Memory Myths

You don't need a good memory

Your mind isn't up to it

Memory, your memory, can actually become sharper and better as you grow older. It's not about age or intelligence. It's about learning how to use your memory that's important. You probably write things down frequently; grocery lists, your friend's phone number's and addressesand recipes. While quick and simple, you don't always have access to these lists. Your memory is much more powerful than you think it is and it always travels with you.

Memory training is boring, complicated, or time-consuming

When you use your memory inefficiently, it's dull, complexand can take a long time. But when you learn to use your memory efficiently it can become easy, funand quick. And the more you train and use your memory, the less it'll decline over time.

Memory Tricks

Try this quick memory test to see how well you have control of your memory. You're a bus driver and at your first stop in the morning you pick up six commuters. At the next stop four more get on while two business men get off. At the third stop a large group of twelve tourists board while no one else gets off. Seven board at the next stop while five get off. At the stop after that three more board and at your final stop eight exit the bus.

What is the bus driver's name?

No, you weren't tricked. Most people forget simple things they've just seen or read. Look back at the first sentence and you'll see that "you" are the bus driver so the bus driver's name is your name.

Here's another test. You have 15 seconds to memorize this number:
602474282930311252365366100

How well did you do? At first, it appears to be a random list of numbers. Take a closer look. Is there an easy way to remember them? It's actually made up of an easily memorable set of numbers in a particular pattern.

60 minutes in an hour

24 hours in a day

7 days in a week

4 weeks in a month

29, 29, 30, or 31 days in a month

12 months in a year

52 weeks in a year

356 or 366 days in a year

100 year in a century

Now that you see the pattern, can you write the number down from memory?

Your memory is incredibly powerful, more powerful than you ever realized. And it can be boosted by significant amounts from where it is now. Because of the way your memory works, all sorts of "tricks" can be used to remember incredible amounts of information.

Imagination

One of the primary and most important keys to improving your memory is your imagination. Each reinforces the other. Your imagination allows you to remember more and remembering more strengthens your imagination.

Perhaps a demonstration of the power of the imagination is in order. You might be thinking that your imagination has little impact in the real world but you couldn't be more wrong.

Picture a big, juicy lemon in your imagination. See it's shape and vibrant yellow color, feel it's slightly slick and dimpled texture. Now see yourself taking a sharp knife, cutting the lemon in halfand taking a big bite out of it.
Are you salivating or cringing? Just the mere imagined thought of biting into a lemon is enough to cause a physical reaction. Let me repeat that; an imagined thought caused a physical reaction.

Now picture an old-fashioned black chalkboard. Feel the surface, run your hand over it bringing back memories of what it feels like. Now picture in your imagination that you're starting as high as you can reach as you slowly scrape your fingernails all the way down the chalk board.
What was your physical reaction that time to a simple thought?
Without imagination, memory techniques would be almost impossible to apply. However, using these techniques and tricks, you'll learn how to manipulate any kind of information easily and almost effortlessly.

Motivation, the mother of all success

All the information in this eBook is useless unless you're motivated to use it. Without motivation you're simply adrift without purpose. Motivation is the engine which powers your desire for a better memory.

Don't be daunted by the concepts and techniques laid out here. Some might appear to be complex at first but all become easier with practice. It pays to invest time learning how to learn.

It's a bit like learning to read. At first it appears complex, tediousand impossible but over time you learn the basics and are able to read. Then you can read not just one book but any book because you invested the time to learn how to learn; learning to read.

This eBook lays the foundation for why you remember things in certain ways and helps you learn memorable methods to take advantage of those ways.
If your memory is poor or inadequate now, you can awaken the memory giant within you by taking that first step.

But as with all learning, you need a starting point to compare against what you've learned to track your progress. Below are a few simple memory tests to use as a gauge for your starting point.

Memory Progress Self Test

Take each of these tests with the time limits as shown. Don't worry, there's no right or wrong number of items you are able to remember. You're only using this as a starting point so you can then test your progress later and having something to compare against.

Word list

Below is a list of words. You have 2 minutes 30 seconds to memorize them.

1) airplane 2) pencil 3) cookie 4) penny 5) dishwasher
6) wig 7) radio 8) flute 9) cup 10) eraser

Telephone numbers

Below are 5 fictitious phone numbers. You have 10 minutes to memorize them and
their location.

Words

Ten word are stated below. You have 2 minutes to memorize them.

Couch, CD, Finger, Speaker, Cat, Plug, Card, Microphone, Book, Map.

Now that you've memorized these items, go to the next step and see how well you did?

How did you do?

Now to determine how well you did on the quick memory test, write down youranswers below, then compare against the values from the previous step.

Word List

Write down the words with the help of memory, in the correct sequence they were
stated.

1. ______, 2. ______, 3. ______, 4. ______, 5. ______, 6. ______, 7. ______,
8. ______, 9. ______, 10. ______.

Telephone Numbers

Words

Now write down the words in any order:

______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______.


Memory plays in incredible part in your day-to-day life touching every aspect. The
better your memory, the more success you'll have at home, school and work.

What exactly is memory?

For thousands of years man has asked that question but only within the last 75 years has he been able to start answering it.

The brain is composed of billions of cells and neurons that are interconnected and communicate amongst each other both electrically and chemically. Electricity moves across tiny gaps, synapses, between cells through chemicals called ‘neurotransmitters'.

Scientists are able to observe these cellular communications in real time and observe what happens when certain memories are created or remembered. Of importance is the fact that the billions of cells are interconnected in 10 million billion different ways. It's now thought that memories are dispersed among what's called ‘neural nets'.

Types of Memories

There are four main types of memory with overlap between them.

1. Episodic Memory

2. Semantic Memory

3. Procedural Memory

4. Prospective Memory

Attitude is Everything

You may have noticed that the strongest and most vivid memories you have are very visual or contain a strong emotional content. But think about how you remember things right now. Do you use any of the following methods?

• Memory joggers - notes left to yourself
• Repeating information - you're on the phone and you're given a name but have nothing to write with so you repeat the name over and over to yourself
• Tip of the tongue - the information you want to remember feels like it's just out of reach but you can't quite remember it.

If these sound familiar, you're not alone. This shows that we all have little ways for trying to remember information in an easier fashion. But simple techniques are not enough. You have to start with your attitude.

A positive attitude is absolute essential to help improve your memory. If you think you can, you will. If you think you can't, you won't.

The first step is to learn to relax. Relax both physically and mentally. Mentally imagine yourself in your most comfortable chair, or at a location where you've been totally relaxed before. Vividly imagine as if you were there without a worry in the world. This not only helps you relax but it also exercises the power of your imagination. 

Imagination, the Key to Better Memory

Imagination will be the foundation for all techniques used in this book powered by visualization. In order to improve your memory skills you must be able to stretch your imagination through visualization.

Try this exercise. Visualize a coffee cup. If you drink coffee perhaps it's your favorite coffee cup. Picture this vividly in your mind. Imagine it's sitting on a small table. Walk around the table and see the cup from different angles, look down at the cup, how does it look from the top? How does it look from the side? See yourself picking up the cup by the handle. Is the handle smooth or textured? How heavy does it feel? Is the cup still warm or has the coffee grown cold? Is the cup all one color or is it multi-colored perhaps with writing on it? Does the coffee have a pleasant smell? Is it flavored? Take a sip. How does it taste?

Try to employ as many senses mentally as possible. If you enjoy drinking coffee, imagine how you feel when taking a sip. Does it wake you up so you feel refreshed? Does it bring back memories of other times making you feel happy? Strong emotions also play a large part in enhancing your memory.

Another imagination exercise is transformations. This is simply transforming one object into another. Picture transforming a bicycle into a basset hound. Use your imagination to slowly work the transformation. Perhaps the handle bars slowly change into long, floppy brown furry ears. The pedals slowly melt and reform into two, short, stubby legs and the rear wheel does the same. The front wheel squeezes down and elongates into the hound's head while the bike frame shrinks in size but the frame blows up like a clown's balloon to form the body.

Try these exercises on other items you can think of. This will help strengthen your imagination and your ability to visualize objects.

Summary

Memory is like your body. You can improve it through exercising it. Once you've
exercised your mind and improved your memory, there'll will be no piece of
information you want to remember that you'll ever forget.

Your memory training starts with being able to relax your body and mind. Only once you've put yourself into a stress-free and relax position can you begin to give your imagination a good workout. Imagination and visualization are the key components for memory. It's necessary because you'll learn how to link abstract information to images powered by feelings. You'll use as many senses as possible in your visualizations to strengthen the links. The more relaxed you are, the stronger the imagery and emotionsand the more senses you use, the easier it'll be to remember anything you want to remember with little effort.

Frameworks

What is a framework? It's a bit like a map. It's a representation of one thing using another. We all impress frameworks on the world. How do you get from home to work? You have a mental map of the route from your house to your place of employment. The exact shape and feel of that map is entirely dependent upon your mind. But the map isn't the route, it's a framework you use mentally of the route.

Of all types of memory, thinking spatially is perhaps the easiest. We all think spatially to some degree. Close your eyes and picture your living room. Where is the couch and how's it place. Your TV, coffee table, or your workplace. You might not remember where every little thing is but if someone asks you in general where your telephone is you'll know if it's on the left or right side of your desk.

The concept of a mental framework goes as far back as the Romans and possibly even further. It's a framework used to create a memory system. It allows you to store and recall information in a structured way using the natural way your mind works.

The concept of a mental framework is very simple. Start with a building, any building that you know the inside of well. For example, you can use your house or work place. The goal is to use a location that you know well to help you store information you wish to remember. And you don't have to limit yourself to just one framework.

Start off with each framework having 10 locations or areas, each different from the other. Then you'll plan a route from area to area. Make sure you choose a route that you're familiar with and can always negotiate quickly. Each area should be different enough from all the rest that you don't confuse any two.

Now that you have an easily remember route through all 10 areas you need to assign each area with a vivid image. The idea is to then assign any piece of information to each image and then take a mental journey back through the route to each area recalling the picture or image associated to each area.

Let's use a house as an example. The house will have the following ten areasand you'll create a route in the following order:

1. The Front Door
1. You start your mental route here. Employ as many senses as possible. See the
   tall door before you, feel the wood texture, imagine it creaks when you open it.

2. The Hallway
1. Hang your jacket on the coat rack in the hallway. See yourself in the mirrors that line the hallway as you walk into the living room.

3. The Living Room
1. You briefly sit down on your wrap-around couch. A well-used fireplace faces directly in front of you with a portrait hanging above the mantel.

4. The Dining Room
1. You walk by and look into the dining room where a picture of your dear Aunt Ester hangs.

5. The Kitchen
1. You then enter the kitchen and grab a cold soft drink from your stainless steel refrigerator.

6. The Library
1. Sipping your soft drink, you retire to the library and sit in your favorite crushed-velvet chair.

7. The Backyard
1. You finish your drink and head out the back door to sit on your rocking chair sitting in your backyard and enjoy the sunset.

8. The Bedroom
1. As darkness falls, you get up and go into your bedroom to change out of your work clothes.

9. The Bathroom
1. Just before bed you go into your bathroom to brush you teeth and wash your face.

10. The Garage
1. Before falling asleep you suddenly realize you left half of today's lunch sitting in your car in the garage so you get up to retrieve it.

Here are ten items that you'll use the house framework to memorize.

Baseball, Wristwatch, Bear, Paperclip, Gum, Duct tape, Coffee, Lipstick, Telephone, Tyre.
Now apply the items to the framework in the route you created for this order:

1. The Front Door, 2. The Hallway, 3. The Living Room, 4. The Dining Room,
5. The Kitchen, 6. The Library, 7. The Backyard,

8. The Bedroom, 9. The Bathroom,
10. The Garage.
Read through the route several times then recite the list of items from memory. Just walk back through the route stopping at each area and connect all the pictures together.

Your mind will normally impose frameworks on the world around you. You can start using this to your advantage for a better memory. Use locations that you know well, break them up into 10 different areas, create a memorable route through those areasand create vivid images of each area to use as a hook on which the items you wish to remember are hung.

Memory systems are the heart and soul of improving your memory easily and quickly. Using these tools there's almost nothing you can't remember or remember in any order. Some systems build upon others so we'll start with the most

fundamental ones.

The mental framework learned above uses a technique called association. You associate something you already know to something new. When people claim they've forgotten something they usually haven't forgotten it. They just didn't remember it the first time.

You can't forget something that you didn't remember in the first place. However, if you do remember something to begin with, how can you forget it? Anything that you were originally aware of cannot be forgotten. The foundation for this awareness is that which you wish to be remembered must first be observed.

That sounds easy enough but what about things in the world that are abstract? It's easier to remember things that have meaning than it is to remember things that don't. Later on you'll learn how to make anything abstract thing or concept meaningful in your mind and thus easy to remember.

The vast majority of learning is based upon memory. Memory, more than anything else regardless of what educators might say, will get you further in your schooling and life, than any other part of your education.

Association is nothing new. You've used it your whole life though probably not knowingly. Anything you've clearly associated, even if subconsciously, has been easy to remember.

The fundamental rule of association is this:

"You can remember anything new if it's first associated to something you already know or remember."

If you learned to play an instrument in school you might remember the association for learning which notes are associate to which lines or blanks on a sheet of music.

Every Good Boy Does Fine for the lines of music and FACE for the blanks between the lines. The notes of music, something initially abstract, were associated to something you already knew or could easily remember, a sentence and a common
word.

This can apply to other abstract concepts or shapes. For example, do you remember the shape of Canada? Probably not but I bet you know the shape of Italy. That's because you've either been told or saw for yourself that Italy is bootshaped.

While these are simple examples, they are limited because they apply to specific instances. The systems found in this eBook are applicable to anything you need to
remember.

• If you know how to consciously associate something you want to remember to something you already know, you're well on your way to training your memory.
  

The Substitution Method can be applied to any abstract ideas or materials. Here's how it works. Whenever you hear an abstract word or idea you wish to remember, think of anything that sounds like, or reminds you of, the abstract word and which can be pictured in your mind.

For example, lets say you need to remember the state of Texas. You could form an association between text and axe, which when said together sounds very similar to Texas. You could form a silly image of a whole library filled with axes on which text has been written.

Ordinarily you wouldn't be able to picture Texas but you can picture a whole library filled with text on axes. To make these systems work you must use your imagination more than you have beenand the more often you use it and form associations or substitutions, the easier and more natural it becomes.

By being able to construct new images in fun and silly ways, you're automatically bettering your memory and memory skills.

The Link System is closely related to mental frameworks. While mental frameworks are very effective, they are limited to the number of items that can be associated together. Regardless of the size of the house you live in, you'll ultimately run out of areas. What was discovered much later was the idea that each item to be remembered could be related or associated to each other.

This idea is the fundamental principle behind the Link System. In order to use the Link System to it's fullest potential, we must add to the basic memory rule.

• To remember any new piece of information, it must be associated to something you already know in some funny, silly, or ridiculous way.

The last part of this updated rule is important. By making the association funny or ridiculous in some manner, you're forced to concentrate and use your imagination in ways you might not be familiar with beforeand it'll force the association out of the subconscious into the conscious.

Let's create an example. You're going to quickly and easily memorize a list of ten items: rock, scissors, pencil, tree, bed, door, tire, cat, danceand car.

We'll start with the assumption that you already remember rock. The next item you wish to remember is scissors. Now you need to form a silly or ridiculous association in your mind between those two items.

Avoid at all costs a logical association. Do not make an association such as a rock sitting next to a pair of scissors.

A silly picture might be using a pair of scissors made out of individual rocks. Remember, the sillier or more ridiculous, the better. Or even a whole row of scissors in a store made from individual rocks.

What you'll see is the image of the rocks and scissors and not the words themselves. Keep in mind you've been seeing pictures in your mind your whole life.

Now that you've thought of the silly association between rock and scissors, stop thinking about it. Move on to the next association, forming an association between pencil and the last item in your current association, scissors. See an entire classroom of children writing with a pair of scissors instead of a pencil.

You don't need to linger long over the picture you create between each two items. It's the clarity and ridiculousness of the image that's important.

Continue this process with the last item associated to the next item in the list; pencil to tree, tree to bed, bed to door, door to tire, tire to cat, cat to danceand dance to car.

If you've created silly images between all ten items, you've now memorized them!

Start with the first word in the list, rock. That should bring up in your mind the image of a whole row of scissors in a store made from rocks. Now think of the picture with scissors which was a classroom of students all writing with a pair of scissors instead of a pencil.

Continue down the list until you've recited all ten items. If you had trouble with some it's not because you forgot them but because your silly and ridiculous association was not strong enough. The sillier or more ridiculous, the better the association.

Once you've memorized the list through association you can even recite the list backwards by starting with the last item in the list and moving backwards in association.

This method is called the Link System because you're linking one item in a list to the next item in a list forming a link or memory chain. One item must lead to the next if you've associated it correctly.

The Link System is used to remember items in sequence only. For example, the fifty states in alphabetical order or a sequence of numbers.

There are four rules you can apply to the Link System to help you create a strong association:

1. Substitution

1. Picture one item instead of the other. Substitute it for the previous item. In our example, we substituted rocks cutting instead of a pair of scissors.

2. Out of Proportion

1. Try to see items grossly out of proportion to their actual size.

3. Exaggeration

1. Try to see thousands or millions of things when associating.

4. Action

1. Action being a verb is easy to remember. Picture the classroom of children all drawing crazily on their paper using a pair of scissors.

Making your pictures really ridiculous is what allows you to see them clearly. Research indicates that when you actually see an object, an electrical impulse reaches the vision center of the brain. Additional research has also shown that it doesn't really make any difference in the brain if the eyes have seen the image or if the mind's eye, your mental picture, have seen it. The brain treats them the same way.

If you can link 10 items, you can link 20. If you can link 20, you can link more as long as the images you create are silly and ridiculous and use as many of the four rules above as possible.

Association and the Link System are good for remembering items or a list in sequence. But what if you needed to know what the 16th item in the list is? Unless you mentally go through the list, counting until you reach 16, there's no easy way to know.

However, a system does exist that allows you to memorize a list then be able to recite it forward, backwards, or in any order.

It's called the Peg System. The Peg System is based upon a phonetic alphabet. I'll be using a Peg System created by Harry Lorayne, one of the leading authors and experts on memory training systems.

His phonetic alphabet consists of 10 basic consonant sounds associated with the numbers 0 through 9. In some cases more than one phonetic sound is associated with a number. For example, the letters t and d make up the same phonetic sound and can be used interchangeably. The tongue does not move differently when you pronounce each. The only real difference is the t sound is a bit harder than the d sound.

Below is the phonetic alphabet based on Harry Lorayne's Peg System:

1. t or d - A typewritten small t has one down stroke
2. n - A typewritten small n has two down strokes
3. m - A typewritten small m has three down strokes
4. r - The word four ends with an r
5. l - The five fingersand thumb out, form an L
6. j, sh, ch, soft g - A 6 and capital J are almost mirror images
7. k, hard c - You can make a capital K with two 7's
8. f, v, ph - An 8 and a handwritten f look similar
9. p, or b - A 9 and a p are mirror images
10. z, s, or soft c - The first sound in the word zero is z

His Peg System has a few rules. The vowels have no value and are discarded along with the letters w, hand y unless the h is part of the consonant sounds above.

Silent letters are also discarded. The word knee would translate to the 2 in the phonetic alphabet. We're interested in the sound, not the letter. So a word in which there is a silent letter like k in knee is ignored. The same goes for double letters if they're pronounced together then they're assigned only one number.

Now that you understand the Peg System's phonetic alphabet we need a list of peg words. You'll use these specific peg words to create links or associations to the things you're trying to remember. And once tied it always associates to a specific place in the list being remembered.

Again, I'll be using Harry's Peg System of words. You could make up your own words as long as they fit the phonetic alphabet listed above.

If you'd like more detail on his whole memory training system, you can read more from his book coauthored by Jerry Lucas, "The Memory Book: The classic Guide to Improving your Memory at Work, at Schooland at Play."

1. tie - it contains one consonant sound, t
2. Noah - one consonant sound, n
3. Ma - one consonant sound, m
4. rye - one consonant sound, r. Picture a loaf of rye bread or a bottle of rye whiskey
5. law - picture a policeman
6. shoe - contains the consonant sound sh
7. cow - one consonant sound hard c
8. ivy - one consonant v sound
9. bee - one consonant sound b
10. toes - two consonant sounds, t and s

Those are the first 10 Peg Words. They should be easy to remember as long as you remember the phonetic alphabet. Here they are again in order:

1. tie
2. Noah
3. Ma
4. rye
5. law
6. shoe
7. cow
8. ivy
9. bee
10. toes

Go over these a few times and you should know them easily.

Now lets say you must remember that the 6th item in a list you need to memorize is the word penguin. All you need to do is associate a ridiculous picture of penguins with the peg word for 6 which is shoe. Imagine a whole warehouse full of shoes that look like waddling penguins.

Or the 9th item in your list to remember is an envelope. Picture a million bees swarming out of an envelope towards you. Continue associating each item in your list to the appropriate peg word. Once you've created these associations in your mind, you'll now have the list memorized and can recite it in any order.

If someone asks you what the 9th item in the list is you first know that 9 is associated to the peg word "bee" and the silly association you created for bee is a million bees swarming out of an…envelope!

What if you need to memorize more than 10 items. Create as many peg words as you need to go higher. I'll use Harry Lorayne's Peg Words up 50. If you need more, please purchase his book , The Memory Book: The classic Guide to Improving your Memory at Work, at Schooland at Play which gives peg words up to 100.

tie	tot	net	mat	rod
Noah	tin	nun	moon	rain
Ma	tomb	name	mummy	ram
rye	tire	nero	mower	rower
law	towel	nail	mule	roll
shoe	dish	notch	match	roach
cow	tack	neck	mug	rock
ivy	dove	knife	movie	roof
bee	tub	knob	mop	rope
toes	nose	mouse	rose	lace

Don't' worry about the ridiculous pictures staying with you. Once the list has been memorized using the Peg System the images will fade over time if it's a list you want to keep memorized. But the information, the list and it's order, will stay with you. That's one reason why you can use the Peg System over and over again.

Remembering names associated to faces, especially just after meeting someone new at a party or business functions is one of the most frustrating memory failures most people encounter.

However, through a simple 5 step process using what you've already learned about Association, you can remember names and faces easily.

1. 1. Desire to remember

Make a conscious decision based out of desire to remember the person's name. You must first have the desire to remember.

2. 2. Listen to the name

All too frequently we concentrate on the introduction itself and the name slips away with little chance of hearing it again. Concentrate on hearing the name and then try to immediately use it, "Hello Paul, nice to meet you."

3. 3. Verbally repeat the name

While engaged in conversation with the person try to use their name a few times to further cement it into your memory.

4. 4. Construct picture clues

Create images or pictures in your mind that relate to their name. Perhaps their name reminds you of someone famous. You could create a picture of the famous person. Or perhaps their name sounds like a common word or animal. Or their name reminds you of a profession like "Baker."




5. 5. Associate the pictures to the person

Now create a vivid association between the picture in your mind and the person using what you've learned above. For example, if the person's last name was Baker you could imagine seeing them being covered in flour by an angry baker.

Don't worry, there's no new tricks that you haven't already learned. You can easily
remember dates or statistics with the methods you've learned in the previous
chapters.

A simple method is to use the Peg System. For example, If you needed to remember that the US was discovered by Columbus in 1492, you just created a vivid image tying Columbus to either the peg words for 14 and for 92 or you could even do the individual keywords for 1,4,9 and 2.

This way thinking about Columbus triggers the vivid, silly image you tied together with either the individual or groups of peg words.

This can be applied to almost any number you need to remember.

Remembering telephone numbers becomes easy if you use the Peg System of words or letters. Simply create a word or group of words that use the consonant sounds from the Peg System for the numbers in the phone number.

For example, if the number to memorize is 753-7285 you could use the phrase column can fall.

If you're a student, how important would it be to you to be able to perform well on tests or exams? More than likely it'd rank pretty high on the importance level.

First, you must approach a test in the right frame of mind. Assume a positive attitude towards the exam. Don't go in with the negative thoughts that you'll fail. Rather, go in assuming only the best.

Second, examine your motivations. Concentrate on the positive aspects of doing well on the text rather than on the failure. Will getting a high score on the SAT get you into a better college? Focus on the benefits.

Third, when you study, study in an atmosphere conducive to learning. Sitting in a busy coffee house with chatter all around is not always the best study environment. If music helps you concentrate, put on your favorite music. Keep interruptions to a minimum.

Fourth, make sure you have all materials you'll need for your studying. If you need paper and pen to take notes, or more than one text book, make sure you gather everything you need before you start.

Fifth, study in short bursts. Studying non-stop is often counter productive. When your mind needs a break, take one. Then come back when it's calmed down.

Finally, whatever you're studying, the basic memory techniques all apply. Break the information down into their main points, creating vivid, memorable mental scenes. Use a framework to connect the whole together. Use more than one framework if needed.

Most people at one time or another have forgotten directions. Even between the sexes, studies have shown that men and women remember directions differently. Men tend to rely on street names and numbers or compass direction. However, women tend to rely on landmarks or features along the way.

A Framework is ideal for remembering directions since a framework contains its own internal route through the framework. The directions to remember can be turned into images that are then associated and placed with the areas of your framework.

You know your way around your framework so follow it ties your directions together with the images created.

Speaking in public is hard enough to do for most people let alone needing to remember a speech. One mistake most people make is trying to memorize their speech word for word. This is a bad idea in general as you can then become hung up while talking trying to remember a particular word instead of remembering the general idea behind the part of the speech you're on.

Memorizing word for word also makes your speech sound, well, memorized. Good speeches sound spontaneous.

You don't want to read a speech directly because you want to hold your audience's attention. Reading tends to put them to sleep.

The best way to memorize and deliver a speech is thought for thought. All a speech is a sequence of thoughts. If they're out of sequence they won't make sense. This means a speech is ideal for using the Link System.

First, write out your entire speech including everything you want to say and all the ideas that are important to your speech. Now select a key word for each thought or idea that will remind you of the entire thought.

Then it becomes a simple matter to link each key word to the previous and so on using the Link System techniques.

What does being absentminded mean? Literally that your mind is absent when you perform actions unconsciously. If your mind is absent there can be no Original Awareness. It's not that you forgot, but rather that you didn't remember in the first place.

The solution simple and should be obvious. Be sure to think about what you're doing at the moment in which you're doing it. But how can you force yourself to do that?

There's only one surefire method; use Association. Association forces Original Awareness and by being aware in the first place you can form an instant association.

For example, if you're always misplacing your car keys you can solve that problem by being aware that you're setting your keys down on say a kitchen cabinet with your kitchen knives. At the moment you do that make a quick mental association between your keys and the kitchen knives. See your keys hanging up with the knives and other sets of keys.

Then when you next need your keys and think about them, the image of them hanging up with the knives will tell you exactly where they are.

Jeff B. Baker

Jeff is currently a web development manager and author living in Arlington, TX. His current interests are health and fitness after nearing a 100lb weight loss through goal-powered fitness concepts.

Thomas H. Tribble

Thomas is an ex-martial arts instructor and practitioner. He retired from teaching after earning his second college degree and he is now a professional living in the Dallas area striving to help others achieve their goals and discover how to motivate themselves to succeed in living healthy, rich lives.