Anthony Metivier's Blog, page 20

5 Proven Mnemonic Strategies You Can Use to Remember Anything

You’d like a bunch of mnemonic strategies that help you learn faster, right? 

Whereas nearly every article on the Internet is going to give you a bunch of weak techniques like “keywords,” here’s the thing you need to understand:

Using the keyword method as a mnemonic device is not a strategy. It’s a tool. 

A strategy, on the other hand, is how you design your life so that you can use memory techniques. 

So if you want proper mnemonic training, buckle up because we’re going to give you some mnemonic device examples, and in a way that doesn’t muddy the waters. 

What Is A Mnemonic Device And How To Use One Strategically? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doUSE...

 

A mnemonic device is anything you use to help you remember something. That includes everything from rote learning with flashcards to using a Memory Palace. 

If you want to use flash cards strategically, then you need to add a mnemonic element. For example, instead of showing yourself the same card repeatedly and hoping the information will stick, to use flash cards strategically, you will combine a mnemonic technique like elaborative encoding with active recall based on a spaced repetition pattern. 

For example, I’ve used elaborative encoding to make the German word Bereich (area) more memorable: 

Mnemonic Example for the German Word Bereich

This approach is strategic because:

1) I used my hands, colors and a non-digital tool I could easily revisit both physically and mentally.

2) I did not cheat by including the target information anywhere in the mnemonic device. This forces me to at least try to use active recall. 

3) This drawing is linked to a Memory Palace that enables mental spaced repetition based on a few principles (Primacy Effect, Recency Effect and Serial Positioning Effect).  

Although I am not a great artist (and you don’t have to be), this approach is so much faster and effective than spaced repetition software. I was inspired to start drawing my mnemonic examples in this way by language learning expert Gabriel Wyner. His book Fluent Forever is incredible. 

To sum up before we dig deeper, mnemonic devices are not strategies. 

The device is the association of Bender from Futurama with the German word Bereich. It means “area” and in my imagination, Bender is in Berlin’s Tegel airport. 

A memory strategy can involve importing one location into a Memory Palace based on another space.

The next next device I’m using is association through imagery. 

Actually, it’s not “imagery” in the way we normally mean it. I actually don’t see a picture of any of this in my mind.

Instead, I’m operating more on the level of observation and sound. You see, “Bender” starts with ‘be” and so does “Bereich.” And if you look at my drawing again, you’ll see there’s a drummer in the image.

That’s Steve Reich, a very important drummer in the history of percussion. Be + Reich = Bereich. 

Easy, right! Yes, but most people fiddle around with the “keyword” method, an agonizingly inadequate approach when you’ve got real memory tasks to conquer. 

Another strategy I deploy is to have multiple words in the Memory Palace, but to focus only on words. 

Now, when you’re learning a language, you definitely want to memorize phrases, but you have to start somewhere. 

So my strategy is to start by memorizing 5-10 words and then add phrases. This works because it’s always important to not put the cart before the horse. 

Finally, the main device I draw upon in strategically revisiting this location in the Memory Palace. There are quite a number of ways you can make this work, but it’s important to: 

1) Revisit the memorized words forward

2) Backwards

3) Out of order 

There are more patterns you can deploy and I cover them in Memory Palace Mastery. Why not grab your seat now? I’ll show you exactly how to build a Memory Palace in the most effective way. 

And focusing on effectiveness is important because it’s the path to ease and efficiency. To help speed up the process, you do want to keep a record of what you’ve memorized, and you do that in a Memory Journal. Then, when testing your memory, you need to use active recall in order to generate the memories.



That means using a fresh piece of paper or a testing Memory Journal where you have no access whatsoever to the target material. (In this way, each of these two Memory Journals are also kinds of mnemonic devices.)

For example, when I have memorized long Sanskrit passages, I do it purely from the books I’m reading that feature texts like you can hear me reciting here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvtYj...

Later, I write out what I’ve memorized from each session. I do my best and only after I’m finished do I check the record. That’s also how I tested my memory of the TEDx talk itself: I wrote it, memorized it and then wrote it out by hand without the original record anywhere in sight.

The Most Highly Effective Mnemonic Strategies & Techniques 

This might surprise you, but it actually doesn’t matter which is the most effective for me or some other memory expert.



The best mnemonic strategies are the ones you’re actually going to use. 

And to figure that out, you need to try a few on for size. To do that, here’s what I suggest:

Do your research. The market is filled with all kinds of memory trainers. I suggest you find the one who has accomplished what you want to accomplish.

For example, I’ve learned languages, given speeches and completed a PhD. If you want to do those things, chances are, I’m your guy. 

But, I’ve only done moderately well at memory competitions. 

Anthony Metivier judging at a memory competition.

Personally, I like memorizing cards, but the idea of memorizing endless digits, words and abstract shapes I’m going to forget immediately after the competition is over… I just have no interest in that.

However, a lot of people love memory competitions and I’ve interviewed a lot of the best memory athletes on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. 

Seek them out. Many have books and courses of their own. Just be realistic about who has done what. There’s a big difference between using these techniques to forget what you’ve memorized after the games are over and the ability to hold on to the information for the long term. 

Stick with the program. Too many people get started and then fall off the horse. If that’s you, forgive yourself and then go through my mental strength free training. It will help you keep on track. 

How long do you need to study the mnemonic strategies of the memory master you’ve chosen?

I’d suggest at least 90 days. I haven’t plucked that number out of thin air. Many studies show it is the bare minimum for lasting habit formation. Dr. Richard Wiseman has gathered a bunch of them in his book 59 Seconds, and you’ll see similar data repeated in any good book on the science of success. 

Have a vision. One reason people can’t practice the mnemonic strategy of their choice is because it isn’t embedded in a clear picture of what a realistic accomplishment looks like. 

Again, I have zero interest in competition but that doesn’t mean I don’t “compete” against time. I was once invited to teach memory techniques in Guilin, China. 

 

I had less than 3 months to study the language, but I made a very specific vision: That I would have a 300-500 word vocabulary and basic abilities in the language. 

Because I was clear (and realistic) about the vision, I wound up at the school and my teachers were blown away! I even wound up meeting a beautiful woman who later became my wife. And then I rapidly memorized a song in Mandarin to sing at our wedding. 

Practice frequently. 

Listen, I’m not the greatest singer in the world, and I don’t want to torture your ears. But there’s a reason why I recorded this video while washing the dishes. And that reason is to demonstrate how I take every possible opportunity to practice: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCyPV...

Let go of the outcome.

This mnemonic strategy is counterintuitive, but it is the ultimate secret of success. 

A lot of people try to “force” the techniques to work. Sure, that can create success sometimes, but we actually need to create flow around them. 

So when I practice, I mentally give myself permission to make mistakes. I don’t try to get it right. I just visit the Memory Palace and allow the imagery to come back.

If I haven’t been specific enough with the associations or the Memory Palace creation was sloppy, I’ll definitely feel it.

But I don’t allow myself to get frustrated. I just note any mistakes or struggles and analyze what’s going on so I can improve it rationally instead of from a place of negative emotion or need. 

Once you put these strategies together in one tight package (with frequent practice), you’ll find that the memory mnemonics you use make your mental life a much finer journey to experience.

Savor it and let me know in the comments if there are any strategies I missed.

How to Memorize a Monologue: Your Quick and Easy Guide

Is learning how to memorize a monologue really fast and easy?



You bet! You just need a trained memory. 

To be fair, there’s a bit more to it than that when it comes to verbatim delivery on a stage. I’m talking about the roles of research, context, practice and analysis. 

And let’s be real for a moment. In order for anything to be fast and easy, there’s going to be a period of learning, training and analysis, followed by reflection on your practice.

This combination of factors is how the best actors and speakers rise to the top. It’s how you can receive a monologue and within twenty four hours recite it accurately and with verve. And it’s how you get invited back to speak or act some more. 

So if you want to enjoy a career as someone who speaks from memory, using some examples, in this post I’m going to cover:

Creating mental context to help your memory
The Memory Palace technique
Practice and analysis
Performance and analysis
Troubleshooting

5 Strategies For Memorizing A Monologue
Context

Let’s assume that we want to memorize two monologues from Shakespeare’s King Lear to show our range. We’ll pick one from Edmund and one from King Lear himself.

I suggest you head over to IMDB and YouTube to find some examples. One of my favorite filmed stage performances of King Lear is the 1974 Great Performances version starring James Earl Jones and Raul Julia. 

Another great version is the 1983 Granada version starring Laurence Olivier and John Hurt.  The more versions you can find, even just in the form of clips on YouTube, the more you can seep your mind in timing, intonation and spatial awareness that are useful for memorizing the lines. 

Also, it’s a good practice to look into actors who have taken on such roles and listen to them talk about their craft. Anthony Hopkins has played King Lear and Brian Cox even wrote an entire book called The Lear Diaries. (Frankly, this book is worth reading for anyone who cares about reciting anything from memory, or just interested in theatre and movies.)

It’s also worth reading some critical analysis of the pieces that you’re memorizing. I’m not talking about PhD-level analysis. I’m only asking for you to use a bit of what my friend and fellow memory expert Jonathan Levi called “brute force learning.” Basically, this means that you’re rapidly building a basic cognitive field. 

The seeds you drop into this expanded field (the words and lines you’ll be memorizing) will take deeper hold in your memory because you’ve developed a contextual framework. The more you practice this, the more connections you’ll have for each new monologue you memorize. 

To give you an example, I have some history myself with memorizing monologues. I once prepared as the understudy for the role of Hieronomo in Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy. Although I was never called upon to perform, I went through all of the steps above and it was tremendously helpful for memorizing the lines.

The Memory Palace technique

To keep things simple, I’m going to limit this discussion to memorizing monologues for the stage. A film director may or may not require you to deliver an entire monologue without editing. Being able to consult a script between takes or redo your performance is a luxury rarely, if ever, desirable on stage – so let’s work together to make sure you always get it right the first time. 

A Memory Palace is a mental tool that lets you combine familiar locations with information you want to commit to memory. You can use a home, library, bookstore, church or even your favorite walk in the park. If you’re familiar with where you’ll be speaking, you can use the stage and elements of the theatre too. 

To create Memory Palaces for memorizing monologues, it’s best to assess how many you will need. 

How many is that? 

The answer is something each person needs to figure out on their own. But for the examples we’ll go through below (more Memory Palace examples), I would typically need only one per monologue. Each would need between 3-5 rooms.

Or I might use an outdoor Memory Palace for a freer experience, like this one:

Although a numbered Memory Palace like this won’t necessarily cover everything, it’s easy to “teleport” to a second one to finish your content.

To begin using such a Memory Palace, start in an area that lets you create a mostly linear journey that you don’t have to remember.  That’s right: If you have to memorize your path through the Memory Palace, then it is technically not a Memory Palace. The whole point of this tool is that you never have to remember your path – it’s just clear and obvious as you move through it from room to room and intersection to intersection.

In this case, I would start in the room that is deepest in the apartment. This gives plenty of space to move outward, then outside of the apartment building and through the surrounding neighborhood. 

Let’s talk about how to memorize a soliloquy using this example from Edmund in King Lear:

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviour, we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical pre-dominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforc’d obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whore-master man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star! My father compounded with my mother under the Dragon’s Tail, and my nativity was under Ursa Major, so that it follows I am rough and lecherous. Fut! I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.

Now, remember when I said that research will help you? 

Here’s why:

Place your mnemonic imagery in the Memory Palace. Sometimes you can use one image for multiple words.

During the research phase, I reminded myself that Raul Julia played Edmund in a filmed version of King Lear. 

With a Memory Palace in place, I use him to kick off the mental movie that will help me memorize the first words of the line, “this is the excellent foppery of the world…” 

Now, you might be drawn to a completely different character, but the principles will be similar. What you’re trying to do is “paint” mental imagery on a no-brainer journey through remembered space in a way that helps you recall words. 

In this case, I would see Raul Julia in the first room with Bill and Ted. Not only are they in a movie with the word “excellent” in it, but they say that word multiple times. Next, I think about John Fogerty for the word “foppery.” Now, fog and fop aren’t the same, but this is the close-enough principle many of us use to make our associations. 

Next comes a process called elaborative encoding. To use it, we’re going to add some zany and crazy imagery to the mix. It’s not just that Raul Julia is saying “excellent.” I’m also going to imagine him crossing his new shiny claws like Wolverine from the X-Men series. Adding this visual image of an X compounds the sound of “excellent” triggered by having Bill and Ted. 

I’ll then have John Fogerty dressed like a “fop” or dandy, trying to spin a globe on the tuning-head of his guitar. In this case, the globe triggers the word “world.” 

Now, you might be thinking… hang on! This is going to take forever!

Actually, no. You just need to be prepared with the skills, which is why I created a powerful package for you. It will ensure that you can rapidly create the Memory Palaces and always have hundreds of mental associations ready to go on demand. 

To optimize your speed of laying out the monologue on a word-by-word basis, I suggest you explore sticking with Raul Julia. In the Magnetic Memory Method world, we call this a Magnetic Bridging Figure. 

It won’t always work, but if you think of your Memory Palace as a stage, and all of your images as players, you get to be the theatre director. If you get tired of associating different images with one figure as you follow them through your journey, switch in another. 

You don’t have to use Bridging Figures. I certainly didn’t when I memorized this recent TEDx monologue I gave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvtYj...

 

In this case, I worked solely on a word-by-word basis. In fact, I used the same Memory Palace you see illustrated above – something I’ve used many times over for different things I’ve memorized. For example, memorizing scripture.

Practice and Analysis

There are a few ways to practice what you’ve memorized. I recommend you combine them all for best results.

Write out what you’ve memorized from memory.

I recommend everyone carry a Memory Journal. In it, you will draw your Memory Palaces and test your memory. 

It’s important that the lines you memorized are nowhere in sight. You need to actively require your mind to recall the information with only the help of your Memory Palace. I suggest that you call the Memory Palace to mind first, then the first image, bringing back the exact words one at a time.

Then write the words down. Studies in learning based on active recall have shown that this is the best pattern for speeding up the memorization process. (The process is sometimes referred to as “far transfer” and you can hear my fellow memory expert, the neuroscientist Boris Konrad talk about it on my podcast. He’s also an award-winning speaker.)

Finally, after you’ve written everything out, check your accuracy against the record. 

If you find any mistakes, this important:

Don’t freak out! 

Just analyze the imagery you used and think about how you can correct it.

Record what you’ve memorized verbally from memory. 

These days, just about everyone has a phone with a nearly pro-level recording studio in it. Get out for a walk and recite out loud what you’ve memorized. Audio-only or audio and video are both fine. 

As with writing, don’t cheat by looking at the monologue  as you go. Bring it to mind, speak it out and then check for accuracy later. 

Recite during meditation. 

Find a quiet spot. Sit. Clear your mind. Visit the Memory Palace and bring the information back to your mind. 

In this version, there’s no way to check for accuracy, but if you’re doing all of these methods combined, you’ll know where you’re making mistakes. Developing this “mistake radar” is part of learning how to memorize any monologue faster. 

As you go, it’s helpful to think about some of your research and the performances you’ve watched. They can add extra levels of rapid recall because you’re adding context and nuance as you go. 

Performance and Analysis

The big day has come and it’s time to deliver your monologue. But that’s not the end. 

For one thing, you’re probably going to perform it a few times. Why not take the time to improve?

Aspects to look for include all the things you want to notice other actors doing well with: timing, intonation, gesture and posture. If you wrote the monologue yourself, these features are also worth noting. 

Also, by this point, you should be able to give the entire talk without even thinking about your Memory Palace. How is that possible? Well, the Memory Palace, when built and used well, is meant to be like training wheels on a bicycle. Once you know how to ride, the training wheels just fall away. 

Troubleshooting

What if things don’t go so smoothly, however?

First, I would recommend making sure that your Memory Palace journey truly is simple and not drawing on your memory too heavily.

Next, examine your imagery. Is it evocative enough? Do you need to spend more time preparing the skills needed to make associations, such as working with the visualization exercises in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass?

If you have a total breakdown during delivery, the best thing to do is pause, take a deep breath and let your mind return to the last thing you remember delivering. Even if you have to repeat a line you’ve already said to get back into flow, that is better than blundering further. I once experienced a panic attack while giving a film studies lecture in German and that simple willingness to repeat what I’d just said saved the day. 

What Is The Fastest Way To Memorize A Monologue? 

Again, it’s being prepared with the skills needed to do it and then practice. 

The Memory Palace isn’t the only way. You can use associations without “painting” them on the surfaces of memory, something I discuss in the context of the wide range of mnemonic devices. 

Other methods you can explore involve Anton Chekov’s suggestion that you use the body in different ways. For example, if your character is intellectually driven, you would place a lot of focus on your head. If your character is emotional, special psychological emphasis is placed on the heart area of the chest. And if the person is driven by more base survival drives like scarcity and hunger, the belly could serve as an area of focus. 

You can also consult memory experts who have done more acting than I have. Mark Channon, for example, won the World Memory Championships and has a solid acting background. 

No matter what technique you choose, the best and fastest way is the one you study and practice. 

So if you really want the easy way to memorize monologues, being devoted to the craft is the ultimate secret.

Joseph Rodrigues On Mind Mapping For Accelerated Learning And Flow

When I first reached out to Joseph Rodrigues, I wanted to ask him about how he mind maps books.

After all, I think you’ll be very curious too after you see the dozens of books he’s mind mapped on his YouTube channel.

All of these map examples are dedicated to showing you the nature of your mind and how to deeply integrate your learning.

Joseph is an entrepreneur, YouTube content creator, IT industry veteran, host of the podcast Insights & Perspectives, and management consultant. In addition, he develops courses in personal development and teaches entrepreneurship techniques to professionals of any age at Online Training for Entrepreneurs.

Joseph’s journey, covered on his bio, is fueled by curiosity, a constant need to know, and in our conversation we explore the concept of knowledge and its unbreakable bond to questioning.

Not only questioning “Why?” but, more broadly, “What –“ “How –“ and “What if?”

All of this questioning leads, not necessarily to answers, but a skillful way of thinking called “discernment.” For example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9JmZ...

Mind Mapping Helps Us Ask Better Questions

Using mind mapping and this powerful method of asking questions, Joseph explains on today’s episode how this process adds fuel to the accelerated learning techniques our community uses.

We not only explore the concept of mind mapping and questioning for personalized, accelerated learning, but how to integrate these techniques into our lives to create and nurture flow. This makes for easier choices in life as we combat chaos. Not only during the workday, but every day.

So if you’re looking to get rid of that feeling that you need “just a few” more hours to focus on work…

If you’re frustrated and have a feeling that life is just out of your control…

If the restrictive box of being told how you “should” be learning just isn’t working for you…

This podcast is for you!

Stay questioning, stay curious and press play to tune in as we share ideas about:

Comparing two popular methods for achieving mind map mastery and the pros and cons of each
The many reasons knowledge is valuable (not just personally, but sharing what you learn with others!)
The true definition of accelerated learning (Hint: It’s more than just speedreading!)
Defining quadrant/format-based learning styles for effectiveness
Why context is so important (and without it why you’re actually working against your learning goals)
How Memory Palaces and mind maps improve retention (from a non-memory worker’s perspective)
The truth and practical application of the 80/20 rule
What M.E.A.T. really is (and why its opposition is more than something just vegans can get behind!)
The two-fold secret to combatting information overwhelm
Why staying “in flow” is so beneficial to life in multiple areas and the reason it’s a “universal language”
What stagnation really means (it’s more than just “standing still”)

Further Resources on the web, this podcast, and the MMM Blog:

Joseph’s Official Instagram

Joseph on Facebook

Joseph’s Youtube Channel

The E-Myth Revisited (Michael Gerber) – book discussed in this podcast

Reality Transurfing (blog, books, and social media – official site)

Concentration Meditation: 12 Focus Exercises to Get You in the Zone (MMM Blog)

What is Mind Mapping? The Ultimate Guide to Using This Powerful Tool (MMM Blog)

How To Memorize The Presidents: Your Fast And Fun Free Guide

Want a quick and easy way to memorize the presidents of the United States?

On this page, I’ll show you how.

Even better, I’ll show you an intermediate-level skill that will let you add their dates in office. 

And if you want to go full-blown expert-level, you can add more details too. The more you explore memory techniques for powerful learning goals like committing American historical figures to your memory, the more you’ll be up to the demands of more rigorous memory tasks.



Excited? I sure am, so let’s get started! 

How to Memorize the Presidents: An Ancient and Proven Method

First, you need to build a Memory Palace that is suited to the task. 

A Memory Palace is a well-formed journey that you create in advance. Typically, it is based on a familiar building or route.

Some people prefer indoor journeys. Others like a mix of indoor and outdoor locations. And some people only use the outdoors. Yet others use fantasy locations like the homes in TV series or the landscapes of videos games. 

How do you choose? 

The answer is easy: 

Start simply and keep in mind that you need quite a bit of space for all of the presidents. So let’s do the math as of 2020. 

The current list involves 45 names. 

That means your Memory Palace needs to have 45 different “loci.” That’s the Ancient Greek term used when talking about the Method of Loci. This has also been called the Roman Room method. 

To make things more contemporary, I now call these “loci,”  “Magnetic Stations.” You’ll see why when we get to the more advanced techniques. Once set up correctly, you can use them to literally stick more information in place, just like a magnetic can hold a calendar to the surface of a fridge – and allow you to slip in receipts, concert ticks and more.

Getting Started Tips:

To create 45 stations, I suggest you draw them on paper and make a journey that is linear and logical. It should not be something you have to memorize. It should be a journey that is already in your memory. That will save you time and energy. 

For example, I will use this apartment and the surrounding neighborhood:

A Memory Palace Example for memorizing the presidents based on my local neighborhood

To identify 45 stations, I will start in the most logical spot that allows me to move slowly and in a linear journey. This is important because you want to move without confusing yourself as you proceed from one place to the next. 

Numbering the stations is easy and might look like this:

Although this numbered Memory Palace won’t have all the presidents, it’s easy to “teleport” to a second one to finish the list.

Of course, you don’t need to hire a fancy artist to represent your Memory Palace for the presidents. You just need to get out a piece of paper and draw it. Like this:

Start small. You don’t have to memorize all of the presidents in the same Memory Palace. You also don’t have to memorize all of them at once. 

What you will need, however, is a strategy, and the Memory Palace technique is the best for reasons we’re about to explore.

A Proven 3-Step Process for Memorizing the Presidents with a Memory Palace

1. At this point, we’ve got the first step covered: Have one or more Memory Palaces prepared in advance.

This step is really important because you will slow yourself down if you create the Memory Palace as you go. This creates mental issues like worrying that you’ll run out of space or lead yourself into a dead end. 

2. Step two is to begin with the first president and the first Magnetic Station of your Memory Palace. 

You need to bring them both to mind at the same time. Let’s start small with the first four presidents and just one room of a Memory Palace. This one is made from an apartment I used to rent in Berlin, Germany:

In your imagination, place the first president in the first corner of the Memory Palace you create. If you’re not visual, a quick sketch will help.

As I think about that first corner, I’m also going to think about George Washington.

Then, using a process called Elaborative Encoding, I’m going to allow my mind to bring up an association.

WARNING: There are some incredibly sophisticated techniques you can learn that help with the association process. 

Some beginners go down the rabbit hole and try to learn these before they’ve mastered the fundamentals. Please don’t put the cart before the horse. Start simply and add tools like the pegword method to your skillset later.

For now, the easiest and most direct thing to do is think of another person named George. I think about George Duke, a musician who played with Frank Zappa.

I think about George Duke “washing” Frank Zappa’s hair on the first station of the Berlin apartment. This “encoding’ links the name George with the act of washing and that space in the Memory Palace, which makes it easier to “reverse engineer” later the name George Washington. 

This process is like building a mathematical equation out of words, images, concepts and spaces in the world. The real trick is in making sure that it all makes sense to YOU personally. 

For example, right now you might be scratching your head wondering who the heck George Duke and Frank Zappa are and how you’re going to find such rich imagery to use.

If that’s the case, the answer is simple: practice.

I used to be slow and rusty, just like everyone else who wants to memorize lists like the names of the presidents.



But with practice, I got much faster. And I put all that I know together for you in this simple course:

To continue, all you have to do is mentally move to the second station of your Memory Palace. As you’re thinking about that location, start to mentally “weave” together a new name with some imagery. 

In this case, we’re looking at John Adams.

If you know these pop culture icons, you could have John Wayne in a shootout with a character from the Addams Family.

Or you could be a bit more abstract and think of the famous advertising writer David Ogilvy in a fight with John Hurt. John is a one-to-one name correspondence, but in the case of Ogilvy, your mind is making a leap between his name and the profession of advertising. 

As you grow with these skills, you’ll discover many more ways to make associations. The more you learn about memory techniques and practice them, the faster your association skills will grow.

Now then, there’s one more step before we get to the advanced options like adding dates.

3. Step three is Active Recall. In order to get the information into long term memory, you really do have to “reverse engineer” the imagery you place in your Memory Palace. 

As neuroscientist, memory athlete and memory expert Boris Konrad told us on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, no reliable memories can form without it. 

Different people engage in Active Recall in different ways. Dominic O’Brien has suggested that you need to recall the information using his Rule of Five. 

Personally, I’ve needed to be a bit more rigorous than that for much of the information I’ve memorized – but other times it can be less. It all depends on the nature of the information and your strategy.

For the presidents, I would suggest you work in small sets of 2-10 names. Keep a Memory Journal that includes your Memory Palace drawings. Then test yourself in writing about 5 times the first day – or more often. There is no magic number, which is why I created this video on the problem of learning to create your own “repetition rules.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nOwZ...

The magic of memory techniques is that sometimes you’ll get the name back automatically without needing to think of the images you used. 

Other times, you’ll get the images back first and then reverse engineer the name. Ultimately, you want to get the target information into your memory as quickly as possible. The better you get with the technique, the more you’ll develop a sense for how much repetition is needed.

Intermediate: The Best Way To Memorize The Presidents

Remember when I suggested not putting the cart ahead of the horse? 

This suggestion still remains true. But the fact of the matter is that if you really want the best list of presidential info in your memory, you’re going to want to add the dates.



Here’s how:

You’ll need to learn a system that lets you memorize numbers rapidly. Things get a bit complicated because there are a few to choose from. My analysis of the Dominic System ultimately argues that the Major Method (sometimes called the Major System) is easier and better for most people, but it’s ultimately a personal preference. 

The important factor is that you decide to be a person who improves your memory and make this a journey for life. You can add multiple techniques to your memory toolbox over time. 

For the purposes of this tutorial, let’s assume you choose the Major. You just need to memorize this simple system:

Then, when you see dates you want to memorize, you’ll combine the consonants to create words. 

For example, Thomas Jefferson was the third president. I would think of a friend Thomas I know arguing with George Jefferson from the TV show, The Jeffersons. Then, using this system, I would make words for 1801-1809, which are his dates in office. 

Since 18 is t+v in the Major, I’m actually already covered by my association for Thomas Jefferson. The Jeffersons is a TV show, after all. I just need to recognize that, link it to the Major and we’re good to go.

By adding another technique like the Major System, mental imagery will help you remember the dates each president spent in office.

But, if that’s too much of a leap for you in the beginning, you could imagine Jefferson on the third station of your Memory Palace smashing a TV (18) set down on the head of George Jefferson.

For 01, you could have a “sad” tragedy mask , which is the image I use for that number. Since zero can be represented by an S and one by a D, then “sad” is a perfect choice. The tragedy mask makes it more than a word by turning the concept of sadness into a tangible object. 

(Pro tip: I go further than just using a non-specific mask. I think about the tragic mask worn by William Shatner in his performance of Oedipus Rex. This incredibly specific image based on a story I love makes the mnemonic imagery even more concrete to my imagination and thereby much easier to recall.)

For 1809, you can probably skip having the TV image twice. I used to use a Subaru driven by a friend of mine, but now have added memory expert Brad Zupp. If you’re following the formulas of the Major, you’ll note that both words work before: 

Zero can be an S or Z and nine can be a B or P. S + B = Subaru or Z + P = Zupp.

(Pro tip: Many people will wonder about the additional letters in a word like Subaru and ask: Won’t that make you think you need to recall the number 094 because R can represent four? It’s a great question, but I’m sure that you’ll find in your own practice that your brain can sort it out. Memory techniques are filled with all kinds of little knacky things like this, so it’s really important not to overthink these things techniques. Once you have the fundamentals down, you’ll find that your brain is supple enough to manage what appears to be conflicts or contradictions.)



Now, what I’ve shared with you is a process of association that progresses toward having a number of images that combine a number of pieces of information. As you develop these images yourself, you can refine or change them. And you should, because the more you streamline them, the better your skills will grow.

In sum, imagine the third Magnetic Station of a Memory Palace. On it, your friend Thomas (or another Thomas you know) has a TV balanced on his left hand. It’s playing The Jeffersons and involves someone doing something crazy with a tragedy mask. On his right hand, memory expert Brad Zupp is stomping on a Subaru. 

When you revisit this part of your Memory Palace later, you’ll be able to work it all out, ideally with pen and paper using your Memory Journal. You want this form of active recall in order to encourage the rapid flow of the information into long term memory. 

 

Advanced: Adding More Information to the Presidents

 

At this point, I’m going to assume that you’ve gone through all of the presidents and at least have their names. 

After that goal has been reached, the first round of additional information to add I’ve suggested is their dates in office. You could also explore adding a second round by adding their birthdates and dates of demise (where relevant). 

But there are also interesting facts about them you can add. To accomplish that goal, here’s what I would suggest. 

James Madison was the fourth president of the United States from 1809-1817. On my fourth Memory Palace station, I would see James Hetfield of Metallica getting mad at his son. To make it more concrete, his son would be the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son Iron Maiden sung about on the iconic album of that title. You could also use the actual sun in the sky, or the sun from the movie poster for Sunshine. The options are endless. 

For the dates, making a new association for 1809 is not necessary in this case. You only need something for 17, in which case you could use a tack or someone like the political commentator Tucker Carlson. Or perhaps you could have a tack piercing Carlson (which I’m sure some people would like to do). Just that one additional image gives you the dates you need for this president. 

Let’s say you wanted to also remember that Madison was Princeton University’s first graduate. You could add a prince’s crown to James Hetfield’s head. Or, you could tuck a copy of The Prince by Machiavelli under his arm (or have both images).



Let’s say you wanted to remember that Madison initially opposed the Bill of Rights. In this case, you could have him burning a document up, or scratching out what it says with a quill. 

Use your imagination. The images you can add are endless. And if you run out of space, all you need to do is add a Memory Palace just for James Madison. 

 

Common Questions About Memorizing The Presidents

 

How long will it take? 

Some people manage to memorize all of them in under an hour. Others will need more time.



I suggest the following:



Instead of wondering how long it will take, have a strong reason why you’re memorizing the president. Then, if it takes a little longer, who cares? You’ll have fulfilled the reason and be able to soar past any bumps in the road. 

How will I remember which president belongs to which number?

If you want to always remember that James K. Polk was the 11th president of the United States, you have a few options. 

First, you can make all of your Memory Palaces the same. If each Memory Palace has 10 stations, for example, you can just do some simple math. Since Polk will be the first station in your second Memory Palace, he must be the eleventh president. This gives you an additional calculation to make, but it’s going to be great brain exercise for you. 

Second, using the Major Method, you can develop an image for every digits from 00-99. This set of pre-designed images is fantastic and well worth developing – provided you develop the foundational skills first. Then, every station can automatically have an image that reminds you of its number without needing every Memory Palace to have a certain number of stations in order to provide a calculation. 

Adding all of these additional images sounds messy! Won’t I get confused? 

You might get confused if you haven’t developed the foundational skills. But in reality, most people who dedicate themselves to these techniques not only avoid confusion. They discover many wonderful options for scaling their skills over time. Typically, we find that all confusion is very welcome because it teaches us how to pivot our approach and improve over time. 

Are there any songs I can use as an alternative? 

Yes, and this is one of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDqCP...

However, learning this song does not diminish the need to learn a means of memorizing the song itself. If you prefer to go this route, here’s how to memorize a song.

Other people teach the Memory Palace differently? What makes this approach better? 

It’s not a question of better or worse. It’s a question of the student’s willingness to focus on one teacher at a time. I recommend you have a strong why behind all of your learning projects. Then, when seeking memory improvement training, stick with one teacher at a time for at least a 90 day period. Do what they suggest and then add another teacher’s material, repeating the 90 day study principle.

Within a year, you’ll be a memory master and very grateful you focused on seriously learning these techniques instead of hopping all over the internet for the next “shiny new technique.” The reality is that all of the training out there is very similar, and your real goal is to become the kind of learner who studies and practices these techniques thoroughly.

After all, it’s (usually) only through serious study and practice in at least one profession that anyone gets to be president in the first place, right?

John Michael Greer On Giordano Bruno, Memory and Time

Few authors have provided as many lenses through we can see and interpret science, language and memory as John Michael Greer.

As an author, Greer is known for his work with the ideas of Giordano Bruno and, most recently, his translation of  On the Shadows of the Ideas.

Greer has also authored many books on the subjects of spirituality and the occult, economics and political change. He’s also published fiction and served as a druid and initiate in Freemasonry and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

On this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, we focus on Bruno’s memory systems and the nature of knowledge from what he calls “the rubbish heap of history.”

Is that what Bruno’s texts and the Picatrix amount to? Press play now to see if you agree as we discuss:

The importance of “intellectual dumpster diving” to real learning and preservation of ideas
Why more than a literal translation can be self-serving, but somehow it can’t be avoided
The reason photocopies (of photocopies) are an accurate parallel of our relationship to ancient philosophy
Why Bruno is the zenith of the Renaissance art of memory
The reason subject/abject memorization is the most sophisticated method to memorize text
A mystery of modern times – the widespread avoidance of using the alphabet as a memory tool…
And why overwhelm can occur, even with this simple sequence
Why, in Bruno’s time, knowledge and secrecy went hand-in-hand
The reason Frances Yates’ ideas about Bruno should be viewed with discernment
The delusion of treating history as a straight line, and why this idea is wildly inaccurate, given the way the universe operates

[image error]

Giordano Bruno

Did Giordano Bruno Write The Ultimate Memory Improvement Book? 

That’s probably a silly question. After all, aren’t the Memory Palace books you put into action the “best”?

Nonetheless, I was really excited when Greer’s new translation of De Umbris Idearum appears on the scene, which is why I held this special livestream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcDgp...

I highly recommend everyone serious about memory techniques not only read this book, but endeavor to understand it by taking action based on its suggestions.

Spend at least 90 days in practice. Embrace the challenge, as suggested by John Graham.

Then, and only then, add another memory training book. You’ll be glad you did based on solid understanding, rather than flighty “shiny new memory book” behaviors.

Because if you don’t take action on the books you read, then Greer is right: they’ll be found on the trash heap of all the other books you’re not milking for the value they contain.

Further Resources on the web, this podcast, and the MMM Blog:

John Michael Greer’s Ecosophia Blog (Toward an Ecological Spirituality)

John’s Dreamwidth Blog

John Michael Greer’s Amazon author page

John Michael Greer Presents: Masonry and the Secret Societies

Frances Yates’s Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition

The Illustrated Picatrix: The Complete Occult Classic of Astrological Magic

Scott Gosnell Talks About Giordano Bruno

Martin Faulks on the Memory Palace in the Masonic Tradition

13 Powerful Cognitive Activities For Adults To Sharpen Your Brain

Are you looking for cognitive activities for adults to stimulate your brain?

Your cognitive abilities and brain health may weaken with age, illness, or poor habits.

Cognitive stimulation activities are a great way to defy this deterioration — helping you improve your attention, memory, and overall mental health.

In this article, we’ll take a brief look at cognitive processes. I’ll also show you 13 stimulating activities for cognitive development that will keep your brain fighting-fit, even as you age.

Here’s What I’ll Cover In This Post:

What Are Cognitive Processes?
13 Activities For Strengthening Cognitive Processes For Adults
Why are Cognitive Processes Important?
Do Cognitive Processes Decline as You Age?



What Are Cognitive Processes?

While you were binge-watching The Mandalorian, a burning smell caught your senses.

You dashed to the kitchen to turn off the oven.

As you cleaned up the mess, your brain made a list of ingredients you need to bake that cake again.

You then drove to the grocery store, bought the ingredients, and returned home to bake again.

What a day!

But it was worth every bite of that oozy, chocolatey delight sitting at your kitchen counter.

Now:

Did you realize you used many of your cognitive skills in the above scenario?

In his 1967 book, Ulric Neisser defined cognition as “how sensory inputs are transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used.”

Let’s go deeper.

What are the Different Cognitive Processes?

Here’s a closer look at the various cognitive skills you use in your daily life. They include attention, memory, logic, reasoning, and visual and auditory processing.

They help you process the world around you.

Attention

Attention allows you to concentrate on a particular activity or stimulus instead of processing everything around you.

Activities such as walking, wearing clothes, and driving require little attention because the repeated practice has made them a part of your routine. But activities like responding to a friend in crisis would require more attention.

Your attention could also be selective to a strong stimulus, letting you focus only on it. For example, you could listen to a podcast on the radio amid noisy traffic or work on your laptop with the TV switched on.

Sensation and Perception

Sensation is the process of receiving information from the environment through your sensory organs — eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin.

Perception is the process by which you interpret this information. Past experiences influence your perception and allow you to make sense of the world around you.

Gestalt psychologists believe that we perceive our reality as a whole rather than the sum of different parts. For example, a dotted line (…………….) will be seen as a line and not as separate dots.

Comprehension

To comprehend means to understand and interpret what you read or hear. Your brain decodes the language of what you’ve read and makes connections with what you already know.

For example, you read, “The train left the station and John’s friend was gone forever.” To process this sentence, you need to understand what is left unsaid: John’s friend was on that train.

Memory

Memory is made up of three processes: acquiring, storing, and retrieving information on ideas, facts, images, habits, or events around you. It is the store of all things you’ve learned and retained from your activities and experiences.

Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to find alternate ways of getting things done. You can only improve it by performing new tasks and challenging the brain to learn new skills.

That is where cognitive activities for adults can come to your rescue. Some of them even help people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Let’s see what they are.

13 Powerful Cognitive Activities for Adults

You’ll find plenty of cognitive stimulation activities for adults, including exercise workbooks and several enticing online brain training games and apps.

I’d suggest you stay away from online apps as they may make you good at completing those tasks, but don’t really stimulate your brain.

Here are my top recommendations for cognitively stimulating activities, especially for older people. All of these will improve your cognitive skills — attention, comprehension, perception, memory, reasoning, and/or processing speed.

1. Mindful Walking

A recent study on mindfulness established that mindfulness-based exercises help elders with mild cognitive impairment improve their daily life.

When you step out for a morning walk, concentrate on sensations like the wind in your hair, your breathing, or the sounds around you.

While the walk keeps you physically active, this mindfulness will help you build your attention span, filter out distractions, and boost your overall cognitive health.

2. Drawing

Drawing or illustration involves the use of cognitive abilities such as perception and memory. A study also suggests that the process of drawing can help older adults fight memory loss.

Observe a complex drawing with multiple colors or layers, and try to replicate it later. Or take in a scene around you and draw it on paper, bringing out all the minute details.

3. Counting Letters

Select a paragraph from any book and count the number of times a particular letter appears. This will help you sustain your attention by focusing on one letter for an extended period of time.

In a study on older people, researchers have used this cognitive stimulation activity to measure everyday attention.

4. Color Arrangement

Take a piece of printed cloth and find out how many shades of a particular color are present in it.

Color has cognitive stimulation properties and helps older folks improve their spatial memory.

5. Approximation and Estimation Exercises

Keep two spoons next to each other on a desk. Then move the second spoon away from the first spoon. Now figure out how many spoons you can fit in between them.

This is a handy exercise that adults can do easily to improve perception and information processing abilities.

6. Card Games

Poker, Solitaire, and other card games for seniors can improve cognitive function — especially logical problem solving and memory retention.

Try this card-matching game:

Pick 8 to 12 pairs of identical cards and lay them face down on the desk. Ensure that the pairs are not together. Pick any two cards at a time and see if they match. See how many pairs you can match in five minutes.

Keep increasing the number of pairs, to improve your memory and attention span gradually.

7. Word Games

Try out crossword puzzles, Scrabble, or any other word game that you enjoy.

Here’s another one — finding unrelated words. Pick a random word and think of words that are not related to it. If you pick ‘sky,’ then words like the moon, sun, night, or birds are not allowed.

This exercise will help you improve your comprehension skills. Elderly adults can play this engaging brain game with their family members or caretakers.

8. Remembering Sequences

Try to remember words in a particular order. For example, list all the fruits you know. After an hour or so, try to remember the fruits in the same order.

This is a classic memory improvement technique. You could do multiple variations such as unknown words, nonsense words, and increased distractions.

9. Number Games

Calculation exercises and number games like Sudoku will keep your problem-solving skills sharp.

Here’s an interesting twist — a license plate game. When you see license plates on vehicles, you could try to figure out the relationship between those numbers. For example, XX4812 could be 4 + 4 = 8 and 8 + 4 = 12. Alternatively, 12 * 4 = 48, hence, 4812.

This is an entertaining game that elderly adults can even play from the comfort of their home balconies to improve their memory and processing speed.

10. Board Games

Board games like chess can help you boost your IQ, concentration, and focus.

Get some partners to play with and alternate among Checkers, Clue, Monopoly, or any other board game to increase your creativity and cognitive functioning.

11. Reading

Researchers have proven the power of reading in keeping Alzheimer’s disease at bay. Besides keeping you informed and entertained, it will spark your imagination and exercise your brain.

You could read magazines, fiction, or non-fiction books. To make it more effective, retell the gist of what you read to someone.

12. Physical Exercise

A study by Italian researchers proved that regular physical activity “is a strong gene modulator that induces structural and functional changes in the brain”, leading to improved cognitive skills and wellbeing.

The Alzheimer’s Association says that regular exercise may be a beneficial strategy to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia as well.

Choose a workout routine that you enjoy and stick to it — be it aerobic exercise, resistance training, badminton, or swimming.

13. Creating Memory Palaces

Creating Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method is an incredible memory technique that boosts your long term memory.

To make it simpler on your brain, always draw them out before using them in your mind.

Then, when learning a new language, mentally walk around your home. Use associations to place vocabulary and phrases related to shopping (in that language) on your kitchen counter, or the words related to travel on your sofa.

This will help you store the information in your long-term memory and recall it easily at will. You can also try mind mapping to activate yet another level of your memory and creativity when learning something new.

Why are Cognitive Processes Important?

Cognitive processes let you:

1. Understand sensory inputs:

Your brain transforms the sensations and information around you into signals for you to understand and act on.

That’s how you instinctively drop a hot piece of coal or turn when someone calls your name, or push a person onto the sidewalk when you see a vehicle dangerously veering towards them.

2. Elaborate information:

When you recall information, sometimes your brain fills in the missing pieces.

For instance, while buying groceries, you may remember an item that needs to be restocked but wasn’t on your list. Also, at times when you narrate incidents to your friends, you may add details that weren’t part of the original memory.

3. Remember and recall information:

Your short-term memory stores information, such as the office address for your upcoming interview. And your long-term memory helps you remember your childhood home address or a language you learned at age five.

4. Contextualize information and solve problems:

Cognitive processes link past information to current information and help you make decisions to solve problems. Your attention to your surroundings, memories, understanding of language, biases, and judgments all contribute to how you interact with your environment.

For example, you rush to turn off the oven when there’s a slight burning smell because you know the consequences of what might follow if you don’t.

Now, here’s another important question:

Do Cognitive Processes Decline as You Age?

The answer is – yes – just as much as your physical function weakens with age.

Some cognitive skills start to fade with age, especially your memory and attention.

How does cognitive decline manifest itself?

Here’s how:

Life experiences that come with age (like your knowledge or vocabulary) remain stable. But your abilities such as riding a bicycle start to decline.
Your childhood memories remain relatively intact, but forming new ones gets difficult. It may get tougher to remember where you kept the house key or spectacles, or the name of the new neighbor you met yesterday.
Older adults may show a slower reaction time (the speed at which we respond to stimuli).
Paying attention to multiple activities such as watching TV while chopping vegetables might become difficult.
Solving problems and puzzles will take more time than when you were younger.

Progressive neural decay leads to neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

People with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are considered to be at an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. In their study, researchers Roberts and Knopman proved that 15% to 20% of people aged 65 or older have MCI.

Diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia are incurable, and a healthy cognitive reserve is the only way to combat these diseases. Some people who are diagnosed with mild-to-moderate dementia or Alzheimer’s disease opt for psychological intervention, including Cognitive Stimulation Therapy.

Cognitive Stimulation = Get a Super-Fit Brain

Keeping your cognitive processes sharp is a critical part of successful aging.

All these brain-stimulating activities, especially the powerful Memory Palace technique, will help you improve your cognitive performance effectively — even as you go about your day-to-day life and social activities.

If you want to learn more about how to improve your memory (including how to use a Memory Palace), sign up for your free memory improvement kit.

Roman Room: One Of The Most POWERFUL Memory Palace Strategies

The Roman Room is just one term for the most powerful memory technique humanity has ever known.

It helps people memorize information quickly because it allows you to “weave” mental imagery together with rooms in homes and other buildings. 

We’ll get into the details on this page. In brief, using this memory technique is a very simple process where you start by taking, say, just one corner of a room in your mind.

Then, if you want to memorize a foreign language phrase or a line from a poem, you select associations that help you memorize the target information on a word by word basis. 

In fact, if you get really good at it, I’ve personally seen people memorize up to 17 words by using just one corner of a room they hold in their imagination. I’ve done it myself for a recent TEDx presentation, and I’ll share details and examples from how I memorized my speech with you today. 

Does the potential of memorizing an entire speech, learning a language or devouring the most important points in a textbook based on the Roman Room technique excite you?

It does?

Great! It excites me too and all the more so because this memory technique helped me learn languages and complete my PhD, not to mention learn how to use the Internet to teach, something that requires the brain to absorb literally hundreds of technical details. How could something so ancient help us in living in the modern world?

Let’s dig in and I’ll show you exactly what I mean!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz4G6...

The Origin of The Term “Roman Room”

First off, it’s important to repeat that this term is just one variation of a mental tool that appeared many thousands of years ago, long before Rome was even built. The term “Roman Room” means practically the same thing as:

Journey method
Memory Palace
Mind Palace
Memory Castle
Memory Room
Method of Loci

I’ll never forget one of my first students – he was 88 and didn’t like any of these terms. So I said call them whatever you like. He chose “apartments with compartments,” and once settled, he went on to revive his German and memorize dozens of poems. 

But there’s a reason some people call this technique the “Roman Room.” This is because Roman Orators used their homes, and even the stages they spoke from, to help them memorize and recite their speeches. 

In fact, a phrase we still use today is thought to come from the use of rooms as memory devices. When a speaker would say, “In the first place” or “in the second place,” this verbal habit was referring to the information in a mental room used to store the point. It’s entirely possible that the people in the audience also used the technique, and used it along with the speaker to rapidly internalize the information as they heard it.

This use of locations is why the Roman Room technique is sometimes called the Method of Loci. Loci is the plural of locus, a Latin word for a place. You have “loci” when you have strung multiple places together, such as the four corners of a room. 

In the Greek tradition, we have the Story of Simonides of Ceos, which I give two powerful  versions of in our detailed study of 7 Ancient Memory Palace tips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSn2q...

Now, this technique is not just about using buildings or rooms. We also have the notion of space itself, which was incredibly special to the Greeks in many ways. As Thales said, a person widely considered to be both the first philosopher and scientist:

Μέγιστον τόπος άπαντα γαρ χωρεί

 Megiston topos hapanta gar chorei

Space is the ultimate thing, as it contains all things.

Pre-historically, we have evidence that ancient people did not use rooms at all to create their memory tools. For example, people have used constellations to help them remember. Lynne Kelly demonstrates in The Memory Code how aboriginals used skyscapes both day and night to help them remember songs. She also shows how they used long stretches of  geography and even objects like the lukasa to help them memorize the names and locations of medicinal plants. 

I would go so far as to say that humanity has survived precisely because it learned to use external and internal structures as memory aids. Imagine trying to remember what kind of plants are safe to eat during a drought, versus which are poisonous. If you can’t remember, you’re dead. 

Memory Rooms or Memory Theatres: Which Is Better For Memory Palace Training?

If you can’t find any terms you like, let’s introduce another option that I’m quite fond of and talk about Robert Fludd’s “memory theatre.” It uses rooms very specifically, or at least, that’s what memory expert Frances Yates believes. She talks a lot about Fludd’s variation on the Roman Room in her seminal book, The Art of Memory. 

The idea here is that we can mentally visit locations, and this man is apparently imagining a structure like the Tower of Babel, an obelisk, what appears to be a town square and perhaps an angel introducing a new person to heaven. 

On the Oculus Imaginationis diagram, we see different spaces that can be used in combination with other kinds of mental imagery to help us remember words, poems, mathematical formulas and names. 

However, there is a difference to notice between ars quadrata and ars rotunda. The first is the art of using squares and the second is the art of using round and dynamic spaces, such as using trees in a forest or other shapes in nature.

As an experiment, I created my own version of The Tower of Babel and used it to memorize these two terms. On locus one, I mentally imposed a big fat circle that is badly overweight. That reminded me of the term ars rotunda. On the second locus, I imposed a square and thought of Q from James Bond bringing the secret agent into a new quadrant for ars quadrata. 

Now, Fludd was apparently against using a virtual Memory Palace or any imaginary space. But that didn’t stop him from using spaces of imagination. 

Who was Robert Fludd? And why should we care about his memory teaching?

He was a key thinker in the development of both scientific thinking and the use of memory techniques. He had a lively, albeit controversial exchange with Johannes Kepler, and thought deeply about the nature of the mind and memory, providing many illustrations of how he thought our mechanisms of psychology worked.

Again, it seems that Fludd preferred using actual buildings for his spatial memory work, not imaginary spaces. In fact, Yates thinks he may have used Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for his Roman Rooms. And if you take a look at one of his diagrams, you can see that this theatre space with entrances to multiple rooms is coded in an interesting way:

Notice how the image of this theatre depicts five entrances (three on the ground floor and two on the top floor). Corresponding with these rooms are different shapes. Yates is not sure, and no one can be, but it’s easy to imagine that Fludd may have had actors stand on these shapes and then used them to walk through the rooms behind those doors. 

Then, in each corner and possibly on each wall, he had pre-determined “loci” where he would place the information he wanted to memorize. We don’t know, but we can theorize that Fludd would have visited the rooms behind those doors, not imagined them. Assuming that you’re using rooms you’ve seen with your own eyes, now let’s talk about…

How To Prepare To Use A Roman Room

 If you want to be a purist, you would first set a specific goal. For example, a goal might be to use this memory technique to memorize a speech, as the Roman orators would have done. But you can use this style of journey system to memorize anything else, from foreign language vocabulary and phrases to mathematical formulas. 

For the vast varieties of possible memory goals and the powerful outcomes anyone who becomes a discipline of these techniques can experience, I want to correct a misconception. 

It is sometimes said that memory techniques that use space are only useful for memorizing lists or what is sometimes called “unstructured” information.

This claim is not necessarily false, but it is deeply misguided about the nature of the information we want to memorize. For example, information is structured by default, isn’t it? How could it be information if it didn’t have a structure? The word information itself has multiple structures, for example. 

The letter ‘I’ that begins the word is a structure, as is each letter in the word. The word has four syllables, each syllable a structure until itself. Analyzing information in this way is one of the great secrets used by memory artists to rapidly create multiple hooks and make concrete associations out of even the most concrete and abstract material. To the true mnemonist, there is in fact nothing abstract or difficult or obscure. It is all perceivable assemblages of multiple structures for which associations can always be made, if you’re trained and well-practiced.



Let’s go a bit deeper on this point:

Remember when I promised you could memorize up to a 17 word phrase in the corner of a room?

Guess what? 

Every sentence is a list! It’s just one word coming after another in a particular order. We just happen to call it a “sentence.” And the word “sentence” is just a list of letters, s-e-n-t-e-n-c-e. Mind blown, or what?

It’s the same thing with a string of digits. For example, the 1200 digits of pi memorized and recited publicly by my student Marno Hermann who established himself at the top of the South African memory competition records is technically a list, and yet…

If you use this technique properly, in a way that allows you to both get the info into long term memory and recall it out of order, you can manipulate the linear nature of information.

You can use what I call Magnetic Compounding based on ideas from Giordano Bruno that vastly explode the potential of everything memorized inside of a Roman Room.

But that would no longer technically be a Roman Room – it would be a Magnetic Memory Palace. So let’s stick with the plot, shan’t we? Here’s how to get started with your first Roman Room: 

Get out a piece of paper.
Think of a room you’re familiar with.
Draw the room using just four lines  to represent the room. 
Represent the corners of the room with numbers. 
Write down the list of the stations. 

The reason I ask students to follow these steps is not just because I have loved receiving them by the thousands as symbols of people taking action. I do love that!

But I ask serious students of memory improvement to draw the Roman Room because it helps them tap into more visual and spatial memory power than imagination accomplishes on its own. We also harness the power of something called “the levels of processing effect” by physically creating this memory aid through drawing. It then becomes newly visual to you as a blueprint, which means it’s better remembered.



Then, by writing numbers and words, you’re processing it through your numerical and verbal brain – strengthening the journey. The more levels of processing, the better, and this is true no matter how good you get. I find that if I don’t complete this quick step for both simple and elaborate Memory Palaces that I create, the technique just doesn’t work nearly as well. 

I think that drawing the memory journey is like the equivalent of a London cabbie driving the streets in preparation for the exam and then taking prep tests to manually write out the routes by hand. Sure, you can probably remember the routes without taking those steps… eventually. But if you really want to succeed, you’re going to do what good students do, and compound your efforts using multiple approaches. 

If you’re worried that this simple Roman Room won’t be enough space to memorize much, don’t be. Here are two mindset tips to keep in mind:

If you haven’t developed the skills to memorize just four pieces of information in one room, why worry about thousands of pieces of information? 
Any dedicated individual who puts in the time can pull dozens, if not hundreds of rooms from their memory. 

Just think about your years in elementary school and high school. Personally, from pre-school to when I graduated with my PhD, I have drawn dozens of these powerful memory tools. And that’s not to mention all the movie theatres, cafes, restaurants, churches, hotels and bookstores I’ve seen (just to name a few possible options you surely have waiting for you in your memory). 

Be willing to start small, and if you’re not willing to do that, be willing to scale back after a massive effort at making enormous Memory Palaces poses too much challenge for your spatially unexercised brain. I myself overwhelmed myself like crazy in the beginning, and it seems that some of the best students do need to feel that bit of pain in order to train themselves to simplify. There’s nothing wrong with failing to follow the advice to keep it simple, so long as you learn from the experience.

How to Use Your First Roman Room

Let’s stick with the example of giving a speech as the Roman orators did. In this case, you’ll need to write your speech first, or select one from history that you’re going to perform. “I Have A Dream,” “The Gettysburg Address” or an extract from “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf are all fun and interesting examples you could choose from.

Then, you either want to prepare your mental associations in advance, or make them up as you go along. Both options are fine, but I prefer to complete the exercises I teach in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass so I don’t have to waste time inventing the imagery. I always have associations popping up without any effort at all. 

Next, start on the first locus of your new Roman Room.

Let’s use my February 2020 TEDx presentation as an example.

The first line was:

“How would you like to completely silence your mind?”

To memorize this line, I simply started at the first locus and thought of Howie Mandel.

Why this comedian?

Well, besides the fact that we’re both Canadian and I liked him a lot when I was a kid, “how” and “Howie” have the same letters and basic sound. 

I then imagined him chopping wood (would) while hitting thumbs up on his phone (like). Once this part of the line was encoded, I didn’t need the rest of the line because this was the point of the talk.

However, if I had needed imagery for it, I might have used a swan because swans look somewhat like the number 2. For silence, I might have heard the Christmas carol, “Silent Night.” For “your mind,” I might have thought about Howie breaking the Ministry album, “The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste” over his knee. 

From there, I just carried on to the next locus in the Roman Rooms and encoded the next line. Sometimes I needed to encode the sentences word for word, but other times I only encoded keywords. It’s a fairly long talk, but I can often get a lot of words on one locus, so it took the equivalent of 8 Roman Rooms in total.

But again, “Roman Room” is just one of many possible names for this technique, so it’s important to not focus on the terminology, but rather understand that the Magnetic Memory Method has fused all of the best techniques together into one smooth and systematic approach. 

Practicing the Roman Room Technique For Long Term Memory

This is the fun part of using the Roman Room method. 

You see, encoding is only half of the task. You also have to practice decoding the speech. 

To do that, I followed a few unusual steps that I recommend to anyone using this technique. 

Recall the speech forwards from beginning to end. 
Pick segments of the speech to practice in different orders.
Walk the Roman Room while reciting.

Reciting the speech from beginning to end is obvious. That’s how you want to deliver it, after all.

But if you want to be absolutely flawless and have no hesitations, each part needs to really stick in your mind. If you only practice starting from the beginning, you will give the beginning what is called Primacy Effect. The end will get what is called Recency Effect. 

These laws of memory, first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus in his book, Über das Gedächtnis (about memory) show that we tend to remember best the first and last things we encounter in an information series. 

You probably have heard a friend who can tell you how a movie begins and ends, but completely botches retelling the middle of the story. This happens precisely because of these effects. 

To avoid that problem while standing in front of the audience, I recited my speech out of order so that each part received sufficient doses of primacy and recency. 

Basically, I followed a number of patterns that I share in my free Memory Kit available at magneticmemorymethod.com/yt. The course includes detailed worksheets, a homework assignment and many more valuable tips for improving your memory with the most powerful techniques we as humans can learn and use.

These Recall Rehearsal patterns are very powerful, and because all information is structured, there are even more I know and followed, including jumping in at random to recite only the quotes I had included in my speech.

I spoke entirely from memory, using no slides or pictures. I had to nail each and every quote, and I did thanks to the fact that each was robustly remembered. Using these patterns to practice recall is the best way to achieve that level of bulletproof delivery and remove all nervousness. For more information:

 

Pegword Lists and the Hook Method

One neat way you can get more out of this technique is to learn how to use the pegword method, which is sometimes called the “hook method.” 

In some sense, I’m already doing this in the example I just gave. Howie Mandel became a kind of hook that carried my memory across several words. 

However, if you develop a set of images for each letter of the alphabet, you can link your Roman Rooms to each letter.



For example, locus one can be the A-locus. Perhaps you have a friend named Alan or Albert who will always be standing there.



Then, if you want to memorize a line like the one from my speech, you could see him fistfighting with Howie Mandel (or some other Howard). This can be useful for beginners because sometimes it can be a struggle when you’re new to think of what images you used. But if you know what each letter stands for, then it’s easier to remember that it was Alan punching Howie to kick-off a sentence that starts with “how” because you know Alan. Howie is just an actor on a screen who has not been able to activate nearly as much of your brain and memory. 

I have a detailed example list of images that I’ve used on my tutorial about the pegword method. 

How to Expand Your Roman Rooms

As mentioned, you can easily create more Roman Rooms. Most people have potentially thousands of them in their minds.

But let’s say you want to make one bigger.

Let’s look back at the Robert Fludd theater again. 

You can do the exact same thing as Yates imagines Fludd did.

Let’s say that in Roman Room #1 you include 5 doors. Personally, I would encode these alphabetically. 

Behind door A would be the entrance to my friend Alan’s home office. (I actually use his entire house, but just one additional room does a lot to expand into more space if you’re not ready for bigger Memory Palaces.) 

Behind door B would be my dad’s workshop (his name starts with B). Behind door C, I might use one of my highschool sweetheart’s homes… sigh, Ah Charla, whatever happened to you?

Another way you can expand any Roman Room is to add the walls. Four corners and four walls = 8 loci. You could also add the floor and ceiling, giving 10. This configuration is the so-called Vaughn Cube. 

Or, you can change the color or your first Roman Room and reuse it. This is very mentally taxing, which is why I discourage beginners from using the technique in The Definitive Guide to Reusing A Memory Palace. 

Finally, you don’t have to stick to the corners and walls. This practice is my personal preference now because I memorize a lot of verbatim lines. But for language learning, I like to add furniture. Sometimes multiple shelves of books can be useful too, but generally the more compressed the space, the more difficult it can be to manage.

How to Modify A Roman Room

As I discussed in my writing on How to Renovate a Memory Palace, I generally discourage making changes after-the-fact. It’s time consuming and reveals that you haven’t really put enough time into planning either your Roman Rooms or your learning goal. 

For example, it would have been a huge frustration and a waste of time if the rooms I used for my TEDx needed to be changed along the way. 

Not only that, failing to structure the journey correctly from the beginning could have led to completely blowing the talk altogether.

If you really must modify a room after-the-fact, I suggest that you do it after all the core information has already been entered. Then, see if you can add a wall where you previously only used the corners. Or use the foot of the bed where you previously used only the pillow area. 

When you get really good at this technique, you’ll find that you can get extremely detailed in your Memory Palaces. Mary Carruthers tells us in The Medieval Craft of Memory that John of Metz used every stone of the tower he lived in for his loci. He must have practiced a lot to reach that level of skill!

Is This The Best Memory Technique?

 

Success with any memory technique you choose depends on your goal. It also depends on your current level of skill and on the nature of the information. This is as true of Roman Room memory solutions as it is of every mnemonic technique you’ll ever find.

At the end of the day, preparation matters. I suggest that beginners start with simple goals, like a handful of vocabulary in a foreign language or song lyrics. 

To learn an entire language, you’re going to want to develop at least one Memory Palace Network. 

If you want to deal with numbers, you’ll need to add a second technique, either the Major System or the Dominic System – both are essentially pegword methods tailored for numbers. And rest assured that they’re not new. They both descend from the Katapayadi system which we can track back to 683 CE. 

There’s so much more to be said about all the memory systems out there. But the best thing to do is pick one, get started and stick with it for at least 90 days. Practice a minimum of 4x a week. No matter what approach you use, it’s consistent study and practice that we each need to become memory masters. 

The Victorious Mind Audiobook: New Memory Improvement Book Sampler

Is it really possible to stop mental torment?

Can the human mind actually completely stop thinking?

These were the questions on my mind when I started the memory and meditation training that culminated in The Victorious Mind: How to Master Memory, Meditation and Mental Well-Being.

In today’s episode of The Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, I’m sharing the opening of the audiobook version of my latest book.

Trigger Warning: It’s gritty.

But for those unfortunate enough to suffer from scattered thinking and endless torrents of negative thoughts, I’m confident this book will help you make a positive change.

About The Victorious Mind

The Victorious Mind tells the story of how one man – film scholar and creator of the Magnetic Memory Method Anthony Metivier – overcame the mental distress that imprisoned him in a “highly functioning manic-depressive” identity, and almost took his life, using three practices: self-inquiry meditation, memory training, and “biohacking.” 

But more than a story of self-transformation, the book offers detailed guidance through the techniques Anthony used to release himself from the haze of lithium along with the illusion of self. Both entertaining and erudite, brain-science informed and stripped of BS, The Victorious Mind takes us along on a journey through cities of the world and Memory Palaces of the mind, where there are bad acid trips along the way but also Buddha Smiles. 

The Victorious Mind is peopled with a surprising range of figures, from members of his Magnetic Memory Method community and Ancient Greek mnemonists, to secular-spiritual teachers of today such as Gary Weber, whose translations of ancient Sanskrit self-inquiry texts play a central role in Anthony’s self-transformation. 

This book is ideal not just for those struggling with mental illness but for anyone suffering mental malaise – whether it’s digital amnesia and scatterbrain, depression or “control freakism.” What sets this book apart is also what defines its key message: there’s no one technique, no one path to freedom and quality of mental and physical life, and there’s no one teacher. 

Rather, it’s the act of assembling the insights and practices of others with experimentation in one’s own body and mind that will enable us to be our own teachers, bring peace of mind and focus, and free ourselves from negative thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox4Ay...

Praise for The Victorious Mind

If only The Victorious Mind had been written ten years ago… It would have saved me a lot of frustration and self-blame in failing to keep up my regular meditation practice. Now I not only know why I struggled so much, but what to do instead.

– Seph Fontane Pennock, Co-founder, PositivePsychology.com

In The Victorious Mind, Anthony Metivier brings his terrifying experience of mental illness together with his depth of knowledge of memory systems to show how using mnemonics systematically can ease a troubled mind and replace terror with joy. This is a unique book from an author who speaks from a lifetime of experience beyond anything I could have imagined.

– Lynne Kelly, author of The Memory Code and Memory Craft

Anthony Metivier has a compelling personal story and a remarkable, practical methodology of helping us move beyond our stories and into the living truth. With one foot planted firmly in the relative and the other rooted in the Absolute, Anthony has hit the sweet spot that combines the two – which is authentic nonduality.

– Fred Davis, author of Awaken Now and The Book of Undoing

With so many memory books out there, this is really the first I’ve ever seen that heavily intertwines the ideas of meditation and memory. I’ve always felt the two go hand in hand and Anthony really does an amazing job at showing that! I highly recommend this book!

– Nelson Dellis, 4x USA Memory Champion and author of Remember It!

The Victorious Mind is a masterful book written by a master of the field. Anthony Metivier has written an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to learn to fully utilize their cognitive capabilities to build a sharper mind and a better life.

– Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable

At last, someone has remembered the true purpose and potential of the Art of Memory. In times past, it was seen as a path of self development. Using its methods you could bring health, harmony and excellence into your mind and thus your life. Sadly, this beautiful, beneficial art has been all but forgotten, until now. In this dynamic book, Anthony Metivier teaches you this ancient wisdom with a modern slant. Written from his own experience this is a book that will show you how to develop a “magnetic” memory that holds the information you wish but also attracts the influences you want into your life. 

– Martin Faulks, author of Enlightened Living

Anthony Metivier is a Warrior of the Mind!

– Tony Buzan, author of Mind Map Mastery and Co-Founder of the World Memory Championships

Dr. Metivier is a master of his craft and experienced teacher of the bridge between memory and meditation. In The Victorious Mind, you’re learning from the best!

– Jonathan Levi, author of The Only Skill that Matters and creator of SuperLearner

I now remember whole chunks of passages in another language. I’m learning with such ease that I often think it can’t be this easy. The real “work” has been to calm my anxieties, and in this, Anthony is a very wise and effective guide and teacher. I am very grateful to him.

– Jeannie Koh

I am usually a bit of an anxious person – not always suffering, but just someone with a very chatty mind, I’m always thinking, and being able to direct this energy in a productive way is very appealing to me. You have helped me direct my anxiety better.

– Daniella Lopez

I have made a lot of progress using this meditation technique to improve my spatial awareness and to see things clearer!

– Jeff Jansson

Anthony’s writing always triggers major moments of insight. The Victorious Mind goes deep and far beyond your typical “3 step method.” Highly recommended.

– Jimmy Naraine, motivational speaker

I’ve witnessed first-hand Anthony’s ability to channel his mind into overcoming challenges that would destroy most people. Extraordinary and inspiring.

– Olly Richards, iwillteachyoualanguage.com

The Victorious Mind is unlike any book I’ve ever read about memory and the human mind. Anthony shares his personal experiences with mental health, advanced memory practices and various types of meditation. He uses engaging personal transformation stories that stayed with me long after I read the book. It’s meticulously researched and contains many practices I’d never tried. I’m already working on my vision statement.

– Bryan Collins, Becomeawritertoday.com

Anthony has spent a lifetime bringing useful information to light on the subject of memory. In his latest work, The Victorious Mind, he opens an amazing door into the world of the human mind, blending ancient memory techniques with captivating meditative experiences. If you want a personal adventure into peace of mind, this is the read for you.

– Jim Samuels, author of Re-mind Yourself: Better Memory, Lower Stress

In one word… Wow! In this highly engaging and worthwhile book, Anthony shares his personal story… sometimes some very raw and vulnerable moments. I have completed masters studies in neuroscience and thought I knew a fair bit about memory. I even believed my memory capacity was reasonably good. I wasn’t even close! After reading The Victorious Mind, I realised there is so much more to embedding and remembering information successfully, which makes our lives more fulfilling.

– Josie Thomson, MCC and author of The Wise Advocate: The Inner Voice of Strategic Leadership (with Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Art Kleiner)

I’ve never read a memory book so visceral, yet so practical. Anthony holds nothing back in The Victorious Mind as he tells of his life-long struggle with mental illness in a manner both touching and humorous. I even learned things that I look forward to applying in my own memory training! I can’t recommend this book enough for anyone out there looking to improve their mental fitness.

– Braden Adams, 2x Canadian Mind Sports Association National Memory Champion

I consider Anthony Metivier a personal mentor. If there is someone who thinks about and uses memory techniques as often as he does, I haven’t found that person. He connects the dots better than anyone I know and will teach you how to use mnemonics to enhance the quality of your life.

– John Graham, 2018 USA Memory Champion 

As a neuroscientist, I study the underlying mechanism of memory techniques and I am very interested in their widespread application. Because Anthony is such an expert in this field, having him uncover the use of mnemonics for mental health is fantastic and will help many readers!

– Boris Konrad, Guinness Record Holder and Memory Competitor, Award-Winning Speaker, and Neuroscientist

As a life long student of the art memory, I’ve read my fair share of rehashed How to memory books; this is not one of them. As someone who has dealt with depression and anxiety since leaving the military, this book really hit home. Dr. Metivier takes you through a guided tour of his early life, the demons he faced, his process of overcoming them, and his journey in becoming the modern-day Giordano Bruno.

I can not thank him enough for his part in my metamorphosis from a mentally beat up U.S. Vet to a top student in University.

– Adolfo Artigas

I bought this book in hopes for some memory techniques and a good read. Instead, I was surprised to behold a Swiss Army knife of meditation, breathing, and memory skills wrapped in the warm blanket of human experience and fascinating autobiography.

The writing is concise and to the point. Necessary for the teaching of time honored techniques and exercises, put here to a new focus. Memory and well being. Anthony reveals great vulnerability in telling his story through the sufferings and mishaps that plagued his past, but there is no , “poor me” syndrome in the tone of his writing. He writes sincerely, with an open heart, to help others avoid the detrimental mental states that limited his potential during his obvious suffering.

He encourages you, step by step, leading you in exercises to avoid/alleviate the pitfalls he encountered. Inspired by the traditions of Zen Buddhism, Mindfulness, and the works of Gary Weber and Alan Watts, Anthony Metivier brings you lifetimes of meditation practices without you having to sit under a tree for eternity or stare at a wall for millennia.

Where he really shines is in the memory exercises which are his expertise! Whether you have been using Memory Palaces for decades or are following along building your very first palace, he guides you thoughtfully into the powerful techniques which can transform your life. I found his candid tales through dangerous mental states inspiring and egoless. He did not make this book to huff and puff about highfalutin memory techniques. He draws you through his suffering and allows you to experience the grace of success within the handling of his own mental state with the exercises he bequeaths to you in this charming book. Come for the techniques, stay for the drama! You will not be disappointed.

– Christian Fitzharris

How to Get The Victorious Mind

The Victorious Mind on Amazon

The Victorious Mind on Audible

 

John Fotheringham On Crafting Better Mental Tools For Language Mastery

Ever really stopped and thought about how language learning occurs?

When you’re a child the majority of the way learning occurs is listening and speaking, right? But what about when you progress in school and you are taught a second language as part of your curriculum? Is it the same process?

Or is the focus more on reading and writing?

Listening and speaking are innate, they’re organic, and it seems like they just happen “naturally” after much “natural” coaxing from parents and other people in the environment.

Or are they…?

Normally, we might say that reading and writing are human technology, an invention that differs from language itself. But learning these tools of representation language visually also involves a lot of coaxing and they are not any more or less invented than language. And when it comes to writing, it’s just a fact that some people go to school for decades, earn PhDs and still can’t write their way out of a cardboard box.

I know this from personal experience because I’m still struggling to de-academize my own writing after all those years of indoctrination!

What is Mind Mapping? The Ultimate Guide to Using This Powerful Tool

Do you ever wonder, “what is mind mapping” exactly?

Well, imagine you’re listening to a history lecture. Instead of taking notes, your fingers itch to make a mindmap of World War I events as you hear them.

But how do you draw mind maps?

And, can mind maps alone boost your memory, learning power, and creativity?

In this article, you’ll explore a complete guide to mind mapping, how to draw one, including multiple examples of mind maps. We’ll also examine whether mind mapping alone can improve your brainpower and creativity, and what else you can do.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

What is Mind Mapping?
Benefits of Mind Mapping
Who, When, and How to Make a Mind Map
Tools You Can Use for Mind Mapping
Can Mind Mapping Alone Improve Your Memory?
How to Combine a Mind Map with the Major System



What is Mind Mapping?

Mind mapping is a simple, visual way to organize your ideas for better clarity and recall. Mind maps focus on only one central concept or idea and are based on radial hierarchies and tree structures.

What does all that mean? Let’s get into the details.

A Brief History and Definition of Mind Mapping

The practice of drawing radial maps to map information goes back several centuries.

Some people credit the first mind maps to the 3rd-century philosopher Porphyry of Tyros. Ramon Llull, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Isaac Newton also used mind mapping techniques. Much later, in the 1960s, scientists Allan Collins and Ross Quillian developed the semantic network into mind maps.

However, it was psychology consultant Tony Buzan who first popularized the term “mind map.” Buzan drew colorful, tree-like structures called radial trees where a central topic branched out to several sub-topics.

The Tony Buzan Learning Center defines their Mind Map® as “a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, color, and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner.”

These pictorial representations introduced by Buzan are now being used by students, teachers, engineers, psychologists, and others in many ways.

So, what does a mind map look like?

Examples of Mind Maps

A mind-mapping exercise is colorful and engaging. And, the result looks analytical and artistic at the same time.

Here are some great examples of how fun and engaging mind maps can be. Some of them look messy — but look deeper and you’ll see they are examples of detailed trains of thought.

Source: Tony Buzan Learning Center

 

Source: MindMapArt

 

Source: MindMapArt

 

Source: BiggerPlate

These fascinating examples are colorful, though in some cases, also quite visually overwhelming.

That’s why I’ve pared down my own style, and am glad I got Tony Buzan’s seal of approval after doing so:

Anthony Metivier with a Buzan-style Mind Map

 

But you might be asking: aren’t these the same as spider maps, concept maps, and other such visualizations?

No. There are some key differences.

How is Mind Mapping Different from Other Visualizations?

A mind map represents the natural way you think — quite unlike linear note-taking.

Let’s look at some similar visualizations:

Concept Map: Concept mapping connects multiple ideas. These maps have text labels on the connecting lines based on connections between each concept.

Source: Wikipedia

Graph Data Modelling: This model is a semantic network made up of nodes and relationships between entities.

Source: Neo4j

Graph data modeling is created using words and icons, but with a focus on end-users’ needs. Mind maps serve a different purpose: helping improve your memory and organization.

Spider Diagram: Both a mind map and a spider diagram start with a central idea. But mind maps have main ideas and sub-ideas, while a spider diagram has nodes from each hierarchical line.

See the diagram below:

Source: LucidChart

However, none of these techniques count as mind maps because they don’t mimic the natural way your thoughts flow.

Is visual note making more effective? Let’s find out.

Why are Mind Maps Effective?

Nobel prize winner Dr. Roger Sperry’s research proved that visual forms of note making are more effective than written methods.

He showed that the brain is divided into two hemispheres that perform cortical skills like logic, imagination, color recognition, and others. These functions work in sync when you mindmap your thoughts, creating a lasting impression in your brain.

Mind maps are effective because:

They nudge you to ditch the usual, bullet-point style of thinking, which pushes you to use your creativity.
They are presented in a brain-friendly format — and people can grasp the linkages quickly.
They let you see the bigger picture.
They keep you focused on key issues.
They give you time for “diffuse thinking” as you pause to change colors and reflect on keywords and images.
And, they help you retain and recall more information through patterns and associations.

Next, let’s look at why mind mapping can be beneficial.

Benefits of Mind Mapping

Years of research have gone into testing the effectiveness of mind mapping.

In a 2005 study by G. Cunningham, 80% of the students agreed that mind mapping helped them understand science concepts better.

Paul Farrand proved the efficacy of mind mapping as a study technique and encouraged its use in medical curricula.

Mind maps are known to help you to improve your productivity at work, academic success, and even to manage your life.

Here’s how you could apply it in your day-to-day life:

Note Taking: You can map out notes from a podcast, a project discussion, or a seminar.
Brainstorming: Helps in real-time collaboration with your team members to make informed business decisions.
Studying: You can summarize books.
Presenting information to an audience: Use it to get your team’s buy-in for anything through clear narratives.
Problem-solving: Sometimes, it helps if you map out your current situation and your desired situation separately. This will help you come up with solutions easily.
Increasing creativity: The words, images, and colors you use let you see the information from a very different perspective.
Planning: Plan your holiday or your next sales strategy using mind maps.
Language learning: Use a simple, 12-point mind map to combine 12 vocabulary words with the Major System. Here’s how:

Who, When, and How to Make a Mind Map

Now that you have a fair idea of mind maps, let’s understand who should use it, as well as when and how.

Who Should Use Mind Maps?

Mind maps are particularly helpful for those who:

Remember a visual image or a diagram better than written pieces.

(Or need practice becoming more visual.


Deal with lots of information or a project that needs more clarity.
Need to brainstorm for ideas from others to build a bigger project or solution.

Mind mapping has also proven useful for dyslexic students and those with ADHD.

When Should You Use Mind Maps?

Create mind maps when you need to achieve some goal — to understand your course material or project better, or to assess the ideas from brainstorming sessions.

Remember — mind mapping isn’t the end goal by itself.

And don’t spend too much time perfecting it. If it takes too long, it may hamper your creative thinking.

How to Make a Mind Map

Drawing a mind map is pretty straightforward.

For example, if you want to prepare a meeting agenda take a blank page and follow these basic steps:

Draw a bubble in the middle of the page with the title of your meeting.
Branch out with new bubbles from the central theme, with each branch representing the topics you want to address.
Draw lines to connect each of them to the middle bubble.
Add new ideas starting from the general to the specific.
Repeat this for each subtopic branching out from the topics.

What are the Rules for Mind Mapping?

Mind maps are meant to be hierarchical and show relationships among pieces of the whole.

What are the guidelines you can use?

Tips for Drawing a Mind Map

Here are some mind mapping rules to make your mind map project expressive and compelling.

Use colors, illustrations, and pictures: Some of the most effective mind maps have more doodles and symbols than words.
Keep the topics and sub-topics brief: Stick to a single word each, or just a picture instead of long phrases or sentences.
Keyword for branches: Name your branches or lines using a keyword each.
Use different text sizes and alignment: Provide as many visual cues as you can to emphasize important points.
Use symbols: Draw symbols like arrows and shapes to classify your thoughts.
Space it out: Leave enough negative space between your idea bubbles.
Highlight important stuff: Highlight important branches or bubbles with borders or colors.
Create linear lists: You can create linear hierarchies using bullet points and numbered lists.
Mix up word sizes and fonts: Add in hierarchies of words using different font sizes to highlight their importance.
Use varying cases: Use lower and upper cases to highlight the importance of ideas.

Every little effort you put into your mind map project will engage your brain. And, all these visual aids will make your mind map more memorable and easier to recall.

Now, do you draw mind maps on paper, or is there a diagramming tool to do it?

The answer is: both.

Tools You Can Use for Mind Mapping

You can draw mind maps by hand, just like note-taking during a lecture.

Or you can use websites or mobile phone apps to do it.

Traditional Mind Maps

Nothing is as comforting as putting pen to paper when an idea strikes you. This is, in fact, the simplest way to map your ideas.

It is your personal project — your thoughts, handwriting, and your doodles. You can create it yourself or in groups on a whiteboard during a brainstorming session.

The pen-and-paper method works perfectly most of the time, but it does have limitations:

You may not have enough space on the paper to expand your thoughts.
You can’t make too many corrections.
And, it may not always be presentable enough to share in a formal meeting.

The other option is to use mind mapping software — websites and apps.

Mind Mapping Software

Mind mapping apps and websites help you organize your ideas and store large amounts of data in a single location.

What makes for great mind mapping software?

The best mind mapping tools…

Allow you to create a wide network of ideas, facts, and connections.
Let you make quick changes through automatic spatial organization and hierarchical structuring (particularly useful while brainstorming).
Let you play with fonts and colors, and even drag and drop files into the mind mapping program.

Which are the Best Mind Mapping Software Tools?

Here are three of the best online mind mapping tools available today:

1. MindManager by MindJet: This tool is for business users — a professional mind map maker with MS Office integration. You could even pick a mind map template in the tool to get started.

Source: MindManager

2. XMind: This mind mapping tool has a simple interface and is mainly for enterprise-level users. It lets you convert your mind maps to a Gantt chart that shows the start and end dates and progress of each task.

You can even use a countdown timer to time your sessions on this mind mapping software (this will keep you focused and will stop you from spending too much time mind mapping and brainstorming).

Source: XMind

3. Scapple: This mind mapping tool was built for writers by a writers group called “Literature and Latte.” It is easy to use and comes with great features (minus embedding audio and video).

With this mind mapping application, you’re not limited to starting with a central theme. You can begin with a small idea, then work backward to reach the main idea.

Source: Scapple

You could also experiment with an open-source free mind mapping tool like FreeMind or Coggle.

The point is this: there are a lot of options. For an example of one teacher who uses software and teaches with a specific focus on personal develop is Joseph Rodrigues. Here’s one of his best:

Software options aside, now for the big question:

Can Mind Mapping Alone Improve Your Memory?

Mind mapping can improve your memory to a good extent because it involves association and imagination.

Words, images, colors, and branches create mental focus and energy and help you to place information into memory.

But, the best part is, you can multiply the power of mind maps by using Memory Palaces and the Major System.

Curious to know how?

Read on.

How Mind Maps Help You Find More Memory Palaces

You can use mind mapping to find multiple homes for memory palaces.

Create a mind map for all the homes you know — your apartment, your school, office, the coffee shop. Jot down all specific details inside them.

This way, you make better associations that lead to more familiar places for multiple potential Memory Palaces!

Then quickly use these new Memory Palaces to store any information you want to in your memory. These Memory Palace books will help you learn more if you’re confused about how to use this tool.

Revisit the imagery several times (the Magnetic Memory Method Recall Rehearsal) to commit it to your long-term memory and recall it whenever you need to.

How to Combine Mind Maps with the Major System

The Major Method works by associating numbers with sounds where each number is connected with a consonant. For example, 1 = d, t, 2 = n, 3 = m, and so on.

Imagine that your page is a clock with 12 branches. Create your central image and radiate your branches from it starting at 12 o’clock.

Going by the major system, mentally impose or draw TN (or “Tin Tin”) at 12 o’clock.

After you create the branch, think about how your keyword can interact with “Tin Tin.” If your keyword is “Shakespeare” and sub-branches are Romeo and Achilles, you can think of them in a car chase with Tin Tin.

You can use all the magnetic modes to “magnetize” them into your memory. This includes the spatial magnetic mode – the memory palace – which in this case is the mind map itself!

Mind Map + Memory Palace = Magnetic Memory

A mind map is an excellent non-linear visual representation of your ideas that mimics the way your brain thinks.

Once you master it (whether you use a notebook or a mind mapping software), you’ll never go back to linear note-taking ever again. But, mind mapping alone may not boost your brainpower as much as when combined with the Magnetic Memory Method. If you need more mind map examples, we have plenty.

Ready to use this combination to fire up your memory, creativity, and learning? Sign up for my free memory improvement kit today!

The post What is Mind Mapping? The Ultimate Guide to Using This Powerful Tool appeared first on Magnetic Memory Method - How to Memorize With A Memory Palace.