One Minute Memory Improvement

Most memory books and sites start with a section like “OK, memorise these things. Pah, you were rubbish. You need this book. Here's how to improve.”

We are going to start by memorising a few things, and going – see you can do it. Let's get better.

We will do this by memorising the following 10 'things' , just your average shopping list:

• a pint of milk, a loaf of bread, some cheese, a chocolate bar, a newspaper, some apples, shampoo, a bottle of wine, a hair brush, and a new television

The untrained mnemonist (someone who remembers stuff), will read the list, repeat the list to themselves with the text in front of them, repeat the list without looking at the text, repeat the items the didn't recall, and continue until they have a full pass through the list. Then wait five minutes and fail to recall most of the list. Then they will start again, or give up assuming that they can't remember a list of 10 items.

We are going to do something different.

• Trigger
  
  • Build an image
  • Chain the image

Instead of starting with the list. Start with a trigger. I'm going to use the phrase “Welcome to Today's shopping list”. I'm going to imagine this said in the voice of a Gameshow introduction. “Weeeeelcome to Today's shopping list”. This will be shown on a tacky flashing sign and will have a rousing applause after it. The sign will also be on the outside of the shop where I do my shopping.

The first thing on the list is a pint of milk. So my camera will pan to the show's host. And today's guest host is a pint of milk so I can see a pint of milk holding a microphone welcoming me to the show. The pint of milk then starts introducing the contestants on the show.

The first contestant is a loaf of bread. A cartoon style loaf of bread who is dancing and excited to be on the show, and so excited that he falls over to the right, bumping into the next contestant, a wedge of cheese who gets a bit annoyed and glares at the next contestant who is laughing at these antics and turns out to be a bar of chocolate.

The bar of chocolate picks up a newspaper and comes to the front of the stage to start the first game in the show. Which in this case is using the newspaper to catch apples falling from the roof. As he is catching them, the cheese (still angry) squirts shampoo on the floor, causing the chocolate to slip.

The game ends and the milk bottle host presents the chocolate with a giant bottle of red wine as a prize and he staggers off screen.

The host then preens himself with a hair brush saying we'll be back after these adverts, and I see my hand switch off the television hosting the show.

To remember the list I turn each of the items into a memorable picture which flow to the next, and I put them in a context such that I can trigger them. So I really only have to trigger the 'recall' and the story unfolds with the memorable items being picked out as the story plays.

This uses a combination of techniques which we will learn as we go through the book.

If the story I used didn't work for you then create your own. Using the following principles:

• make the pictures outlandish and 'different'
• use sound, motion, humour in the story
• exaggerate the images and situations
• create a trigger/intro for the situation