Practice and preparation are critical tools for educational success, however; there is only one set rule when revising for a test – stay organized.

Beyond that, students approach these methods in different ways. The revision techniques will depend partly on what you are studying, but some common tips do apply to every subject.

Regardless of grade level, fundamental revision principles can help develop strategic study and foster memory improvement.

Revision Techniques

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping takes a topic and adds a visual component to seed it in memory. Creating imagery forces the mind to associate facts and details with a picture.

• Start the process with a clean sheet of paper.

• Sketch a quick picture of something that represents the category of your subject matter. For example, if studying frog dissection in biology, draw a caricature of a frog. The art doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be recognizable. If necessary, you can just write the word frog.

• Next, take the main categories and create branches off the original image. You might write digestive and circulatory system, for instance. The words should extend like branches on a tree around the frog.

• Continue to build on the tree structure with facts you have to remember about the anatomy of the frog. The branch titled digestive system would have details about the stomach. The more detailed you make the map, the better the memory association.

Summary Notes

Reading comprehension is a vital part of learning. One way to concur the memorization difficulties that come from reading dry text is to create a summary of the details.

Read the section through once, focusing as much as possible on the facts and potential exam material. Once you complete the read through, immediately write out a summary of the text. If you are struggling with memory retention, complete the task in small sections. If necessary, summarize one page at a time.

This differs from taking notes as you read. With summary revision techniques, you read the material all the way through and then write the notes. In a sense, you are teaching your brain to focus and remember key parts. After you take a break, glance through your summaries to get back on track before continuing.

Create a Mock List of Questions

As you study, create a list of questions that might appear on an exam. If possible, review previous exams to get a sense of the teacher’s style. This will help format the questions. After you make the list, go through and verbally read and answer the queries.

Take the initial list and revise the questions into a different style. For example, if you created a fill-in the blank mock exam, redo the questions in essay form or as multiple choice. The more ways you present the material, the better the memory enhancement. If possible, find a study partner and swap questions to cover more of the subject matter.

Don’t Get Sloppy

Cutting corners is not the way to study for an exam. Use common sense when revising.

• Sit in a room that is quiet and without distraction.

• Start the revision early to give yourself time to memorize details.

• Revise the topic more than once. The more times you cover the information, the better your memory.

• Create a revision timeline. This details your study schedule, subject matter and revision techniques you use each day.

• Take breaks every 30 to 40 minutes to give your mind a rest period. Over taxing your memory center leads to fuzzy details.

Revision techniques that work for one student may not be right for another. It is crucial to develop your own strategy and stick to it. Revision is one of the most critical study skills a student can learn. Creating techniques that improve memory retention and enhance learning will make school a productive experience.

The post 4 Top Revision Techniques for Students first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

So, read the following myths and see which ones you thoughts were true…

The Memory Myths

1) ‘We Only Use 10% of Our Brain Power’

This might be the most oft-repeated of all the memory myths, so I’ll tackle it head on right here.

It’s known as the 10% myth, but can actually refer to any spurious figure that someone uses to explain how little of our brain we use.

Renowned neurologist Barry Gordon, from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA has refuted this claim, saying that ‘we use virtually every part of the brain, and that [most of] the brain is active almost all the time’.

One theory as to why this particular load of nonsense has gained traction over the years is that people see their own lack of memory as evidence for unused brain capacity.

Other reasons for its continuing use are the references to it in popular culture.

The 2011 movie Limitless (adapted from the book The Dark Fields), was based around the fallacy of the ‘limited brain’.

2) It’s Possible to ‘Lose’ Your Memory

This comes partially from the idea of the memory being a thing, or a specific part of the brain.

The truth is, your memory doesn’t reside in just one place in the brain. It’s created using a number of regions.

I wrote about this in my post on memory loss causes, where I explained that the idea of ‘losing’ your memory wasn’t really possible in a healthy brain. Your memory is something you develop, like any other ability you have.

And that’s the key… Your memory is an ability, just like running or knitting are abilities. Some people are better than others, but virtually everyone is capable of learning and honing those abilities.

3) Your Memory Works Like a Video Camera

No, no and again no.

This is the idea that your brain records the world around it like a video camera, and therefore that you can ‘replay’ memories accurately.

The truth is quite different.

Your memory is formed from a variety of different elements within the brain, including what you see and what you hear. However, it’s also influenced by your feelings and emotions at the time of the event you’re remembering.

As a result, you tend to remember things differently each time, because different elements become important depending on a variety of other factors.

In short, your memory isn’t at all like a digital device. It’s more like an improvisation from a variety of elements which must be connected in the brain each time you re-form (and recall) a memory.

4) Eyewitness Memories are Enough to Convict Someone

On a societal level, this is actually one of the most dangerous potentially dangerous memory myths.

A lot of people think that if one person witnesses a crime, then the evidence that person provides (from memory) should be enough to convict someone.

In stressful situations such as witnessing a crime (or worse, being the victim), your brain reacts and remembers only very specific things. However, even these things can be affected by your stress levels. The truth is very different…

In many cases, the eyewitness is so traumatised that they piece information in their brain together in the wrong way, but then decide that this is the correct order in which the event happened.

‘Weapon focus‘ is another problem. The presence of a deadly weapon narrows the focus of the witness so much that all other details become blurred in the memory.

Finally, certain practices by police forces can make a witness think that their memory is correct, even when it’s badly wrong. For a case in point, watch this powerful video:

5) There’s a Secret to Having a Good Memory

If you found this site through a Google search, then the chances are you were looking to find out how to improve your memory power.

Just as in so many areas of life, most people are searching for that one secret… The one ‘magic bullet’ that will give them what they want.

And the truth?

It doesn’t exist.

There’s no such thing as one killer secret to having a good memory (particularly with sites like this one available to anyone who cares to look for it).

It’s true that you could consider the information a secret in the sense that you don’t know it yet, but even then, it’s not really a secret.

The fact is, there are lots of ways to improve your memory. You’re better off applying some of the techniques that you’ll find here on this blog, instead of looking for ‘the secret’.

Memory is a combination of many aspects of the brain, so you need to develop them all. You also need to make sure your brain is getting the correct vitamins and minerals, as well as plenty of water.

6) Hypnosis Can Help You to Recall Forgotten Traumatic Memories

Years ago, many people believed that it was possible to recall memories that had been repressed due to their harmful or traumatic nature.

Since 1985, The Council of Scientific Affairs (based in America) has stated that:

…Recollections obtained during hypnosis can involve confabulations and pseudomemories and not only fail to be more accurate, but actually appear to be less reliable than nonhypnotic recall. (Source: National Centre for Biotechnology Information)

This is perhaps one of the most damaging of all the memory myths that exist.

The idea that you can bring back repressed memories has been refuted by a large number of medical authorities, and yet the myth still persists.

In my opinion, this is due to the fact that there are still people out there who claim to be able to ‘give you back your memories’.

Unless you suffer brain damage, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have forgotten the trauma of your past. If you do forget it, then as far as your brain is concerned, there’s nothing to remember (because if you’ve totally forgotten, it’s like it never existed).

To my mind, people who tell you that hypnosis can uncover forgotten traumas should be outlawed, along with those people who claim to be able to talk to the dead or tell you about your past lives. It’s total nonsense with no proof whatsoever.

Incidentally, these kinds of hypnosis sessions have been linked with False Memory Syndrome, where you ‘recall’ memories that didn’t happen. An example can be seen in the video above.

Why These Myths Could Be Harming Your Brain Power

The simple truth is that your life is a result of the way you think.

You may have heard the expression that ‘thoughts become things’. On a scientific basis, this is more accurate than you might imagine.

There have been a huge number of experiments dedicated to the human mind. In particular, many have focused on psychology and the importance of what you tell yourself.

[For an in-depth look at the idea of preconceptions in your mind and the influence they have on your life, I recommend the brilliant book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.]

So, if you tell yourself that there’s a big secret to having a good memory, then you’ll look solely for that. As a result, you’ll miss the real truth and spend your time searching for something that doesn’t exist.

Similarly, if you believe any of the other memory myths, you will limit your memory power because your brain will have a limited view of what’s possible.

So, with the memory myths busted, start to reconsider what you know about the amazing potential of your brain and then start using it!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it on Facebook and Twitter using the buttons on the left or below. Do you know any memory myths that people should know about? Let us know in the comments section below…

The post 6 Memory Myths That Could Be Harming Your Brain Power first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

Better still, I’m going to show you 16 faces, complete with the name of each person and then get you to see how many of the people you can remember.

However, I’m not going to just test you without first giving you some tips on how to do it.

How to Remember Names and Faces

Remembering Names

It’s important to use the following tips to help you remember someone’s name:

• Pay attention to the name when someone’s telling you.

• Give their name a meaning other than just being their name.

• Associate the name with something else about them or something that their name resembles.

These are brilliant starting points, but here are some more advanced tips for you to help you recall names more easily:

For Social Occasions

• If you’re in a social situation, dig a little deeper into the who the person is. Find out what they do and see if you can relate that to their name.

• Also, for social situations, ask the person an open ended question or two… By this I mean a question that makes them explain something about themselves instead of a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. This will give you more to latch onto.

• Observe their behaviour and characteristics. Are they shy and retiring? Or are they the one in the centre of it all? Do they engage in deep conversations, or is it more general chat about what was on TV last night? Are they a particular fan or admirer of something?

For Memory Competitions

• The faces in competition are usually varied, as are the expressions. Use the varied expressions to your advantage and imagine meeting these people in real life. Imagine the way they are, or make up the reason they look the way they do. This association will give you a much stronger reason to remember them.

• As with all associations, if you get an idea that jumps straight into your mind when you see a person for the first time, use it! Whatever caught your eye is the thing your brain was naturally drawn to. By using that, you’re able

For more tips and tools, check out my related post on How to Remember Names.

How to Remember Faces

Below are 16 very different faces. As you look at them, start to recognise different features about them.

In particular, find one or two things about each face that stand out. Perhaps they have larger ears or a small nose. Whatever it is, make it more significant in your mind.

One idea that I’ve touched on in the past is to see the person as a caricature. Think of yourself as an artist and imagine what you would minimize and what you would accentuate about their face.

This will make their face more striking and visual, which will help you remember them.

Ready? Here goes…

Some of the faces are more striking than others. Also, they’ve all been asked to smile in their photo so you can’t really gauge their real personalities, character traits or manner of speech.

Instead, you have to look for more specific things about the way they look.

Some of the people look quite similar. This could throw you, so you need to pick out the one or two things that make each person unique…

For example, there are two bald men, but they actually look very different. In particular, the paler of the two men has a gap between his front teeth. That’s what distinguishes him.

In the case of memory competitions, you can use what someone is wearing in the photos as a reminder of who they are. In real life, this obviously won’t work (unless everyone you meet always wears the same clothes!).

Matching Names to Faces

We’re nearly at the test of your memory…

Just before we get there, let’s now look at the same people, but this time with names attached to each person. This is the real work on how to remember names and faces.

I’ve mixed up the order so you don’t just try and remember who was next to whom:

The question now is: How do you make associations between the faces and the names?

Here are a few examples of things that make it easier for me to remember the names and faces:

• Look at the girl in the bottom right corner, with the round face, pale skin, glasses and red hair. I’d imagine that with a name like Patricks, combined with the complexion and red hair, she’s Irish. Also, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, so there’s an extra clue there when it comes to just looking at her face to recall the name… Looks Irish → Ireland’s patron saint is Patrick → Patricks

• Nick Rushton has a kind of quiff haircut, as if he’s been rushing around. I can picture him as being in a rush (Rushton) and arriving in the nick of time (thus giving me his first name).

• Also, Ken’s last name makes me laugh because it has ‘A kat’ in it, which sounds like ‘a cat’. He smiles like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I can look at the smile, think of the character from Alice in Wonderland and get ‘Akat’. I could also think of Japanese food, as he has the word ‘katsu’ in his name which is a Japanese dish.

• Carla Silva has silvery grey hair, so her last name should be easy to remember!

Another tip: Ask yourself, ‘Do any of these people look like people I know with the same or similar names?’

WARNING: Be careful what you remember about a person. Men can grow or shave off facial hair, so don’t just remember someone as ‘that guy with the beard’. Equally, women are more likely to change the style and colour of their hair, so remembering someone as ‘the redhead’ is far too vague.

The Memory Exercise

Get a timer and set it to time or count down 10 minutes.

You now have 5 minutes to look at the names and faces and remember as many as you can, using the tips I’ve given you.

Once the 10 minutes are over, scroll up the page so that you can’t see any of the names. Instead, look at the 16 photos that don’t have the names on them.

You now have 10 minutes to recall as many of the names and faces as possible without scrolling down to check.

You score 1 point for each name and face you recognise, up to a maximum of 16 points.

Be honest with yourself…

How did you do?

I hope you enjoyed this particular memory exercise on how to remember names and faces. More importantly, I hope you actually did it so you can see how good your memory is and how you can improve it.

Leave us a comment in the comments section below and let me know how you did in the exercise on How to remember names and faces? Oh, and make sure you share this post on Facebook and Twitter.

The post How to Remember Names and Faces first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

It also features one of my favourite memory masters (also referred to as mnemonists), Dominic O’Brien.

Sadly, the audio isn’t brilliant as the video creators haven’t used a lapel microphone on Dominic. It gets a little better once he enters the house.

The Journey Method Explained

Did you stay tuned right to the end?

If not, move the slider at the bottom of the video to near the end, as you’ll be able to follow along with an interactive part of the video. Dominic will test what you’ve remembered from the journey around the house.

How many can you remember? Did you remember them in order?

If you can do this simple exercise successfully, you’re ready to learn more and use this technique to remember all kinds of things, not just holiday memories. It can also be used in conjunction with other techniques.

One impressive example of this is learning how to memorize a deck of cards. You can do this by combining The Dominic System (created by Dominic O’Brien) and the Journey Method (created in Greece over 2,000 years ago!).

As Dominic says, it’s:

A very powerful but simple technique.

…Choose a typical journey around your house. Various stages. Choose objects that evoke the strongest… memories and fuse the two together. Imagine each object at the various locations along the journey. That’s it.

And that really is all there is to it. You can remember speeches this way, or even use it to keep personal memories like holidays or birthdays.

So, choose something to remember (it’s easier if you start with a list of items), then place them on a journey around your house. Start easy with no more than 10, then build up from there to test your brain power.

So, what can you remember using the Journey Method? Let us know in the comments section below and be sure to share this with your friends on Facebook and Twitter using the buttons on the left or below.

The post The Journey Method Explained first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

First of all, let’s take a look at this method in action, courtesy of Dutch TV and memory champion Dominic O’Brien:

Just before I explain more about how to memorize a deck of cards, a quick disclaimer…

It’s going to take you a little while to learn the system you need to be able to remember a full deck. However, once you learn the system behind it, you can use it to memorize loads of other things.

OK, with that said, let’s get on with it!

How to Memorize a Deck of Cards

We’re going to start easy, by remembering just 10 cards and then building up from there. Eventually, we’ll build up to a full deck of 52 cards.

Step One

Create your Memory Palace:

• Come up with a journey that has 10 stops or points along the way. It’s easiest to start by having the journey in a building that you know well, like your current or childhood home.

• Run the journey in your head a few times, making sure you stop at each point. See it clearly in your mind before moving on.

• Make sure that once you leave a room or place on your journey, you don’t revisit it. If you do, it will only confuse you.

You’re going to place an image along each point of the journey that will remind you of each card. The next step will show you how to create those images.

Step Two

For me, this is the really fun part of the process. Incidentally, the more fun you have with this, the easier you’ll find it to remember.

You’re going to use a method of coding the cards into your memory by associating people with them. The people need to be familiar to you, either because they’re known to you personally (friends, family etc) or because they’re famous in some way.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

First of all, you need to learn the suits of the cards and convert them into just their first letter.

Step Three

Next, you need to learn this short sequence which converts the card numbers into letters too. There is no zero in cards, but we’ll be using 0 to represent 10. We’ll deal with the court cards (also known as face cards) in a moment.

You’ll notice that the first 5 numbers convert into their equivalent letters in the alphabet, as do 7 and 8. However, 6 converts to S because it has a strong S sound at the start of the word ‘Six’. The number 9 converts to N for similar reasons – There are two N’s in the word ‘nine’.

Finally, 0 translates into the letter O, simply because they look the same.

This is known as the Dominic System and it was created by none other than memory master Dominic O’Brien (featured in the video, above).

You can now use these two keys to convert each card into the initials of a person.

The 2 of Spades

For example, the 2 of Spades converts to the initials B.S. which could signify actress Brooke Shields.

Remember the people you picture must be familiar to you and you must be able to picture them clearly in your mind.

If Brooke Shields isn’t familiar to you, come up with someone you know or someone famous that you recognise with those initials. (You could have Ben Stiller, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen or even Bugsey Seigel)

Remember, the first person you think of with those initials is often the one that’s easier to remember, although it’s worth going to Google and typing in:

‘Famous people initials BS’

…And then simply changing the initials for each card. This will speed up the process.

By the end of this section, you should have 52 different people in mind. Now all you need to do is learn them by looking at each card and picturing the associated person by finding their initials.

So, you’ll see the 10 of Clubs, convert it into initials (OC) and you get Oliver Cromwell.

The people you come up with will now always be associated with those cards. You should eventually reach the stage where you see a playing card and immediately see the person that’s associated with them, without needing to find the initials.

Step Four

Now we need to deal with the court cards. These are the Jack, Queen and King of each suit.

In his excellent book ‘How to Develop a Brilliant Memory‘, Dominic O’Brien says that you need to form characters for each card, which he bases on the suits.

The King of Clubs

He makes the clubs aggressive or sporty, the hearts romantic (like the romantic leads in movies), the diamonds become wealth or actual diamonds and the spades are bad guys because they ‘resemble inverted hearts’.

The characters you choose are up to you, but if they’re doing an activity, it will help you remember them.

To give you a strong example from Dominic’s book, he makes the King of Clubs (aggressive) into the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.

As always, choose associations that make sense to you.

Step Five

Now it’s just a question of seeing those people you’ve imagined in Steps 2 and 3 along the journey that you’ve created.

• We’re starting with just 10 cards, so get a deck of cards and deal off 10 cards.
• Shuffle the cards, then turn them over one by one. As you do, work out the initials, then see the person.
• Once you have the person in mind, place them at the right point along the journey. So if Adolf Hitler is the 4th card (Ace of Hearts!) then place him at the fourth point along your journey.

Testing Your Recall

Once you’ve done that, you’ll have a familiar journey with 10 clear stops and 10 clear people at each of those stops.

Before you try and recite them, do a quick review and make sure that you can see each person along the route.

Now it’s time to see if you’ve really learned how to memorize a deck of cards! Turn the cards over (retaining their order) and deal them one at a time, saying the card that you see in your mind before you turn it over.

How did you do?

Scaling Up to a Full Deck

If you got all 10, then congratulations, it’s time to move on to 20 cards. If you crack that, move on to 30 until eventually you reach 52 cards.

Obviously, as you increase the number of cards, you’ll need to increase the number of stops on your journey. Eventually you’ll have a journey of 52 stops or places, and 52 people to go along with it.

You could eventually memorize several decks of cards by having a number of 52-stop journeys.

There are also ways to increase the number of people you remember in a journey, but I’ll save those for another time when I write more about the Dominic System.

For now, go and get yourself a deck of cards, and start assigning people to the cards. You’ll have them remembered in no time!

So, how did I do? Have you learned how to memorize a deck of cards? How far did you get on your first attempt? Let me know in the comments section below and make sure you share this post on Facebook and Twitter.

The post How to Memorize a Deck of Cards Like a Memory Master first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

And you can be a part of it!

The event, which runs for three full days, will see artists, historians and even a World Memory Champion exploring the world of memory.

Billed by The Serpentine as a ‘festival of ideas’, the marathon will feature discussions, experiments, art installations and performances from some of the world’s foremost experts and memory enthusiasts.

What’s great is that you can attend individual events, or be there for the whole experience. You could be rubbing shoulders with top artists like Gilbert and George, sitting with David Lynch as he premiers a memory-related film or discussing the nature of memory with acclaimed neuroscientist Israel Rosenfield.

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing memory being explored as an active engagement, rather than just a passive thing that we all do.

By making memory more conscious, we allow ourselves to improve our memories more quickly and effectively.

One of the events at the memory marathon will feature some tips on how to remember a 1,000 digit number in less than 1 hour!

We’ll also have the chance to explore how the brain remembers thanks to the senses, including presentations and experiments using memories of smells.

I’m going to do my best to get some great footage and ideally, some interviews with some of the artists. I’d particularly like to chat to Ed Cooke, who is the memory champion that trained Joshua Foer to become the 2006 US Memory Champion.

Also, quite apart from all the cool memory marathon events, the actual venue is amazing. It’s a huge geodesic dome in the grounds of the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park that was created by contemporary artist Ai Weiwei. You can see it in the image above.

The Memory Marathon runs from the 12th-14th October 2012 at The Serpentine Gallery, London.

To be a part of this very special memory event, click here for tickets and more details.

The post Are You Coming to the Memory Marathon in London? first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

Ed Miliband speaking at the Labour Party conference. Image: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

Having given a rousing keynote speech to the assembled party members, Ed Miliband left the stage. As he did, the Labour leader commented to his aides that he could have done the same speech more effectively without using an autocue.

Fast forward to the 2012 Labour Party conference in Manchester two days ago. Miliband took to the stage and gave a 65-minute, 6,000 word speech… with no notes and no autocue.

How did he remember 6,000 words and then be able to present them in an engaging way?

It turns out that Labour Party insiders have revealed the secret… And it’s something you can do too.

How To Memorise a Long Speech

Miliband split his speech into 11 sections and then remembered each one individually. By breaking it down, he made the speech manageable in his mind.

That’s the first hurdle to memorising any speech. If you look at the speech and feel daunted, break it down into more manageable sections, then focus on one at a time. Don’t move on until you’ve got the first one nailed.

It’s also been revealed that he began learning the 11 sections well in advance. In fact, Labour Party insiders have said that he first began learning the speech while on holiday.

Again, this is a brilliant approach to take because when you’re on holiday, you’re at your most relaxed.

When you’re in a relaxed state, a number of things happen to help you remember more, including:

• You have very low levels of the stress hormone cortisol which can impair your ability to remember.

• You’re also likely to be more creative as your mind is more free to wander and make connections that would otherwise not be made.

I’m not saying you need a holiday to learn a speech. What I am saying is that you need to make sure you’re as relaxed as possible when learning it. If you do a run-through and you forget it, don’t beat yourself up. Just start again calmly, having looked over your notes.

Another interesting thing to note about Ed Miliband’s memory feat is that he didn’t learn the speech by rote (word-for-word).

According to one Labour Party insider, every time Mr Miliband rehearsed the speech, it came out slightly differently.

“The idea was to make sure Ed had a connection with people, that he said what he felt rather than what he learnt,” he said.

This means that Mr Miliband had a clear idea of what he wanted to say. The wording was important, but not so important that it had to be 100% perfect.

How He Could Have Remembered More

Although it went very well indeed, the speech wasn’t perfect. Mr Miliband forgot to use some of the material he’d prepared about environmental issues.

He could have avoided this oversight by using techniques such as the Peg method or better still, the Journey Method.

By using images and placing them along a journey that is familiar to him, Ed Miliband could have pictured each image and remembered to talk about them in the order he found them on the planned journey.

This ensures that you’re less likely to forget what you want to talk about. For a beautiful example of this technique in action, watch this video.

*     *     *     *     *

So, there you have it! Hats off to Mr Miliband for using the often treacherous ‘no notes’ approach, and making it work.

There’s one last important point to learn from this oratorial memory feat, and it comes from Ed Miliband himself…

‘In the end, if you really believe something, you don’t need a text.’

Did you see the speech? What do you think of the ‘no notes’ approach? Do you have any memory tips for memorising speeches? Let us know in the comments section below and be sure to share this on Facebook and Twitter.

The post How Ed Miliband Memorised his 6,000 Word Speech first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

It seems like one of the many social skills that nobody teaches you in life is how to remember names.

It’s a key skill and the better you are at it, the better you’re likely to be perceived by other people. After all, we all love hearing our own name. Knowing that someone has remembered you makes you feel good.

So, here’s some memory tips on how to remember names…

How to Remember Names More Effectively

There are actually two keys to this skill, not one (as most people think).

Not only do you have to know how to remember the names, you also need to remember the face that goes with the name.

Many people are good with faces and not names, but if you’re not good with either, I’ll tell you how to remember faces later.

1) Pay Attention!

A lot of people stumble at this first hurdle…

If you’re not paying attention to the person you’re meeting for the first time, then you can be pretty sure that you’re not going to remember their name.

When you hear their name, do your best to be present in that moment.

Repeat the name after they’ve said it:

‘Hi, I’m Maria.’

‘Hey Maria, good to meet you. I’m James.’

As you talk to them, use their name occasionally in conversation to help anchor it into your mind. (Obviously, don’t overuse it as that can sound weird.)

Also, say the name to yourself in your mind again in the first few seconds of the conversation. You can do this as you look at the person and start associating the name with the face.

2) Give Their Name Meaning

Like many memory skills, knowing how to remember names actually comes down to your ability to imagine and associate.

I’ll come on to associations later on, but first let’s see how we can give a name more meaning…

If the name is distinctive, then you’re likely to have an easier job remembering it. For example, if someone’s first name is River, you can immediately get a meaning from that. You could even picture them rowing on a river.

It’s harder when the name is something more ‘normal’ like Jeff.

However, it’s still possible to make associations. In the example of Jeff, I personally think of this Star Wars cantine sketch by comedian Eddie Izzard, where he talks about Jeff Vader (instead of Darth Vader).

Here’s a brilliant Lego animation of the sketch:

Now admittedly, you don’t have to go this silly for your meaning (although silly is more memorable).

For example, did you know that it’s usually easier for our brains to remember someone’s occupation than someone’s name?

The reason is because when someone says, ‘I’m a plumber,’ we can immediately see what that is in our mind’s eye. We can also imagine them doing the actions of a plumber, or dressed in the overalls and carrying a wrench.

If they say, ‘My name’s Chris,’ it doesn’t mean anything to us. It’s a little like trying to remember numbers. Numbers, like names, are pretty meaningless unless we can make some associations to remember them.

So, picture the person doing their job, or perhaps observe something about them and relate that to their name.

By giving meaning to their name, you enable your brain to remember it in multiple ways.

3) How to Remember Names by Association

As well as making connections between their occupation and name, you may also be able to make more abstract associations to help you remember.

Let’s say that you meet someone called Christina Fletcher.

At first glance, you may not see any easy way to remember that name, but look at the last name…

A fletcher is actually someone whose job was to add the feathers to arrows to make them fire straighter.

It’s more than likely that with a name like Fletcher, one of her predecessors was an actual fletcher.

And this isn’t the only last name that has a job associated with it. Think of all the Bakers, Butchers, Smiths, Goldsmiths, Weavers, Millers, Brewers, Farmers, Masons, Carpenters, Thatchers, Archers or Potters.

If you can picture the person doing the job that their surname represents, you’re again making associations to help you remember.

Other names or surnames may sound like actions or ideas, so make any connection that makes sense to you.

And remember, the first association that comes into your head is usually the strongest one for you. Don’t overcomplicate it, just go with what makes sense in your brain.

Connecting The Name to the Face

Now you know how to remember names, we need to connect those names to the faces in order to recall both at the same time.

This is easier than you might think, partially because you’re going to use some of the same memory strategies we’ve already looked at in the ‘how to remember names’ section.

Here’s a couple of tips for remembering faces:

• Look at the person you want to remember and think about what a caricature of them would look like. What facial or physical features do they have that stand out? Exaggerate it in your mind and see if you can associate a personality with it. If they have slightly larger than average ears, imagine them listening in on everyone’s conversations to hear the latest gossip.

• Observe the body language and demeanour of the person. Are they funny? Shy? Nervous? Are they tactile with people or do they prefer not to enter other people’s private space? Again, tie this to their name if you can, but make sure you get a clear image of them in your mind.

For a great example of remembering lots of names and faces, check out this amazing video featuring memory champion Ron White.

So, there you have it… How to remember names with several parts of your brain (not just one, like you would normally).

How do you remember people’s names? Do you have any tips or memory strategies for social situations? Let us know in the comments below and invite your friends to leave their thoughts by sharing this on Facebook and Twitter.

The post How to Remember Names first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

They’re simple, and as with everything I write here, you can apply them straightaway.

Memory Strategies to Keep You Sane

Eliminate Technology Overload

There’s been an interesting development regarding our memories over the past 20 years or so…

As technology advances, there are more and more ways to record what we need to remember.

However, many people would say that their memories have actually got worse, or certainly no better.

The reason, in my opinion, is that we’re overwhelming ourselves with information. This overloads the brain and confuses us.

And I don’t just mean that there’s more to remember.

As we watch television or surf the internet, we’re bombarded with visually stimulating images. Too much of this can make you tired, reducing your brain’s ability to remember.

Mobile phones, while being another great advancement in technology, are actually making us busier, often unneccesarily.

Remember, don’t confuse being busy with being productive.

The solution?

• Decide what’s important in your life and what isn’t… Then eliminate those things that are distracting you from what matters. Does your phone really need to be on 24/7? Could it be on silent some of the time?

As memory strategies go, this is perhaps the simplest one I’ve ever written, but don’t dismiss it just because it sounds basic.

Organise Your Memory

Part of the problem with having tons of information to process is that if we don’t organise it properly, then we can get overwhelmed.

Of course, this is related to the technological overload I mentioned earlier, but it runs deeper than that.

Without organisation, you can feel very lost and if you’re not careful, worried.

Both of these feelings have a negative effect on your brain as they cause you stress, which produces the stress hormone cortisol. In regular or high quantities, cortisol can damage the structural elements of the brain.

Here’s how to get organised:

• Instead of checking 12 different places for information each day, limit it to two or three at the absolute maximum. For example, you can update all your social media accounts from one place using tools like SocialOomph.

• Make sure you check-in everyday at the same time with your diary so you can see what you need to do today, then focus on just one thing at a time. Be worried about something you have to do later is totally pointless and will only harm your brain and your progress. Also, make sure you write down everything you need to do in your diary, to free up some brain space.

• E-mails can be a huge drain on your memory power, as they distract you from what you want to focus on. Check them twice per day (ideally just once). Set up an autoresponse to go out to all new e-mailers saying that you only check your e-mail once or twice per day and to call you only if it’s urgent.

Do this and you’ll be giving your brain more space to remember.

Use Spatial Memory Strategies

I’ve saved the best until last, as this is one of the more unusual and effective memory strategies.

Let’s say you need to remember 5 things today. It could be as simple as a shopping list (where the things are often unrelated) or something more complicated like a series of things for your business.

Regardless, use this:

• You’re going to associate the things you need to do with images, then assign those imaginary images to parts of your body. Sounds weird, huh?

• Let’s say it’s a shopping list of bread, cheese, cat food and washing up liquid… You might imagine the cheese next to your feet (cheesy feet!), your hands covered in soap suds (washing up liquid), a cat perched on your shoulder (cat food) and a loaf of bread in place of your head (as in the expression ‘use your loaf’ meaning ‘use your head’).

• It sounds silly but your brain loves these creative associations and you’ll remember them more easily because they make you laugh, and because it was you that created the associations.

• Naturally, you might find other ways to remember this list, or other items in your life. If the things you need to remember are more complex, then break them down into images and then associate those with parts of the body.

Another great strategy to remind yourself of things is to move something from where it would normally be, and associate that move with the thing you want to remember.

For example, if you normally wear your watch on your left wrist, take it off and put it on your right wrist instead. When you go to check the time, you’ll instinctively look at your left wrist. When you realise your watch is on the other wrist, your mind will immediately seek the reason why, thus reminding you of the thing you want to remember.

Naturally, these are just a few of the memory strategies that you can use to remember more.

For more useful memory strategies, check out the Memorization Techniques category on this blog.

Do you have memory strategies that you use in daily life? How do you keep track of things in a busy world? Leave a comment below and let us know.

The post Memory Strategies and Productivity Tips for a Busy World first appeared on Smart Memory Power.

No matter what area of work or life you happen to be in, there comes a time when you need to know how to memorize a speech… Ideally, the quicker and easier the better.

Well, I’m here to help you with some ninja memorization techniques so you can get the speech down in no time.

So, let’s begin:

How to Memorize a Speech

The late Steve Jobs was a master of giving great speeches with very few prompts at all.

One of the key ways to make sure you can memorize a speech, or indeed anything, is to make sure that you use multiple ways to remember things. This means using 3 key principles:

• Association
• Location
• Imagination

Most of the following techniques combine these principles in order to make the speech stick in your mind, so that you can recall it more easily.

Turning a Speech into a Journey

When I had a business presentation to make I searched high and low for how to memorize a speech, and this is my favourite method.

This technique will give you clear mental prompts and guides to remember the content of the speech and its order.

It’s known as The Journey (or Loci) Method and I’ve written about it at great length on this blog. For a good introduction to it, check out this Journey Method post and memory exercise.

The technique simply involves picturing a journey in your mind that’s familiar to you, then placing cues at points along the journey to prompt your memory.

When it comes to memorizing a speech, here’s how you can use it:

1. Break your speech down into clear images that signify things you want to talk about.
2. Picture a journey, perhaps around your home. Don’t re-enter any room once you’ve left it in your mind. Walk the journey for real a couple of times so that the order is clear.
3. Now, in your mind, place an item or person at each location to prompt you to talk about a particular topic. For a great demonstration of this, watch this video explanation featuring Joshua Foer.
4. Whenever you want to recall the speech, simply go on the journey in your mind, stopping at each point and seeing the object or person that will remind you of the next part.
5. If you need/want to memorize multiple speeches, simply use multiple journeys.

How To Memorize a Speech Using Visual Links

If you need to know how to memorize a speech word-for-word, then this technique may well help you out.

This is one of the more associative methods of remembering, called The Link Method.

With this technique, you form links in your mind between different elements of the speech and actually use them to create images or scenes.

These scenes can then in turn be linked together to form a visual representation of the whole speech.

In terms of learning the speech word-for-word, you can use the Link Method to draw links between certain words or phrases that you find hard to remember.

As an example, let’s just take a couple of lines from a Steve Jobs speech he gave at Stanford University in 2005 and see what images we can create to remind us of it:

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

Well, apart from the fact that this is the speaker’s own life story (thus making it a lot easier to remember!), there are some lovely images to help you memorize this speech.

• ‘…getting fired from Apple…’ – I see him getting fired out of a cannon that’s sticking out of a big green apple and looking delighted with himself.

• ‘…the heaviness of being successful…’ – I see the word success on a chain around his neck, dragging along the floor, stopping him from moving forward.

• ‘…was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again…’ – For some reason, I picture him floating along, not touching the ground and then floating into a car with a big red ‘L’ for ‘learner’ on the side, showing he’s a beginner.

In this way, I could link all of these together in a comical way and it would provide my memory with a visual prompt for what I wanted to talk about. I can see Steve being fired from the cannon mounted into an apple, but hitting the ground because of the word success weighing him down. He takes it off and floats off and into a car with learner stickers on it…

And now I know exactly what to talk about next!

Going Backwards to Go Forward

I’ve read a number of reports of people learning speeches backwards, and finding that it helps them to memorize it forwards.

When I say ‘learn it backwards’, I don’t mean you reverse the entire speech. I simply mean that you learn the last line first, then learn the one before it.

So, if the speech ends with: ‘Thank you for listening’, then learn that first. Learn it thoroughly, and then add the previous line, which might be ‘And with that, I’d like to conclude this presentation’.

Once you’ve memorized both lines, run them forwards in the correct order, as if you were finishing the speech for real.

Doing it this way around enables your brain to do a couple of things that memorizing it in the right order may not achieve:

By going backwards through the speech, you get a clearer vision of where you’re going to end up. The structure of the speech is obvious because you’re beginning at the very end.

Also, you’re making your brain work and make connections in a way that you wouldn’t if you just learnt the speech forwards. By creating those connections, your brain is stimulated and is therefore likely to perform better. You’ll remember more quickly and your recall will be smoother.

If you’re struggling to work out how to memorize a speech, then going backwards to go forward may just help you get started.

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Now that you know how to memorize a speech thoroughly, here’s a quick tip for you to use to make the above methods work even better:

• Review the speech after 24 hours, again after 3 days and again after a week. Then make sure you review and practice it on a regular basis thereafter until you need to give the speech. Repetition will help you remember more.

Enjoyed this post? Got any thoughts or tips on how to memorize a speech? Simply leave a message in the comments section below and we’ll reply as soon as we can. And of course, make sure you use the buttons below or on the left to share this post on Facebook and Twitter.

The post How to Memorize a Speech – 3 Simple Techniques first appeared on Smart Memory Power.