by Brad Zupp
The next step is applying memory hacks to parts that concern you. These are often when your character starts the scene with limited context to remind you of what happens next, tricky dialogue, or soliloquies. Use this hack to speed up the process of knowing your lines by heart and to reassure yourself. In an emergency, you have a reminder prepared in your mind for lines you are concerned you might forget.
HOW TO DO IT
1Read the script and analyze your parts. Identify the lines or sections that seem hard to remember.
2Often all our minds need is a nudge in the right direction to get started. For the first line in a scene, a part that trips you up, or to remember multiple long lines, convert the first few words into images and add them to the scene in your mind. Here’s an example:
In Romeo and Juliet, the Prince enters and begins a 23-line speech. Change the first few words into images and link them together to give your mind a cue for each part.
a]Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace: Your favorite rebel; pick one from the group of characters onstage.
b]Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel: “Profaner” is one letter away from “profanger,” like Dracula with his steel that is stained by the blood of his neighbors he’s drained. Imagine one of the other actors as Dracula.
c]Will they not hear? What, ho! you men, you beasts: William Tell = apple, or imagine another actor onstage with his last will and testament pinned to a bale of hay (they) balanced by his ear (hear).
d]That quench the fire of your pernicious rage: That = fat from meat sizzling on (“quenching”) a fire.
3Remember out of context. Have a friend or scene partner choose a line prior to one of yours—from anywhere in the play—and read it out loud. Force your mind to find your line out of context.
4Go backward. Don’t say the sentences backward, only the order of the lines. Start at the end of the play and recall each section backward. Doing the play in reverse with a scene partner creates more pathways to form the memory of the lines.
5Practice transitions. Professional musicians may practice the first few notes of a particularly tough section to get the nuances just right. Practice any transitions or other areas that you frequently have trouble remembering.
6Write out the first letter of each line or section that you struggle with. Use it as a key to test whether you remember each word perfectly. Write out and read “R-s-e-t-p / p-o-t-n-s-s” as an aid to learning the line.
With these hacks, you’ll be on your way to fame and fortune in no time. When you get there, remember the little people who helped you (like me!).
[ 49 ] Remember Religious or Spiritual Passages
DO YOU PRACTICE your faith by memorizing spiritual passages? For some people, rote memorization is fine. For them, reading the words over and over not only helps them memorize but also provides a sense of spiritual connection. Others use memory techniques to remember more quickly than the rote memorization method allows for. They prefer to know the passage and dwell on them as they commute, walk in nature, or at other times when their holy book is unavailable.
THE TECHNIQUE Use the First Few Words
The method for remembering religious or spiritual passages is easy. First, decide if you need help remembering the exact passage word for word or if you need a simple cue, like the first few words, to remember verbatim. You may also need to remember a few words that you tend to misremember. Next, decide if you also would like to know the chapter and verse or other passage number. If so, I suggest learning the Major System to be able to quickly connect the numbers to the image of the first few words of the passage or line.
HOW TO DO IT
1Read the passage and convert it into a story using your creativity. Translate a few keywords to provide a cue for recall. Here’s an example:
NIV Bible
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. (James 1:2)
I imagine my brothers and sisters in a circle, considering a broken computer (trial and IT) with pure joy on their faces, with one looking at her watch (“whenever” and “face”), when a kind judge walks in (trials of many kinds). Often the first word may be enough to remind you of the passage. If I had trouble getting started, since the overall picture is not a word-for-word, I would add that the judge could be thought of as a convict (“con”) babysitter (“sider”).
2To remind yourself of a passage you already know verbatim, translate the essence of the passage into an image as you did in step 1. If you’ve already committed the passage to memory through study, you probably have the image in your mind. Strengthen it by adding details or putting yourself into the scene.
3To learn a passage word for word, first read it three times, close your eyes, and test yourself. What words do you naturally remember and what do you forget? If you forget only a few words, which is common, change each frequently forgotten word into a picture and connect it to the image of the story that relates to the passage.
4To cue your memory for some passage, you may need to change many smaller words into images. Create them as you go or imagine them ahead of time, assigning images to each. Here are a few suggestions—use them or modify them as needed. Some of these might not make much sense to you, because this is my system where I’ve decided on images because they rhyme, what the word looks like to me, or my own a random assignment.
Word Image Ideas
The tea (cup or bag)
An nun
And Andy or nod (head)
That bat
In sign for a hotel (inn)
He generic man or man specific to the passage
For related to golfing (“Fore!”) created in the moment by context
Shall shell
To movement or direction or shoes (“to” rhymes with “shoe”)
5To learn the numbers associated with each passage, take the time to completely prepare your Major System. This makes it easy to connect the number images with the images for each line or verse.
6See “Remember Your Lines for a Play” for more ideas such as working with a partner to remember better.
Working on this method is a wonderful way to strengthen your faith and your memory at the same time.
[ 50 ] How to Be a Memory Athlete
“WHY IN THE world would anyone want to be a memory athlete?!” Does the idea of sitting in a room memorizing things with other people sound boring? Don’t worry, I completely understand, but hear me out! Becoming a memory athlete is like running a 5K race or joining a softball league. It’s a way to improve fitness (mental in this case) while being surrounded by other fun people with a similar interest. It has many advantages.
•Everyday memory greatly improves
•The ability to focus and tune out distractions increases
•It is surprisingly enjoyable
•Non-memory athletes think you’re a genius just for participating
•There is camaraderie with others interested in memory improvement
Read this section with an open mind. I’d love to see you at the next competition.
THE TECHNIQUE A Small Amount of Practice
As an amateur memory athlete, you will use the same systems, methods, and techniques you’ve been learning throughout this book. The only difference between a person who wants to remember better and a memory athlete is the amount of practice.
At memory competitions, there are anywhere from four to ten different events. Here’s the amazing part: You already have 99 percent of the information you need just from reading this book to enter and do well at a memory competition.
In this book I don’t go into detail to describe the systems for memorizing a deck of cards or binary numbers, but with a bit of practice and a few Memory Palaces, you’re already ready. Don’t forget it’s not about rote memorization; all the methods needed for competitive memorizing rely on creating odd, funny images or mental movies to remember the information. The most common events at competitions are:
•NAMES
AND FACES. Pictures of people and names from all over all the world.
•RANDOM NUMBERS. This can be memorizing an 80-digit number in under one minute, five minutes to memorize as much of a 600-digit number as possible, or longer events of up to 60 minutes of memorizing hundreds of digits.
•PLAYING CARDS. Memorize a shuffled deck of playing cards as fast as possible (or as much of a deck as you can) in under five minutes, or enjoy the longer events where you memorize as many decks of cards as you can in one hour.
•BINARY NUMBERS. Memorize 100110110001101011001 . . . for 30 fun-filled minutes.
•RANDOM WORDS. Memorize columns of words for 15 minutes.
•SPOKEN NUMBERS. A computerized voice speaks one random digit per second. The numbers are never seen (and of course competitors are not allowed to write them down). This is my favorite event and the one where I set the United States record two years in a row (112 digits, then 150 digits).
•RANDOM IMAGES. Photos of random scenes like a sunset, bird, bridge, road, flowers, balloon, etc. are displayed and their order must be memorized.
HOW TO DO IT
1Check out these two websites dedicated to helping people train as memory athletes: Memoryleague.com and Memocamp.com.
2Start with the Names and Faces event first. It’s practical in real life and doesn’t require Memory Palaces or specific systems.
3Develop at least three Memory Palaces with 10 locations each. Then try the random images event or random words using your Memory Palaces to store the information.
4Do a little practice several times a week, enjoying both the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment.
5Pick a competition and go for it. The website Memoryleague.com has a head-to-head competition feature—you don’t even have to leave your home to compete, and matches take as little as four minutes.
6To learn more about the sport and see a list of competitions, visit http://www.iam-memory.org.
By now you’ve seen how powerful these hacks can be. Keep reading to discover how you can amaze your coworkers, bosses, managers, or clients. Even if you’re not working at a traditional nine-to-five job, I encourage you to read this part anyway to discover more techniques that can be applied to other areas of life besides the workplace.
[ 51 ] Surprising Memory Habits for Business & Sales Success
WE ALL HAVE habits. The question is, Are they helping us get where we want to go or holding us back? If you’ve ever worked with someone who is “sharp” and “with it,” you know how impressive they can seem, especially if we feel we don’t compare favorably. Do yourself the favor of developing good memory habits that impress people.
These specific memory habits can be used daily to strengthen your mind and assist in your pursuit of a better memory.
THE TECHNIQUE Back Up Your Important Memories
I’m a fan of writing down important details, which may seem strange to read in a book about memory hacks. My philosophy is that business is too important to be left only to memory. Our memory should be the main way to keep track of things, but when money is on the line—our own or that of our clients’—using a secondary method is important. We back up the essential information on our computers, so let’s back up our minds, too.
The first memory habit, then, is the Brain Dump. The next is using Checklists, and the last is to Reduce Stress. Develop the habit of using these techniques. They all help your memory by reviewing important details, cleaning up clutter in the mind, organizing thoughts, and relieving worries.
HOW TO DO IT
1THE BRAIN DUMP. Getting all the important details out of our heads and into a customer relationship manager, a database, meeting notes, or a simple daily journal helps tremendously. Writing or typing out the information tells our minds to pay attention, as this material is obviously important. We learned the material once with the client or during the course of business, and now we’re documenting it. The mind thinks, “I’ve got to pay attention to this!”
Your method will vary depending on your business, but make detailed notes toward the end of every day. If you’re too busy or writing isn’t your favorite, talk to a coworker or partner about the important points or simply review your day mentally as you commute.
2CHECKLISTS. Pilots use checklists even after they’ve flown thousands of times. If your work involves something important—and what work doesn’t?—create and use checklists. Having them will help your mind focus and, interestingly, free up space in your mind to remember things you might have otherwise missed. A checklist can also help reduce stress. Your mind can find peace because it no longer has to go over and over details, wondering if it’s forgetting anything important.
3STRESS RELIEF. We all know self-care is good for us, but how many of us follow through and make it a habit? Pick something—whether it’s yoga or jujitsu—and put it onto your calendar. “I’ll get around to it” hasn’t been working, has it? It only creates more stress. If you need more motivation, use the SPEAR Technique.
The punitive approach is especially effective with businesspeople and salespeople: Get a sizable amount of cash and write a note saying, “Thanks for your wonderful work!” Address it to an organization you loathe. Give it to a trusted friend. If you don’t go to four yoga classes this month or run a certain number of miles, your friend will mail it for you. This can also be used per week or per activity with smaller dollar amounts. While this is a good motivator, make sure it doesn’t backfire and create more stress than it relieves!
[ 52 ] Remember Computer Shortcuts
BEING ABLE TO rely on your memory saves time and improves efficiency. Remembering keyboard shortcuts may seem minor, but considering all the time you spend at your computer, the seconds you save add up, especially when using software with many available time-saving shortcuts. Many video, photo, and audio editing software make extensive use of keyboard shortcuts, as do database and writing programs.
This memory hack can be put into practice nearly instantly. Use it as a short-term technique to bridge the gap between learning the shortcut and making it part of your keyboard repertoire or to remember infrequently used shortcuts to have ready for the rare times you need them.
THE TECHNIQUE Time-Saving System
Keyboard shortcuts rely almost exclusively on holding down a few main keys, like the control and shift keys, then pressing another key like a letter or symbol. All that’s needed for your shortcut system is to create mental images of the main keys. The second key pressed will usually make sense:
HOW TO DO IT
1Choose your image for each main shortcut key. These are mine:
PC
Control Airplane (contrail)—picture a pilot
Shift Makes letters bigger (capitalization), so picture a giant
Function Sounds like “fun” (picture something fun) or “luncheon” (a chef, plates, etc.)
Windows symbol Bill Gates, or a window
Alt Owl, ant, or car battery (“alternator”)
Mac
Shift Makes letters bigger (capitalization), so picture a giant
Command In command (picture a military commander like a general)
Control Reminds me of an airplane (contrail), so picture a pilot, or “king” (the symbol on the key reminds me of a crown)
Option Reminds me of “operation” (picture a doctor) or a child (the symbol on the key reminds me of a playground slide)
2Imagine the keyboard shortcut by what it does or a reminder based on the letter pressed.
3Combine the main key’s image with an image of the second key (and third in some cases) by using Alphabet Images. Sometimes it’s easier to start with the main key image, add the second key image, then create a little story to associate the idea of the shortcut.
Here are a few examples:
To hide everything on your computer screen, minimizing all windows:
PC: Alt + F Owl flies
away with your computer screen
Mac: Command + H A general hops on your computer screen, making everything vanish
To access the emojis available from the keyboard:
PC: WIN + Period Bill Gates hits a nail (period) along with his finger and makes a painful emoji face
Mac: Control + Command + Space Bar Pilot and general are in space: see their emoji expressions
To paste from a website or other document without keeping the original formatting:
PC: Control + Shift + V Pilot and giant drive a van with plain text on the sides
Mac: Shift + Command + V Giant and general drive a van with boring writing on the sides
The process is simple and requires only a few basic mental images to make it work. It makes the process of remembering large amounts of shortcuts much faster.
TIP | “HOW WILL I REMEMBER THAT?”
When confronted with something you want to remember, ask yourself, “How will I remember that?” Stopping to ask the question brings your attention to the moment. It also helps you think of exactly which system, method, or technique to use, and improves memory instantly.
[ 53 ] Memorize Large Amounts of New Information Quickly
STARTING A NEW job can be exciting, stressful, and—of course—a memory challenge. There are new names to remember, procedures to follow, and often large amounts of new information to learn. Memory techniques help shorten the time between not having a clue and knowing everything cold. Keep in mind the premise of this book: Remembering well is possible. It’s not a mystical process that only super-humans can do. It’s not even especially difficult. Work with your mind and use the techniques described. You’ll be impressing your new coworkers (and managers) in no time.
THE TECHNIQUE Select the Best Technique
You have the strategies and skills needed to impress everyone at your new job with how quickly you learn. Here are suggestions for strategies to use based on some common things you may need to learn: