pegging the items to be remembered to letters of the alphabet you know if you have forgotten items, and know the cues to use to trigger their recall.
-----------------The journey method is a powerful, flexible and effective mnemonic based around the idea of remembering landmarks on a well-known journey. It combines the narrative flow of the Link Method and the structure and order of the Peg Systems into one very powerful system.
How to Use the Tools:
You use the Journey Method by associating information with landmarks on a journey that you know well. This could, for example, be your journey to work in the morning; the route you use to get to the front door when you get up; the route to visit your parents; or a tour around a holiday destination. Once you are familiar with the technique you may be able to create imaginary journeys that fix in your mind, and apply these.
To use this technique most effectively, it is often best to prepare the journey beforehand. In this way the landmarks are clear in your mind before you try to commit information to them. One of the ways of doing this is to write down all the landmarks that you can recall in order on a piece of paper. This allows you to fix these landmarks as the significant ones to be used in your mnemonic, separating them from others that you may notice as you get to know the route even better.
To remember a list of items, whether these are people, experiments, events or objects, all you need do is associate these things with the landmarks or stops on your journey.
This is an extremely effective method of remembering long lists of information. With a sufficiently long journey you could, for example, remember elements on the periodic table, lists of Kings and Presidents, geographical information, or the order of cards in a shuffled pack.
The system is extremely flexible: all you need do to remember many items is to remember a longer journey with more landmarks. To remember a short list, only use part of the route!
One advantage of this technique is that you can use it to work both backwards and forwards, and start anywhere within the route to retrieve information.
You can use the technique well with other mnemonics. This can be done either by building complex coding images at the stops on a journey, or by linking to other mnemonics at each stop. You could start other journeys at each landmark. Alternatively, you may use a peg system to organize lists of journeys, etc.
See the introduction to this section for information on how to enhance the images used for this technique.
Example:
You may, as a simple example, want to remember something mundane like this shopping list:
Coffee, salad, vegetables, bread, kitchen paper, fish, chicken breasts, pork chops, soup, fruit, bath tub cleaner.
You could associate this list with a journey to a supermarket. Mnemonic images could be:
- Front door: spilt coffee grains on the doormat
- Rose bush in front garden: growing lettuce leaves and tomatoes around the roses
- Car: with potatoes, onions and cauliflower on the driver's seat
- End of the road: an arch of French bread over the road
- Past garage: with its sign wrapped in kitchen roll
- Under railway bridge: from which haddock and cod are dangling by their tails
- Traffic lights: chickens squawking and flapping on top of lights
- Past church: in front of which a pig is doing karate, breaking boards
- Under office block: with a soup slick underneath: my car tires send up jets of tomato soup as I drive through it
- Past car park: with apples and oranges tumbling from the top level
- Supermarket car park: a filthy bath tub is parked in the space next to my car!
Key Points :
The journey method is a powerful, effective method of remembering lists of information, by imagining images and events at stops on a journey.
As the journeys used are distinct in location and form, one list remembered using this technique is easy to distinguish from other lists.
To use this technique you need to invest some time in preparing journeys clearly in your mind. This investment pays off many times over by the application of the technique.
-----------------
Remembering Grouped Information
The Roman Room technique, also known as the Method of Loci, is an ancient and effective way of remembering information where its structure is not important. As an example, it serves as the basis of one of the powerful mnemonic systems used to learn languages.
How to Use the Tools:
To use the technique, imagine a room that you know, such as your sitting room, bedroom, office or classroom. Within the room are objects. Associate images representing the information you want to remember with the objects in the room. To recall information, simply take a tour around the room in your mind, visualizing the known objects and their associated images.
The technique can be expanded by going into more detail, and keying information to be remembered to smaller objects. Alternatively you can open doors from your room into other rooms and use the objects in them as well. As you need them, you can build extensions to your rooms in your imagination, and fill them with objects that would logically be there.
You can use other rooms to store other categories of information.
There is no need to restrict this information to rooms: you could use a landscape or a town you know well, and populate it with memory images.
The Roman Room technique is just one way of representing your cognitive map of the information in an easily accessible way.
Example:
For example, I can use my sitting room as a basis for the technique. In this room I have the following objects:
Table, lamp, sofa, large bookcase, small bookcase, CD rack, telephone, television, DVD player, chair, mirror, black and white photographs, etc.
I may want to remember a list of World War I war poets:
Rupert Brooke, G.K. Chesterton, Walter de la Mare, Robert Graves, Rudyard Kipling, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, W.B. Yates
I could visualize walking through my front door. Within this image, someone has painted a picture on it showing a scene from the Battle of the Somme. In the center of the picture is a man sitting in a trench writing in a dirty exercise book.
I walk into the sitting room, and look at the table. On the top is RUPERT the Bear sitting in a small BROOK (we do not need to worry about where the water goes in our imagination!) This codes for Rupert Brooke.
Someone seems to have done some moving: a CHEST has been left on the sofa. Some jeans (Alphabet System: G=Jeans) are hanging out of one drawer, and some cake has been left on the top (K=Cake). This codes for G K Chesterton.
The lamp has a small statuette of a brick WALL over which a female horse (MARE) is jumping. This codes for Walter de la Mare.
Key Points :
The Roman Room technique is similar to the Journey method. It works by pegging images coding for information to known things, in this case to objects in a room.
The Roman Room technique is most effective for storing lists of unlinked information, while the journey method is better for storing lists of ordered items.
-----------------The Major Memory System is one of the most powerful memory systems available. It takes a lot of time to master, but once learned is very powerful. The technique often forms the basis of some of the extraordinary, almost magical, memory feats performed by stage magicians and memory performers.
The system works by converting number sequences into nouns, nouns into images, and linking images into sequences. These sequences can be very complex and detailed.
How to Use the Tools:
The building blocks of the system are the association of the numbers below with the following consonant sounds:
0 - s, z, soft-c - remember as 'z is first letter of zero'
1 - d, t, th - remember as letters with 1 downstroke
2 - n - remember as having 2 downstrokes
3 - m - has three downstrokes
4 - r - imagine a 4 and an R glued together back-to-back
5 - L - imagine the 5 propped up against a book end (L)
6 - j, sh, soft-ch, dg, soft-g - g is 6 rotated 180 degrees.
7 - k, hard-ch, hard-c, hard-g, ng - imagine K as two 7s
rotated and glued together
8 - f, v - imagine the bottom loop of the 8 as an eFfluent
pipe discharging waste (letter image of F in
alphabet system)
9 - p, b - b as 9 rotated 180 degrees.
These associations need to be learned thoroughly before going further with the technique.
Starting to use the Major System
The system operates on a number of levels, depending on the amount of time you are prepared to devote to learning the system.
The first level, which involves coding single digit numbers into small words, functions almost as a poor relation of the number/rhyme system. It is at higher levels that you can unleash the real power of the system. You should, however, learn to use this first level before moving on.
The trick with converting numbers into words is to use only the consonants that code information within the word, while using vowels to pad the consonants out with meaning. If you do have to use other consonants to make up a word, use only those that do not code for numbers - i.e. h, q, w, x, and y.
At the first level we code each number into a short noun. This is made up of the consonant coding for the number, and vowels that turn the consonant into a word. On a sheet of paper, write the numbers 0 to 9, and apply these rules to create your own memory words. Some examples are shown below:
0 - saw
1 - toe
2 - neigh
3 - ma
4 - ray
5 - law
6 - jaw
7 - key
8 - fee
9 - pie
You can use these words in association much like the other peg technique memory words.
Moving to the second level
Similar rules apply to creating a standard word from two numbers. It is best not to try to use a single number word as a root, as this can confuse the image.
Write down the numbers 01 to 99, and apply the rules to create memory words for yourself.
A few examples are shown below:
09 - z, p - zap
17 - t, ch - tech
23 - n, m - name
36 - m, sh - mesh
41 - r,s - rose
52 - l, n - line
64 - ch, r - chair
75 - k, l - keel
89 - f, p - fop
98 - b, f - beef
Taking the Major System Further
Just using double number words may be enough to make this a sufficiently powerful mnemonic for you. Alternatively you may decide to use triple number words, using the same construction rules as double number words.
Examples are:
182 - d, v, n - Devon
304 - m, s, r - miser
400 - r, c, s - races
651 - j, l, d - jellied
801 - f, z, d - fazed
Even though you can construct words from first principles each time, at this level of complexity it may be worth writing them down to make them easier to remember. You can then run through them many times to strengthen the link in your mind between the numbers and the associated words. This will help you to remember the appropriate word faster.
Using Words to Remember Long Numbers
Once you have come up with words and images to link to your numbers, you can start to apply the technique to remember, for example, long numbers. A good way of doing this is to associate Major System words with stops on a journey.
Example:
The number Pi is 3.14159265359 (to 11 decimal places). Using the major system and the journey system (see example) together, I can remember this as:
- Passing my Ma (3) by the front door of my house
- Seeing that someone has dared (1,4,1) to sleep under the rose bush in the garden
- Someone has tied a loop (5,9) of yellow ribbon onto the steering wheel of my car
- I see a poster with a photo of a steaming pile of sausages and mashed potato, with the title 'glorious NOSH' (2,6) at the end of the road
- A lama (5,3) is grazing on grass outside the garage forecourt
- Another loop (5,9) of yellow ribbon has been tied around the railway bridge. This is getting strange!
Key Points :
The major memory system works by linking numbers to consonants, and then by linking these into words. By using the images these words create, and linking them together with the journey system, large amounts of information can be accurately memorized.
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"Mind Map" is a trademark of the Buzan Organization
How to Use the Tools:
Mind Maps are not formally mnemonics. They do, however, help you to lay out the structure of a topic as a clear 'shape' that you can remember easily. By seeing this shape in your mind, you can prompt yourself to remember the information coded within it.
This becomes even easier if you have coded this information using striking images.
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Have fun, while you improve your memory!
Have you ever looked up a phone number and repeated it over and over to yourself until you dialled it correctly? This draws on your working memory; however, just moments after dialling the telephone number, chances are you have forgotten it.
This is because the telephone number was not “committed” to your long-term memory. And, while working memory is reliable for quick recall of bits of information (like phone numbers), it can hold only a few pieces of information and only for a very short time.
To remember things for a longer amount of time, you must connect the new information with information you already have, “committing” it to your long-term memory, which stores more information and, for a longer period of time.
There are, of course, many ‘serious’ techniques for improving your memory. (And you can find many in Mind Tools memory techniques section.) But you can also have a bit of fun “working out” with memory games. This article introduces several games to workout your memory, individually or in a team.
Story Telling
One way to remember the information you need to commit to long-term memory is to make up a story that “connects” the items or facts you need to remember, thus making them easier to recall. The idea here is that it’s easier to remember more information when one fact or item connects to another.
While making up the story, create a strong mental image of what’s happening. This helps to “connect” the data to an image and better cement it in your long-term memory.
For an example, read our article on story telling technique.
It’s fun to practice using this technique in a group. Practice by laying out 20 or more objects on the table and trying to remember them. Each member of the group takes his or her turn to add to the story by including another object.
If the first three objects are an apple, a key and a mobile phone, here’s how the story might start:
Person 1: In the orchard, ripe apples were falling from the trees.
Person 2: But the gate to the orchard was locked and John had brought the wrong key.
Person 3: So he called Sue from his mobile phone to see if she could help.
….
Once all the objects have been included in the story, remove them all from the room. See who can remember the most items. Now tell the story again as a group, taking it in turns. The group will probably be able to remember the whole story and so recall all the items.
Pexeso: Matching Pairs
Pexeso involves matching pairs of like cards or tiles from a large group, when one of each group is hidden.
You play Pexeso with a set of cards or tiles that includes pairs of picture or numbers. You can play using half a pack of standard playing cards – just remove 2 of the 4 suits, so you have just 2 aces, 2 kings, 2 queens and so on.
Start by laying out 24 of the cards, making sure the 24 cards consists of 12 matched pairs. Once face down, move the cards around so that you do not know where any single card is located.
Turn one card over at a time, take a look at the number or object, and then turn it face down again. Repeat this process until you turn over a card that matches a card you turned over earlier. Now find the card’s ‘mate’ by remembering from earlier where it is located. As you find a matched pair, remove them from the group. The number of cards dwindles until all the pairs are matched.
Time yourself and see how you improve (get faster) each time you play.
As you get better, increase the number of cards you start with, moving from the original 24 to 30, then to 36, 42 and so on.
'Blind' Jigsaw Puzzles
Another fun and inexpensive way to give your concentration and memory a boost is the good old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle. Playing it ‘blind’ means without referring back to the picture on the box!
First, look at a picture of the completed puzzle. Give yourself a few minutes to commit it to memory.
Next, mix up the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle.
Now, work to put it back together without looking at the picture of the completed puzzle again (until you are done).
Trivia Quizzes
A great way to improve how well you recall information is to play trivia quizzes. The trivia can be about anything – movies, history, even about your specific business.
Whilst you can easily purchase trivia quiz board games and books, you can also make up your own questions when you are playing in a group.
Each person submits a list of questions (and answers!) and then to ‘quiz master’ takes questions from each person’s list in turn.
When you play with a new set of trivia questions, you rely on your recall of prior knowledge and experience to find the answers. If you play with the same questions in a few days or weeks later, you will also rely on memory of playing the game last time. Both new questions and re-runs are good for building you memory skills.
Source :http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTIM_99.htm
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