by Brad Zupp
•AGE. How old do they sound?
•LEVEL. Are they quiet or loud?
•SPEED. How quickly do they speak?
• TONE AND EMOTION. What is their normal, everyday emotion or tone?
•UNIQUE. Do you hear a texture or quality that is rare?
•VOCABULARY. What type of words do they normally choose?
•WEIGHT. Does their voice sound light or heavy?
Notice voices in your daily interactions and identify the characteristics of different people’s voices. Your mind will develop the ability to better recognize the people you speak with so you can move on to the next steps of connecting them with their personal details.
HOW TO DO IT
1Identify the clients whose voices you have trouble remembering or connecting to a name. Consider the characteristics of the way they speak listed earlier. With voices, we develop a mental image that isn’t visual—it’s more of a sense or feeling. We “know” a voice by identifying its characteristics, so create a mental “feeling” for them. Mentally hear their voices.
2Convert their name into a picture. Use the Best Friend Method: Think of a famous person or friend with the same name and picture them in your mind.
3Associate the picture with the sound of them speaking.
4Think of the client’s business matters and any pertinent information you need to remember. (See “Remember Customers’ Favorite Orders & Preferences” for more.) Convert the information into mental images.
5Connect their name with the information in a memorable, creative way. Connect the client details with the mental image and the mental “feeling” you have of them. You’re making a chain of connections for your mind to follow.
When you recognize the voice or hear the name and recall what it reminds you of, your mind will follow the pathway to the details you need. The majority of the results come from making the effort to identify the voices and names of your customers. Things quickly fall into place once you communicate to your mind—through your daily efforts—that this is a priority for you.
[ 65 ] Fix “It’s on the Tip of My Tongue” Syndrome
REMEMBER THAT THERE are three essential steps to memory: Focus on the information, arrange the material in the mind, and retrieve it from your mind when you need it (FAR). Many people find themselves tripped up by the last step. It’s common, especially as we age, to have trouble accessing information as quickly as we’d like. This often leads to a frustrating “It’s on the tip of my tongue” moment; the memory is right there, but for some reason you can’t quite access it.
THE TECHNIQUE The Topic and Alphabet Access Methods
There are several hacks for this phenomenon. Getting more sleep is a great place to start. A well-rested mind is more alert, nimble, and functional. It’s also important to relax. A mind under pressure or stress has more trouble accessing stored memory than a calm, serene mind. If you frequently suffer from this syndrome, you’ll love these two helpful techniques:
THE TOPIC METHOD: As soon as you realize you’re blanking out on something you know, start naming other things you can think of that are similar.
THE ALPHABET ACCESS METHOD: Some people prefer this because it has more structure. Start with “A” and list things that are similar to what you are trying to recall, letter by letter.
HOW TO DO IT
TOPIC METHOD
1You realize you know something but can’t quite recall it.
2List other similar items in your mind until you arrive at the word you are looking for.
Here’s an example:
Someone you know relatively well is walking toward you, but his name has fled your mind. You know him and his name, but your mind isn’t doing its job.
Start thinking of names in your mind: Ron, Rocco, Jim, Dana, John, Joe, Robb, Max . . . You’re telling your mind, “What you’re looking for is like one of these things. What is it?” Your memory detective will know what to look for and provide you with the answer.
ALPHABET ACCESS METHOD
1You realize you know something but can’t quite recall it.
2List other similar items in your mind starting with the letter “A” and continuing through the alphabet until you remember it.
Here’s an example:
You can’t remember the name of the movie you watched last week. Start naming movies by letter: “Apollo 13. Braveheart. Cars. Dances with Wolves. East of Eden . . . The process of forcing your mind to find other similar information, especially by a specific letter, often jogs the memory quickly.
Try both methods and see which one works best for you. My coaching clients often have strong preferences; what works best for one person may not work at all for another. Be constructive: Either technique is better than complaining that you can’t remember! The main ways I avoid this syndrome are taking care of my mind and using memory hacks to remember information. When we encode information in fun, creative ways, it is much easier to recall later. But for those times when the mind doesn’t seem to want to play along, one of these two techniques will help.
[ 66 ] Remember Emergency Procedures
DO YOU REMEMBER your workplace safety plan? Do you know the two closest evacuation routes in the event of an emergency? Do you remember where the fire extinguishers are located? Trying to remember what you’re supposed to do when under pressure is difficult. Trying to remember without ever learning it is impossible.
This may be an uncomfortable subject to consider, but it’s important. By applying a memory hack, in addition to practice and review, you may feel more secure and be prepared in the event of a dangerous situation.
THE TECHNIQUE Learn and Focus
The main focus of this hack is: Focus! Simply drawing your attention to a number of important safety matters will get your mind started on the path to remembering. Using your imagination will be another step toward easy recall in the event of an emergency. Finally, reviewing the plan using spaced repetition and a reminder system will help prepare your mind for something everyone hopes will never be needed.
HOW TO DO IT
1What is the evacuation plan for your office? If it’s written, find it. If it’s not, write your own.
2Review the evacuation plan, noting the nearest exits as well as alternative exits that could be used in an emergency, like windows or doors that are farther away.
3Arrive before work or take time during a lunch break to walk the routes, including using the alternate exits.
4Mentally review each evacuation path by visualizing yourself using them calmly but quickly. See yourself turning the door handle or pushing the bar for the door. Do not imagine any specific emergency or induce panic in your mental imagery; simply picture yourself exiting safely.
5Find the location of the fire extinguishers in the areas you most frequent. Visualize the areas as flashing with bright red strobe lights. Mentally walk around your area counting the fire extinguishers until you can go forward and backward, listing at least the nearest three.
6Repeat step 5 with the locations of the fire alarms. They may (or may not) be near the fire extinguishers.
7Look for locations for concealment—hiding yourself—and cover, which is a location that would possibly stop a bullet. Mentally walk to those areas and imagine yourself hiding. Imagine yourself being calm, cool, and collected.
8Think of any coworkers who may need help in the event of an emergency. Imagine how you could get to their workspace if necessary, how you would evacuate from their area or hide near them.
9Review all the information in steps 1 though 8 three times at the end of the workday and again three times tomorrow.
10On the first of each month, review your emergency procedures. Remember this by thinking “safety first” for the first of every month.
[ 67 ] Impress with Your Memory for Product and Service Prices
WHETHER YOU’RE BUYING or selling, remembering the cost of items can be a big time-saver. It can also help you stand out from the pack at work—in a
good or bad way, depending on how well or poorly you remember. If you know every price in the catalog or on the menu people will notice and be impressed. The good news is that it’s not difficult and can even be fun.
THE TECHNIQUE Link Items and Numbers
To remember the prices of items, you will translate numbers into images and link them to an image of the product. Translating numbers into images means you must have a solid foundation with one of the number systems presented earlier in the book.
I recommend the Major System as it is the most robust and best for large amounts of numbers. “But that’s a lot of work,” some people say. So is learning to drive instead of walking, but if we want to get somewhere quickly, it’s easier to learn to drive than to walk. If your job performance or efficiency depends on knowing a lot of prices, it makes sense to learn a system that will help you for the rest of your career.
HOW TO DO IT
1Learn a number system like the Major System. However, depending on your industry and the amount you need to memorize, it may be enough to use the MOST Method of converting numbers into money amounts, objects, sports scores, or time (see here).
2Convert any product into an image. This can be challenging if the product is a certain-size ball bearing, a computer chip, or a service, but anything can be imagined with enough creativity. In a pinch, simply assign an image to the product. For example, if there are five variations of a product and you can’t think of another way to translate them into pictures, choose items like a ping-pong ball, baseball, softball, basketball, and a football. Also designating products as red, blue, yellow, and green allows you to associate the color with fruits and vegetables.
3Link the item and the number images together by creating a story. Be as wild and interesting as you can be. Here’s an example:
Your work at Big Box TV and Computers requires constant customer interaction with many asking, “How much is this one?” You need to remember pricing for the top products like the price of the most popular TV:
Brand “I” 65-inch 4K TV Sale: $519.99 (normally $599.99)
Your memory detective will help you remember many of the details—like how your store always prices items so they end in “.99,” and all the TVs you offer are 4K—so all you need to memorize is “Brand I” and the price, including the sale price.
“Brand I” could be pictured as an “eye.” Imagine “sale” by picturing a huge red sale sign, and put an image of a huge eyeball on it. Make the whites of the eyeball bloodshot to match the sign.
Convert 519 into an image. The first thing that comes to me is running a 5 minute, 19 second mile. Combine them together: I run a 5:19 mile, crossing the finish line tape, which is a giant sale sign banner with a huge eyeball on it, and then I’m awarded a TV for winning the race. To add the 599 normal price, think of what 599 (or 600 minus one) reminds you of. Or translate 599 into an image using the MOST Method: Your child’s basketball team plays against a pro team and loses 5 to 99 while you watch on the big TV at work.
Using the Simple System, 519 could also be pictured as a fisherman (5) waving a baseball bat (1) to try to keep a cat (9) away from his fish.
4Select 5 to 10 items per day and learn them well before moving on to the next set. Review daily until you can instantly see the image associations between the price and the product. Make a game out of it by challenging your coworkers to see who can remember better or who can create the most memorable mental images.
[ 68 ] Remember What’s in Inventory
“DO YOU HAVE this in stock?” . . . “Hold on, let me check.” It’s easy enough to check the inventory, but wouldn’t it be more impressive and better customer service to just know what you have? “That’s impossible,” you say? It’s not! You can do it, and it’s amazingly simple.
It may not be practical for all industries, but knowing if you have three or ten cars, 88-inch TVs, or wind turbines immediately available is something you can do to amaze clients (and managers).
THE TECHNIQUE The CAR Method with Frequent Review
This is the CAR Method with frequent updates. You’ll imagine the inventory item, which should be easy to translate into an image. Next, you’ll translate the number of items into a picture using one of the number systems. By associating them in a creative way and then reviewing with added details, you’ll have it.
When it’s time to recall the number in inventory, you will picture the object and immediately think of the image associated with it. This will give you the number of items on hand. What about when that number changes? Read on.
HOW TO DO IT
1Review your inventory on a regular basis.
2Create an image for the first inventory item you want to keep track of.
3Create an image for the number of items in stock. Use Rhyme Time or the Simple System if you typically have fewer than nine items, the Major System or the MOST Method if you usually carry more.
4Associate the item and number together. Be creative.
5Review, adding details. Exaggerate.
6When the amount in your inventory changes, you need to change the number image. Before you connect the new number with the object, destroy the previous story or movie of the item and number. Ways to do that include imagining the number image damaged or removed from the story: Crush, ruin, harm, or otherwise destroy it in a way that makes it clear that it is no longer the correct image for the number of objects in inventory.
7Reconnect the item with the new amount.
Here’s an example:
You have nine Superfast cars in stock. You can picture the Superfast model because you love it. The tail, the hood, the headlamps. Zoom. Nine can be remembered by nine lives—a cat. Make your cat interesting by seeing its green and pink fur. Picture a Superfast car with a cat sharpening its claws on the hood, ruining the glorious paint. See yourself out in the lot, desperately trying to fix the claw marks.
On Monday afternoon, you and your coworker sell three cars. Imagine taking the cat home to your family, thereby destroying the original idea of having nine cars in inventory. With six cars left, you see that you’ve accidentally parked the demo car on top of an ant (6) hill and the interior is swarming with biting red ants.
It would be an extra (easy) step to know that there are two red cars, two black ones, and two yellow. Apply your own ideas to how you could do this to kick things up a notch.
[ 69 ] Remember Phone Numbers
DON’T SKIP THIS hack! To call people these days we click speed dial, tell our device to place the call, or dial the number from a customer relationship management system. But there are excellent reasons to remember phone numbers instead of relying on technology:
•It’s an easy way to stay mentally fit and exercise your memory. This is the mental equivalent to walking up a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator.
•Knowing a prospect or client’s phone number impresses them.
•It’s more efficient.
• Sometimes technology fails us at the worst possible moment.
•In case of emergencies.
THE TECHNIQUE Connect the Person with Number Images
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating memorizing every phone number you may use. Here are some important ones to know:
•Your number one client’s main and secondary numbers. Impress him by being able to say, “Should I call you on the 9534 number or your 2579 cell?”
•Top business professionals like your attorney, primary care physician, financial planner, and accountant.
•Professionals like your veterinarian, child’s school, child’s doctor, and dentist.
•All immediate family members, plus a favorite neighbor who can help out in a pinch.
•Also important are the local police nonemergency contact number, poison control, place of worship, and top two babysitters if you have kids.
Don’t worry—you’ve had experience with numbers elsewhere in the book, so this should be easy. Keep in mind that once upon a time people r
outinely memorized phone numbers!
HOW TO DO IT
1Pick an essential phone number.
2Imagine the person as your anchor image.
3If necessary, translate the three-digit area code into an image. If you know the area code once you’re reminded it may be enough to translate 518, for example, into a fisherman (for 5, which looks like a fishhook. See the Simple System).
If the area code isn’t familiar to you even with a reminder, convert each digit into an image using one of the number systems. Picture the anchor image (the person) and create a story using each digit. For example, for your attorney’s number in area code 518, imagine your attorney (anchor) fishing (5), reeling in a baseball bat (1), when an octopus (8) reaches out and grabs it (the numbers in this example are from the Simple System).
4Continue the story using the Chain Method to connect each link to the next.
5Review and add details.
6Use your phone’s keypad to pretend to dial the number from memory as you recall the exaggerated links you created. This puts your memory to work and adds a physical dimension to it, which helps your mind.
7Review the phone number images tonight and again tomorrow morning when you brush your teeth.
Here’s an example:
Here’s the phone number for the White House (please don’t bother them needlessly!): (202) 456-1111.
For your anchor, imagine the current president, your favorite president, or the White House itself. I’ll use the President and use Rhyme Time as the number system.
Imagine the President in the Oval Office putting on shoes (2) alongside your favorite superhero (0), who is also putting on their shoes (2).
Next connect the shoes (2) to a door (4). Imagine the superhero’s shoes kicking open a door only to encounter a beehive (5). The bees have sticks (6) and go on a rampage having fun (1) hitting four different, specific things in the scenario, like the Resolute desk, a painting, a couch, and the drapes.