Anthony Metivier's Blog, page 39

Memory Strategies For Your Nightlife And Why I Don’t Do Lucid Dreaming

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

People around the world wish they could remember their dreams. And not just remember them.

They want to remember their dreams with clarity, consistency and in ways that change their lives. Profoundly.

Yet few will ever develop the skills needed to recall their dreams consistently. The consequence is that they will never take part in one of the world’s most prominent languages: the language of dreaming.

Worse, they will never experience the nuances and layers of experience made possible by advanced dream recall.

Why is dream recall such a struggle? Many would-be dreamers blame a lack of sleep time. They don’t have enough time in bed for effective dreaming. But with proper training in dream recall, you can learn to notice yourself entering the dream world even before you’ve fallen “unconscious.”

Don’t believe the REM myth that dreaming begins at some special hour after you’re in deep sleep. The notion that dreaming only occurs during REM has never been true. In fact, you are dreaming right now but have not yet learned to see and experience it.

In short, dream recall begins by changing your definition of what counts as a dream.

But even with an improved definition (you’re always dreaming), some still claim that dream recall is too hard. And no doubt. Authors on the top don’t make it easy.

They teach that you should draw symbols on your hand, practice “reality checking” and engage in other tedious methods. The truth is that you don’t need to artificially create “triggers.” There are better ways, more enlightening and elucidating ways, and ways that can improve all aspects of your life.

So what helps with dream recall?

1. A Dedicated Memory Strategy For Remembering Your Dreams

Strategy starts with motivation, so before you start, please make sure that you really want to remember your dreams. It’s an important consideration because you learn a lot about yourself when you recall dreams at an advanced level.

And you motivation requires method if you’re going to experience real gains as you stretch your memory muscles.

2. Believe That Dream Memory Strategies Will Work For You

People often tell me that they cannot remember any dreams. They never have and never will.

But such statements usually come from disbelief. Dream recall has been going on for thousands of years using different techniques. If you can accept that you’re not different than anyone else, your memory will amaze you with what you can achieve.

Try out the main technique discussed in this episode of the podcast and you will marvel at the progress you’ll make.

3. Stop Thinking That Memory Strategies Are Too Much Work

You will need 1-5 minutes every morning to practice the dream recall technique talked about in this podcast. There’s nothing to it. You only have to do it over a period of two or three days to get results. Often, you’ll get results as soon as the next day.

The best part is that once you start, dream recall will serve your life in many ways.

So I have a suggestion for you before you finish the podcast and start your journey toward advanced dream memorization skills.

Believe in yourself.

When I started working on dream recall, I told myself it wouldn’t work. I wasted a lot of time with this false belief.

But once I settled into the practice, dream recall hooked me. The ability to remember your dreams with near-100% accuracy creates wonderful things for you. And it opened the world’s doors for me. It also healed me in many ways and changed how I view reality. As a result of dream recall, I am more a positive, productive and contributing member of society. And I’m confident that becoming an effective dream memorizer will do the same for you.

Please note that I’m not talking about anything “New Agey” or “NLP-ish.” I base the dream recall techniques and related approaches I teach on scientifically demonstrated principles known to increase the happiness of individuals.

Dreams remain essential to the human experience. And those with an advanced ability to engage with their dreams experience greater pleasure and more interesting lives.

So I hope that you will take the time to practice dream recall after listening to this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. And if it changes how you think about lucid dreaming, let me know. You can also check out the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass for more information about advanced dream recall.

Further Resources

Lucid dream article on Wikipedia

A dreamy article about using movies and series as Memory Palaces

How To Enhance Memory And Pass Any Test Or Exam

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Ever Felt That Skull Melting Stress When Preparing For An Exam?

If so, this may be the most important information you ever hear and read. Download the episode and keep reading this post all the way to the end so that you never struggle with passing an exam again.

And if your schools days are over and you’re the parent of a student, be their hero and pass this information onto them.

How The Regeneration Of Your Cells Can Set The Stage For Making Your Memory Razor Sharp

Wanna know why you forget so much of the information you read?

It’s because we miss so much detail when we only listen or read a book once.

Not only that, but you’re a different person the second time around.

I learned this from my Uncle Walter. Unfortunately, he died in a train wreck, but he told me something I’ve never forgotten:

Read the most important books you’ve encountered at least once every seven years.

Every cell in your body will have been replaced, and you’ll be coming to it as a completely new human being.

In any case, I’ve taken Walter’s advice to heart, but when it comes to podcasts and audiobooks and learning how to enhance memory, it’s possible to revisit them much sooner.

And I love using Audiobook Builder by Splasm in conjunction with my iPhone so that I can get in all that info super-fast without affecting the sound quality.

And today’s Q&A gives us the opportunity to talk about how to use this software in combination with the regeneration of your cells to learn and memorize everything you need to pass any exam:

Schoolwork Can Be A Ball

———-

Dear Anthony,

When memorizing textbooks, is there a good general guideline as to what key points to place in memory palaces? Only focusing on the most relevant information is a great way to save time when studying, and I am curious if you have a strategy as to what information is placed in a memory palace using your index card method. Are these key ideas derived from what is taught in lectures, or are they based on what is most interesting to you?

I have downloaded your video course Memory Secrets of an A+ student as well as read many books on memory, and your methods make learning and memorizing more fun and effective. I discovered that schoolwork can be a ball no matter what the subject is, all thanks to me stumbling upon you website.

———-

This question is great.

And there are a lot of ways to answer it. For example, How To Memorize A Textbook remains the most popular episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

But for now, the first thing I would say is that …

A Good Lecturer Will Make It Clear To You What Key Ideas Are Coming

For example, I used to write down all the “keywords” on the side of the chalkboard in a column. Students could literally “read” what I was saying and match them against the keywords. It seemed really effective because when the final quiz arrived, hardly anyone had trouble getting 98% or higher.

Not all lecturers do things like this, or even present structured talks. Sometimes I don’t either because I like to use tangents and ask questions in the middle of a lecture. In cases like these, it’s a matter of listening for what jumps out at you.

I also recommend taking no notes and recording the lecture. Some nice professors will even allow you to place your recording device on the podium.

If not, you can still get a decent recording if you sit in the first row.

And what are you going to do instead of taking notes?

Harness The Secret Power Of Doodling

Seriously. Give it a try.

Your mind will “scan” what’s being heard, and when something strikes you as a key point, write down one or two words in the middle of your doodle.

You can mindmap too if you want, but I like doodling.

Or sketching.

I find that I can listen intently and deeply when doing this.

In fact, I’d hazard a guess that I’m paying far more attention than anyone else in the room precisely because I’ve got more than one representation center of my brain operating.

At least, that’s my speculation. And that speculation is a key part of learning how to enhance memory in many respects.

Here’s What To Do Next

Go home and listen to the lecture again with a Memory Palace prepared, and a stack of index cards as described in the How to Memorize a Textbook episode of the podcast.

If you’ve been given additional reading as part of the lecture, you might want to do that reading first before returning to the lecture.

Again, the most important information is going to be the stuff that leaps out at you as the most interesting first.

Why?

Because you’re more likely to remember this information without the assistance of mnemonics and Memory Palaces. You won’t have to go to the Method of Loci for this stuff – though later you can if you want. And it’s just good practice to do so.

But the point is that you go to your Memory Palaces primed with interest.

That will make your memory Magnetic.

And that way, the not so interesting stuff will stick with greater ease because you’ll be using the power of familiar locations and well-constructed Memory Palace principles.

And you’ll be connecting it to what interests you. But of course …

A Lot Depends On What The Instructor Is Looking For

So if you want to be a cutting edge student, here’s what you’ve got to do:

Go to the instructor.

Make an appointment if you have to.

Then ask the instructor to make the evaluation criteria clear to you. He or she may have a specific rubric.

And if you can – record this talk!

Why?

Because when you hand in your work or answer questions on an exam that don’t give you the results you were expecting, you have a record of this conversation.

Of course, you don’t want your teachers to feel like they’re under observation in a totalitarian state, but the fact of the matter is that you (or your parents) are paying their wages.

You deserve to have the requirements made available to you in crisp, clear and sparkling detail.

And That’s How You Know What To Focus On In Your Studies

It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

To review:

1) Pay attention to the things that jump out at you. If you’re interested in these details, they’ll be much more Magnetic. You’ll be memorizing them more for detail and ordered recall than anything else. They’ll also be a great “connecting” device for incorporating the information that you don’t find so interesting.

2) Know what the instructor wants and make sure you’ve memorized that information. When learning how to enhance memory for your studies, it only makes sense to focus on the information they want you to know. The rest is icing on the cake.

3) Come prepared with a well-formed Memory Palace. If you don’t know how, scroll up to the top of the page and register for my free Memory Palace Mastery course.

4) Perform proper Recall Rehearsal

5) Listen to this podcast with Scott Gosnell. He talks about a very special way to build a Memory Palace for prepping for exams.

I hope this guidance helps you out. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Further Resources

Note: The program mentioned at the end of this presentation is no longer available. A modified version of Memory Secrets of an A+ Student (now called Masterplan) can be found in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass. If you’re interested in taking that memory training, here’s where to go next:

Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass

How To Escape The Prison Of Memory And Create The Future You Desire

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Have you ever found yourself caged in the prison of memory?

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, I’m not talking about being trapped in a Memory Palace or anything about memory techniques.

I’m talking about how memory can hold you back and keep you down. Like when it leads to avoiding doing new things because someone you know frowned upon it. Or you hold on to a unwanted behaviour because you can’t shake the memories surrounding how you learned it.

A myriad of consequences result. These include avoiding new experiences. Treating others poorly because your parents burned certain responses in your mind. Repeating destructive behaviors. Yes, memory can be a terrible jailor.

The Good News Is That There Are Ways To Break Free

In case you’re foggy on what I’m getting at, let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. Sadly, he died a few years ago from cancer.

And I miss him. He had a fierce personality, incredible intelligence and acidic wit that that burned impressions into your mind.

Although the cancer killed him, these aspects of his personality went untouched until almost the end. The disease got into his brain and then the friend I had known for so long was suddenly no more. It is a strange thing to wait for a body to die after the person him or herself is already gone.

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”

- Marcus Tullius Cicero

But that’s the power of memory.

Because even though my friend was gone, one thing stuck with me. It shaped my behavior, and although “prison” is perhaps too strong a word, these remembered things helped me act as my own jailor.

During my friend’s long and valiant period of chemotherapy, I had finished a research and teaching grant in Film Studies. I had moved back to Canada from Germany and had no idea and struggled with finding a new teaching gig.

I had three promising interviews at universities, and was almost hired at one of them. But when that didn’t pan out, I was lost. I didn’t know what to do.

Even through all his pain and suffering, my friend held fast to his conviction that I was a teacher. We’d gotten our BA degrees together. I had watched him go through law school and start a practice as he watched me soar to the heights of a PhD and major research grant.

And although I couldn’t offer a solution for his cancer, he tried to help me during his darkest days. Together, we came up together with the idea of getting a teaching certificate for high school. I rejected it the second I said it, but he encouraged it.

More than encourage it, it sometimes seemed that he lived through my experiences. We talked so much and had been so close for so many years that it was often as if I was not acting alone. So as I accepted the idea and made preparations for going back to school, it became more about him than me.

If You Have To Lower Your Standards, You’re In The Wrong Place

Eating on the remaining funds from my research grant while housesitting to get by, I volunteered in local high schools because you need to teach under observation. Even though I had taught at universities for years, I still needed to get the proper letters of recommendation from high school level teachers. Otherwise, I could not apply for the education program at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. These were strange experiences because I was expected to treat the young students far below their obvious abilities.

Whereas I had been used to challenging university students to stretch beyond their comfort zones, I was now expected to spoon feed Victorian era education to young people living in the age of the Internet. It was a false portrait of how I understand the world, but I still worked at painting myself into it.

In case you’ve never been, it’s at the top of a large hill, surrounded by the beautiful mountains of British Columbia where I’m from. The buses huff and puff to reach the top and every trip feels like a cross-country adventure.

And it was a painful place to visit. I had no office, no classroom to teach in and no classroom to learn in.

“Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen,

few in pursuit of the goal.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

I made the journey many times to submit registration papers and pay registration fees. I often spoke with my friend on the phone during these trips. Each time our discussions reinforced the importance of me being a teacher come hell or highwater. The more voluntary teaching while eating rice and tuna and being stressed out over every dime wore me down, the weaker my conviction grew.

And because money was running out, I started seeking a job. Any job. Because I had worked as a store detective as one of my ways to pay for university the first time around, that’s the route I went. But I couldn’t get anything better than a uniformed security guard position.

There’s nothing wrong with being a security guard. But having stood at the podiums of major universities to lecture in front of hundreds of students, monitoring the behaviors of thousands of shoppers in Metrotown mall …

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves.

But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still,

small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”

- Carl Jung

Even with Jung’s wisdom in tow, it felt like a step down in the world.

And I must admit that I was ashamed as I stood in front of a mirror wearing the ill-fitting white shirt, black dress pants with the ridiculous stripe down the side and pseudo-military shoes. Which is why I tossed the uniform into a clothing donation bin on the way to my first day at work.

Of course, I realized that tossing the uniform was illegal to let a uniform of authority out of my possession like that and the property wasn’t mine to dispose. But the story of how I got the uniform back out of the donation bin and in the hands of the employer is a story for another day.

As is the story of eventually drumming up some cash doing magic on the streets and convincing Haydee Windey to hire me at ELIT after applying three times. She’s the one who gave me the keys to her school, an office to write in and students to teach memory techniques as part of their literary education and ultimately the Magnetic Memory Method. It was for these students that I wrote everything down in what would become the first book in the Magnetic Memory Method Series.

But again, a story for another time.

“Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.”

- Coco Chanel

When my application to the education program at Simon Fraser was rejected, I was completely lost. Because I couldn’t get into the program, I couldn’t get a student loan. Without a student loan, I wouldn’t be able to survive much longer and I couldn’t housesit forever. No one would make me go live on the streets, but the pressure from all sides made it feel like I was going in that direction.

And I had my bipolar disorder on top of that to deal with too. The doctor I found refused to give me my medication for longer than 30 days so he could monitor my moods and I had no time to find another one. It had already taken long enough to find this one, Plus, this doctor was … Well, that again is a story for another day.

But my friend did not let me give up. He convinced me to appeal the university’s decision. This meant more painful trips to the campus for meetings and forms and registration fees.

And it was during this time that I started teaching at ELIT. As an after school program that fills in the gaps left by the school system, it was a blessing. I admired the place, its students and the parents who want their kids to have a better chance.

But I was still pushing for a place in the Education program at Simon Fraser University.

And my friend’s belief that I could get into the education program if I fought for it proved true. But after Haydee allowed me to teach at ELIT the way I wanted to teach …

“I don’t often veer away from a big melodic song with big

words for big stadiums.”

- Robbie Williams

I couldn’t stomach the idea of offering students anything less than the teaching I’m capable of giving. Of course, Haydee was nervous at first when she saw me writing terms like “architectonic tautology” on the whiteboards of her classrooms. But I proved that the students were up to my university-level challenges time after time.

And yet I still went ahead with the Education program. I braced myself for the classes I was about to attend that would teach me how to teach according to grade levels decided upon by the government.

Then, one morning on my way to ELIT and six weeks before the education program would begin, I got the call. My friend had died.

Years later, I still mourn his passing. But I never mourn the fact that I betrayed his final wish for my future.

For six weeks, my stomach churned every day at the future before me. I went up and down that hill to get textbooks and study for my courses in advance. It all felt wrong.

Yet the memory of all those conversations with my friend held fast. And the idea that teaching high school now would prepare the stage for a victorious re-entry to university teaching years later echoed in my ears.

But the logic was false. Why suffer now and take part in an education system I know in my heart is broken so that I could enjoy my earlier career later? It made no sense.

And yet, on the first day of classes, I found myself on the bus winding up the hill, imprisoned by the ghost of all those discussions with my friend.

“The only person who is educated is the one who

has learned how to learn and change.”

- Carl Rogers

But even though I went up the campus, I didn’t go to that first class. I didn’t even leave the bus bay. With tears burning in my eyes and the feeling that there must be a better way to find my place in the world I got off one bus and stepped onto another and headed back into the city.

Just as I had dumped the security guard uniform in the donation bin, I left the wishes of another person behind on the bus bay at Simon Fraser University. I left the future and unhappy identity it would have created behind. And I’d like to think that I honored my friend by doing my own thing instead of his.

And because I freed myself from the memory of those conversations with my friend and the conviction he had about my teaching high school, I’ve since educated more people in a few short years than I could have during an entire career as a high school teacher. More than 41,000 people have read a book or taken a Magnetic Memory Method course.

And with nearly a quarter million podcast downloads and YouTube views and hundreds of comments and reviews, I think it’s fair to say that I made the right decision.

“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a

thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”

- Harriet Tubman

The other route would have delivered me into Slave’s Luck, defined as making it into a career you actually hate.

So what ghosts and memories are powering your behaviors against your own wishes and desires? Take a moment to think about what advices, words of wisdom or the wishes of others might be holding you down.

And then write down what you really want from your life. If you had no pressure from family or friends and had all the resources needed to be fully you and play out your wildest and most fulfilling dreams, what would those be?

For me it was always to write books and correspond with my readers. I remember in grade 8 reading Ray Bradbury talking about all the mail he received and how he answered every letter. I thought then as I think now that this exactly what I want to do.

“Writing in a journal … offers a place where you can hold a deliberate,

thoughtful conversation with yourself.”

- Robin S. Sharma

But before I got there, I had to go through the exercise of writing down what my true dreams are every day.

And so that’s what I want you to do. And do it every day for at least 90 days.

If you can’t do that, then you know what you’ve chosen isn’t really your dream. No amount of knowledge or use of memory techniques is ever going to change that fact.

So as you write every day, refine your dream and your vision of what you want to do. Sooner or later you’ll find what you really want, that thing you can describe again and again for at least 90 days.

And as you do so, your unconscious mind will start finding opportunities to get you what you want. I’m convinced of it, but you need to try. It’s one of the most rewarding experiments you’ll ever make.

And it’ll be totally unforgettable too.

So let me know how you fare and until next time, keep Magnetic.

Memory Techniques Are Big In Japan

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

How To Build Memory Palaces – Even If Your Home Is Microscopic!

It’s true. House in Japan is notoriously tiny.

And that can make it challenging to use them for effective Memory Palace construction.

As always, however, I’ve got a solution to suggest. Today’s podcast Q&A will give you plenty of ideas that will boost your success no matter how small your abode may be.

And the best part is that you can read the entire episode right here too!

Your Cramped Home Is Bigger Than You Think

Hello Anthony,

I am just having a few obstacles come up with completing the worksheet and building the foundations of the Memory Palaces. For example, I know that I have been living at various spots throughout my life, but maybe I am not so confident about the layout of say, the school I attended, or the shopping mall I visited, etc.

How vivid and detailed do these locations have to be in order for them to qualify as a Memory Palace?

Obviously, these places are in my memory, but it has been years since I have been physically there, and in other cases as much as 10+ years since I visited them.

Another question would be about distance. What if I cannot remember in detail where things are in my journey of the Memory Palace? For example, walking around campus in my University. Things that I do remember are sometimes far apart from each other. Also, I am just naming spots, like the library, the parking lot, etc. I can probably go online and look at a map and that would most likely jog my memory as I mentally walk through the campus, and it would have the proper names of the buildings and the locations.

How do I not get crossed up in a cramped area like my apartment? I live in Japan, and things are unbelievable tight in these apartments. This could be a real challenge. Are there strategies for not getting crossed up when memorizing the layout of a memory palace. Do we stay on one side of the wall or walkway and exit through the other side?

For example, the school I work at now. How would I navigate this? (I could also pdf you a map of the layout). Imagine a Square with one side missing. And classrooms go down to the end of each side.

How do I not get crossed up walking over the same path here? This has me a bit confused.

Also, are we walking or are we flying / floating through our Memory Palaces since walking through large spaces like a Shopping Mall, or a University Campus, or an Amusement Park would take too much time to navigate?

Thank you so much for your help and support.

How To Wake Up Your Imagination And Make Even A Fishbowl Seem Like A Football Stadium In Your Mind

Thanks for this question!

Ultimately, a lot of these questions will be answered by experience. But based on my own experience, I can tell you this and then expand on some ideas: I personally don’t need my Memory Palaces to be so vivid.

However, when I take the time to go through various exercises I’ve created (or heard about from Magnetic Memory Method readers and course participants), each Memory Palace becomes more vivid. And the effects are more immediate, intense and long-lasting.

The exercises are simple, but depend upon being relaxed. In fact, all of the technical strategies aside, the number one piece of Magnetic Magic underlying the Magnetic Memory Method is relaxation.

The Surprising Techniques That Makes Everything As Easy As Whip Cream

So here’s what to do first: Get yourself in a relaxed state. Use mediation, Pendulum Breathing, progressive-muscle relation and any other principles you know. Everything will come together.

Once you’re in a relaxed state, all you need to do is wander through the Memory Palaces. Figure out if you can take a journey through the Memory Palace in a way that follows the Magnetic Memory principles of not crossing your path and not trapping yourself.

The journey can be simple or relatively complex so long as these principles are in effect, and you can make a natural journey. I also recommend that you don’t try passing through walls like a ghost or jumping out of windows, etc.

Why?

Because these activities use mental energy and take the focus from simply going from one station to the next. You need that so you can quickly decode the imagery you’ve created and placed at the station.

Can you proceed to memorize using a network of Memory Palaces without following each of these? Of course … but you risk spending mental energy on remembering where to go next. And this prevents you from focusing on what comes next during recall practice.

Very Private Matters That Only You Can Tackle

Again, personal experimentation is key.

Dealing with distances is an interesting issue, but it is again solved by personal experimentation.

I use the campus of one of the universities I studied at extensively, but always focusing on individual college or administrative buildings. There were also not any unusual distances between the buildings.

But if I were to face long distance issues, I would consider creating multiple journeys and labeling each accordingly.

In sum, it sounds like your apartment might not make an ideal Memory Palace.

But don’t throw it away! You can save it for when you are at a more advanced level and start working with virtual Memory Palace elements. These would include bookcases and the like.

How To Play Memory Like Music In Your Mind

As for flying/floating, I came up with the term “Magnetic” because as things work for me, I am simply drawn from station to station. Almost as if a Magnet had pulled me there.

You might like to fly or float, but this is something you will learn from practice and experimentation.

I realize that I “pass the buck” onto practice and experimentation a lot, but there’s a reason for that. It’s because learning the Magnetic Memory Method is essentially like learning music. There are many elements that come together in order for a musician to produce sound based on reading marks on a page.

The Magnetic Memory Method is those marks on the page and you are the musician.

Sure, there are a few shortcuts here and there, but if you want to experience the music (i.e. the boost in fluency made possible by memorizing vocabulary en masse) then you’ve essentially got to know

1) How to read the music and

2) How to perform it on your instrument (which in this case is your mind).

But There’s A Paradox!

A lot of people say “but my mind is different!”

To a certain extent that is true. But how music is written and how it is performed relies on the same eyes, ears, fingers that most of us have to work with. And the principles of music are more or less universal.

Yet each person who picks up an instrument has the amazing ability to play it in a way that is unique from every other musician. I don’t know if Heavy Metal is your thing, but there is no one else on earth who can write and play riffs like David Mustaine from Megadeth.

You can actually use musical terminology to describe his note preferences and some of the flavors and tones he uses. But at the end of the day, only he can do it. This is true of all musicians, whether they are great musicians or not.

And this is true of all language speakers.

Whether it’s our mother tongue or a second language, we learn it and then use it through a vast network of personal mental associations. These are our entirely our own and yet are still based on universal principles.

And That’s A Wonderful Thing!

Why? Because you have all the “Rock Star” substance you need to excel. You’ve just got to take this piece of music I’ve given you, fill in the words you want to memorize and then start to perform.

The last thing I would suggest to you (for now) is that you start visiting new places and take care to pay attention to their layout. If you haven’t got enough places in your past, the good news is that the future is a big place. There is no end to the new locations you can collect for:

a) General enjoyment in life and

b) Memory Palace development

Carry a notebook with you, make a list of new places you’ve been and take a few seconds to draw a layout or take some photos if that helps.

Trust me, you won’t regret it.

It’s True: Size Does Not Matter

On the matter of size, I was in Leipzig the other day, but it really doesn’t matter that the hotel room was small. I still made a mental image of it because there are all kinds of occasions where even just a tiny space can quickly provide ten stations for memorizing something.

There is no building too large or small for Memory Palace construction and use.

I hope these thoughts help you move forward! Let me know if I’ve missed anything or if you have any further questions and I hope to be in touch again soon.

Further Resources

How to Renovate A Memory Palace

How To Memorize Key Spanish Phrases In Seconds

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Note: Read this guest post from Josh Aharonoff all the way through for a FREE Spanish lesson with a personal trainer that will help you apply the memory technique you’re about to learn. 

You’re standing in the Kitchen with the refrigerator door open. You know you’re not hungry, but for some reason you’re staring inside. You think to yourself, “What was the reason again I’m here?”

But nothing comes. You’re mind is blank. You can’t remember why you went into the kitchen at. “Curse this short term memory of mine!” you say. “If only I had a better memory…”

Do You Make This Epic Mistake About Your Memory?

Many people give up on trying to learn a foreign language because they have this notion that they don’t have the memory for all of the vocabulary words involved. We’re here to dispel that myth.

Many believe a strong memory is something you are either born with, or are lacking and are doomed for all of eternity. People watch the World Memory Championships and think “Man … I could never be like that”. The truth is, improving your memory is a coachable skill that like any coachable skill, can be improved upon by proper training. We’re not talking about training through rote memory, which is simply the process of memorizing through repetition. We’re talking about the use of Mnemonics.

How To Understand Understand Why You Remember And Why You Forget

Before we explain what Mnemonics are, let’s try and understand why we remember certain things, and forget others. The mind takes in information through any of our five senses during the day. It has the chance to accept or reject thousands of stimuli at any given point. Right now, while you are sitting and reading this article, pay attention to all of the external stimuli to which your mind can pay attention.

Where are you? What are you staring at? How do you feel? Are your shoes too tight? Do you smell anything? Are your taste buds still active from the last meal you had?

In order retain that which is important, the mind needs to filter out that which is not. This brings us back to our earlier question: Why do we pay attention to some items while discarding others? The answer lies in the significance that we place on the external stimuli.

The Blazingly Obvious Truth About Organizing Information In Your Mind

What did the 13th person you saw today look like? Can’t remember? What if you saw a clown walk by you today holding 6 puppies while crossing the street. Would you remember that? I bet you’d remember that not only today, but for many years to come. The reason for that is because it was a unique experience in which you attached significance to.

Training your mind to remember anything at any given time is a simple task once you are prepared to attached significance to the item you are trying to remember.

Here’s a quick question. What is easier to navigate? A large filing cabinet with forty index cards containing one word on each of them, randomly dispersed in the cabinet; or a small filing cabinet with 1,000 index cards containing one word on each of them, each set up alphabetically? The key to training your mind to memorize any content is to attach significance to each item and organize the information in your brain effectively. While there are many ways to train your mind to do so, we are going to focus on association.

Big yellow balloon. What are the first thoughts that come to your head? Birthday party? Children? Celebration? The mind is constantly associating new information with information we are already familiar with. The key to organizing information in your brain effectively is to use association to link items together.

Rubber band, keychain, eraser, river, drum, jelly, magic wand, mud, dart, ice cube.

How To Take Charge Of Information Using Linking And Stories

How can we apply what we just learned to remember the items listed above?

Let’s start with associating and linking the first two items to each other. Now, we could just imagine a rubber band on a keychain, but remember, in order to remember something we need to make it unique. Add some significance to it. A rubber band on a keychain is too ordinary for us to find any uniqueness  and attach significance to it. What if we imagine shooting a rubber band and it landing in someone’s pocket, attaching to their keychain. That would be a unique event that you would probably remember, would you not?

Now what if we took that keychain, and imagined getting rid of it entirely by erasing it with an eraser? and what if the friction from rubbing the eraser was so strong that your hand caught fire, and you had to put it out in a river? But while you were in the river, someone threw you what was supposed to be a lifeboat but was instead a drum? So you took some jelly, but rather than sliding the drum off of you with it( that would be too plain), you broke off a piece of the drum and made a drum and jelly sandwich? But while you did, you got some jelly stuck in your teeth and had to use a magic wand to pick the jelly out. Now, instead of picking the jelly out, you just turned it from jelly to mud. So you asked a friend to throw a dart at the speck of mud in between your teeth. When your friend threw the dart, he hit a bullseye right on your teeth, and out popped an ice cube.

See if you could recall the story, starting from the rubber band.

Alert, Alert: How To Take Charge Of Unruly Vocabulary

Now, what if the word is difficult to picture in your mind, like the word “magnificent?” What if we broke down the word magnificent to words that sounded similar, like “magnify” and “cent?” Now when we hear the word magnificent we could think of a cent under a magnifying glass, maybe catching fire from the sun.

The same holds true for words in another language!

Let’s now try memorizing 5 key phases in Spanish:

In order to remember buenos dias, we can imagine booing Carmen Diaz after she walks out of her house with a poor nose job, and says good morning. To remember mucho gusto, we can imagine meeting a goose and smooching it’s toe as a nice gesture. To remember cómo estás, we can imagine combing a stack of pennies (or anything for that matter), and responding that we have been very busy combing when someone asks us “How are you?”. To remember me llamo, we can imagine telling someone our name, and then holding a yam in your hand and introducing it as well. Finally, to remember muy bien, gracias, we can imagine a cow saying Moo as you try to stop it from bending over, and the look of grace in it’s eyes as you save him.

These don’t have to be the examples you use to remember things – the important thing is that you attach significance to these words with your own kookie imagination to help you remember them 1-2-3.

Get Rid Of Language Learning Forgetfulness Once And For All!

Let’s do a recap of what we learned.

In order to remember something, the mind needs to attach a sense of significance to it. A good way of attaching significance is if something is unique. Once we attach significance to an item that is unique, we need to organize and store it effectively in our mind. A good way to organize data is through association.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to put theory to practice. Think you’re ready for some more Spanish words? Let’s meet over video chat on SpanishVirtually.com for a free Spanish lesson to get you up to speed in no time!

Author: Josh Aharonoff – Director of Sales and Marketing, Spanish Virtually

Further Resources

How to Memorize 50 Spanish Provinces On Your First Go

Memory Improvement Tips For The Manic Depressive University Student

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

There’s no secrets and certainly no shame about it. People get depressed.

Ain’t nothing new.

Before depression, was melancholy.

Some called it “deprimare” (Latin).

Some called it “melas” (Greek).

Manic comes from the “manikós” and “manía” (Greek) and means inclined to madness.

Latin later turned the word into “mania.”

The names may change, but the states remain the same.

Mania and depression are the sorts of thing that can happen to anyone, at any time, for any reason … or for no reason at all.

I hope these states never happen to you, dear Memorizers. But if they do, I highly recommend that you supplement your medical treatment with mnemonics.

I’m not a doctor (at least not the medical kind), so I’m not qualified to offer medical advice.

I can only tell you that when the black bile of melancholia hit me during my graduate studies, it hit hard, it hit bad and it did its best to sink my Magnetic ship into the rough seas of depression.

Anyhow, the inspiration for today’s episode and sharing these memory improvement tips for students suffering from Manic Depression comes from a listener of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. He wrote:

Thanks for sharing your story.  I also have bipolar.  It’s a tough thing to deal with and I appreciate your willingness to share your story.  I have always wanted a doctorate degree. But for reasons you are well acquainted with, it has been a massive struggle.  Another one of my life goals is to learn Russian and be fluent.  I feel skeptical that the methods outlined here can help someone like me to accomplish these goals, but I’m willing to take a deep breath, and give it 100%.  Honestly, what’s the worst that can happen? It either works or it doesn’t, right?  I’m going to try hard to make this work, and I will be in touch to let you know how I’ve progressed, but for now I wanted to just thank you for bringing the possibility to me, and for sharing your struggle with bipolar.

In today’s episode of the podcast, I address this letter in detail, giving you the reasons why you should feel the mania and depression and do it anyway. There is nothing that you cannot achieve just because you have this emotional dis-ease.

Concentration Zen For Students With Brains Bipolar Medication Has Turned To Mush

I’ve talked several times before about my personal history with concentration issues, so you’re not alone. I was thrown into a severe depression as a grad student and that’s one of the things that led me to memorization techniques. And of course, no sooner than I emerged from the depression, I found myself riding back up to the sky. And it’s hard to focus when you’ve got the wind blowing hard in your face as you blast towards the moon.

But even with memory techniques to guide me during these torrential states, they didn’t completely eliminate the concentration issues. One practice that I found helpful (though not always) was to read out loud. Narrating books can put strain on the voice and requires a lot of water, but it also helps generate focus during especially difficult passages.

When narration wasn’t possible, I found audiobooks whenever I possibly could. This is usually easy for novels, but not so easy for dry theoretical texts – hence reading out loud.

But the point is not to “read” the audiobooks while walking around or cooking bacon. For the purposes of serious study, you want to have the actual text in front of you and read along with. That’s why I always listened and read at the same time. And If I had to, I recited the book myself and then listened to my own narration while following along with the book in hand.

How Memory Techniques Saved The Lovely Voice You Hear Today On The MMM Podcast

Next, I studied memorization techniques (you knew that was coming). These are great because they sharpen the mind and improve concentration. I think it’s because practicing with Memory Palaces and related techniques sends more oxygen to the brain. It also helps improve recall (of course) because it’s a simple matter to store key points in a carefully prepared and predetermined Memory Palace.

Along with memorization techniques, meditation is incredibly helpful. Nothing fancy. Just sitting, breathing, watching your thoughts. 3-5 minutes is good, 10 minutes is very good and 15 minutes is exceptional (that’s a loose quote from a meditation training I heard once upon a time). Three 15 minute sessions a day works gangbusters for me.

Then there’s the matter of diet and exercise. Sorry to spread the bad news, but eating processed foods and anything wrapped in plastic or bolted into a can is probably not going to help concentration. I’m not a doctor (well, I am, but not the medical kind) so I can’t give any dietary advice. But you know the drill. Eat well and keep fit.

While You “Treat” Manic Depression With Memory Palaces … Look At What Else They Can Do …

And then read these …

Further Resources

Memorizing Vocabulary Fights Depression

Robin Williams And The Most Unusable Memory Palace In The World

Dr. Jim Samuels on using mnemonics to relieve stress

Coping with Chemo Brain Using Memory Palaces

Before I go, don’t think that you have to have a mental illness to benefit from these memory tips. They’re good for anyone and everyone. [image error]

Improve My Memory And Get Free Donuts!

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. You can also be a Memory Hero and Tweet this episode and share it on Facebook.

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you’ll learn about how to get fat off of all the free donuts you can stuff in your Magnetic little belly (or big belly as the case soon shall be …)

Plus, I want to show you a number of Memory Palaces created by Magnetic Memory Method readers and course participants.

Incredible Images That Show You Exactly How You Can Build Your Own Rome Of Memory In A Single Day!

So read every word on this page, watch each and every video from beginning to end and listen to the entire podcast.

First up …

A Killer Resource For Becoming A SuperHuman!

Not so long ago, I interviewed the great Jonathan Levi, a fellow instructor over at Udemy and now podcaster extraordinaire. He interviewed me in an hour long session that covers all kinds of memory topics that you’re going to want to listen to right away and then subscribe to the Becoming Superhuman Podcast.

What you’ll learn in this special Magnetic Memory Method interview includes:

* How to reduce stress with mnemonics …

* Fundamental principles of memory and how I improve my memory every day …

* How to increase memory power simply by understanding what noripinephrine is … and then acting according to its whims! …

* Memory improvement tips for overcoming the “primacy effect” like a sabre-toothed tiger glides through the jungles of forgetfulness …

* How to improve short term memory by understanding the Method of Loci and creating top-notch, bulletproof and 100% Magnetic Memory Palaces …

* … and much, much more!

Next up …

The Unbelievable Secret To Getting Free Donuts While You Relieve Boredom At Work And Get Really, Really Fat!

It was just another Magnetic day here at the Magnetic Memory Method headquarters until I opened my email and a subject line leapt out at me …

Thanks for the Donuts!

And so I asked myself … What manner of spam chicanery is this?

No chicanery at all. Check it out!

Good Morning Anthony!

I am emailing to thank you for the donuts.

As a fun activity and to help take our minds off of work, I made a wager with my fellow office coworkers that I could memorize – verbatim – a chart of makes, submakes, model numbers and letters, RV types, sub-types, and the 2-digit VIN identifier of 83 RVs as produced by our company.

Again, this was for fun and by no means a testament to memorizing things “verbatim.”

If I lost, I would buy the office donuts. If I won, the office would by donuts and I could have as many as would be considered gluttonous.

Though this apparently seemed to them a silly bet that I could never win, I did warn the office that I was quite confident in my ability to do this. So, after a 2-week study window and a 20-question “test” (plus many shouts of random VIN IDs from the non-believers) I received enough donuts to move my belt out a notch.

Again, !!THANKS!! For the donuts and I’m sure you will be happy to know I passed your information out to everyone as a gift for their participation.

Sincerely,

Matt Simon

Memorizer-in-Training

And because this email comes with an amazing graph of what Matt memorized … I made a video for you so you can see it!

Next up …

A Memory Palace Made Of BEAR MACE!

Okay, not really, but check this Memory Palace sent to us by the amazing actor Matt Newby who has a hilarious produce spoof over at Famousoldie.com.

He writes:

Hey Anthony!

Wanted to share with you some things!

First when I started keeping a memory journal I found myself not wanting to open it because well I guess it just looked boring to me … nothing to exciting about a green composition book. So I printed out of retro futuristic designs and things this resulting in

Now I want to open it!

Second I’ve been doing cards using the Person Action Object method and an 18 room Memory Palace I built in Minecraft.

Between Dec when it started and today I’ve done it 17 times with an average time memorized 12min and an average time recalled 9min missing about 4 on average.

I feel like I’ve hit an “OK plateau”. Do you think I haven’t done it enough times to feel that way yet? I’ve done a lot of work with the PAO method. I got your book last night about cards and I feel like I’ve done so much work with the PAO I don’t want to switch methods just yet. I did however love the idea of breaking it down into 4 sets good way to make it seem easier!

I will get this down to 1 minute! Do you have any drills I could do? Should I try other methods?

You da main man with da plan!

Matt

PS I’m an actor I loved your last podcast!

Having come this far, I thought …

Why Not Show You Some More Amazing Memory Palaces Created By People Just Like You?

Why not, indeed?

Here’s one by a young person in grade school sent to me by her teacher (with the permission of the parents, of course).

Here’s another presented by a Magnetic Memory Method course participant down in Australia:

And to close off this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, let’s look inside one of my very own Memory Palaces!

So, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

But even if you hated it … what are you waiting for?

Get out there and build some Memory Palaces so that you can memorize anything you please!

Further Resources Mentioned In The Podcast

Jonathan Levi talks about Becoming A Superlearner.

My take on the Person Action Object method … and serial killers!

Tap the Mind Of A Ten Year-Old Memory Palace Master for more information on using Minecraft as a Memory Palace generator.

Magnetic Memory Method Interview with Marc Shannon who talks about How to Remember Anything.

The Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Method of Loci article on Wikipedia.

Memory Improvement Techniques For Kids

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. You can also Tweet this episode to everyone you know who has kids that need memory improvement.

Your years in the traditional educational system were painful and boring, weren’t they?

It’s okay. You can admit it. 

But even though you may have hated wasting all those hours away, I’ll bet you also wished that you had learned more. It’s a terrible irony, and yet you’re not to blame.

And neither is your memory.

Although there will always be problems with state education, just imagine what it would be like if learning could always be fun and interesting and that young people could remember everything they learn. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Get Ready For The Good News About Memory Improvement Techniques For Kids 

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Imogen Aires and her father Kevin talk about the powerful role memory techniques have played in her life as a young student. Even in a short period of time, Imogen has used a Memory Palace based on her school and another based on the home of a relative to memorize the names of royalty and the titles of Shakespeare’s plays.

But the amazement doesn’t end with memory pyrotechnics. Kevin tells us about his surprise when he found that these memory stunts had an unexpected side effect: Getting Imogen – and the rest of the family – interested in the history of kings and queens. Even more, soon Imogen was reading abridged editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Kevin talks more about this in his recent TEDTalk:

Tune into this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast and you’ll also hear about:

* One of the best books for helping kids learn memory techniques (and adults too).

* Why kids are perfectly capable of using memory techniques … and how this can lead to incredible “fluency” in Shakespeare’s plays.

* How you can help your kids build and use a Memory Palace.

* Why Imogen thinks that memorizing a deck of cards is going to be fun, even if they aren’t a huge priority for success in other areas.

* Why Imogen finds that exercising her memory is anything but boring.

* Exactly why the mnemonic images you create need to be funny and weird so that they “stick” in your brain.

* The kinds of information that kids find the most interesting to memorize and why.

* How using memory techniques can serve as a “gateway drug” for developing interest in education.

* Why kids have more than enough locations in mind in order to build many Memory Palaces, including schools they no longer attend.

* The one thing that everyone has that makes creating your first Memory Palace incredibly easy and fun.

* How you can practice what you’ve memorized simply by talking with other people by teaching them these incredible techniques.

* How Imogen’s father turned what he thought would be a simple party trick into a moving TEDTalk about teaching memory techniques to young people.

* Kevin’s “edge-ucation” concept and how to apply it to your exploration of memory techniques and any subject of interest.

* Why mnemonic associative-images are like theatre plays and how that “restaging” them is the best path to getting the most out of your Memory Palace (and Memory Palaces if you’re using more than one).

* Why you’re never too young and it’s never too soon to become a “memory consultant.”

* … and much, much more.

Further Resources

Remember, Remember: Learn the Stuff You Never Thought You Could by Ed Cooke

The Memory Palace by Lewis Smile

Tap The Mind Of A Ten Year-old Memory Palace Master on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast

Memory Tips From Actors Who Don’t Clown Around

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Even if you’re not an actor, you’ve probably wondered what it would be like to get up on stage and completely forget your lines.

Or maybe you’ve just asked yourself what that would feel like … To go completely blank in front of a crowd.

It does happen, even to the best. For example, Matthew Broderick once had to call for his lines many times during a play. In this case, it was due to multiple dialog changes shortly before the performance. But just imagine the pressure one tiny slip up must bring!

And think of how much energy it must take to hold all those lines in the mind, sometimes for months if it’s for a play. It must be mentally and physically draining.

Unless of course you’ve got top-notch memory techniques. Doing my research, I was quite surprised by the range of activities actors use. And yet not all actors use straight-up mnemonics, making each of these memory tips interesting in their own right.

1. Don’t Memorize Your Lines

Sounds weird, right? After all, Peter O’Toole famously said that he and most of his colleagues get paid to memorize lines. The acting they do for free.

But many actors forgo memorization, at least at first. Instead, they read their scripts again and again. Anthony Hopkins, for example, talks about reading his scripts several hundred times.

But if they’re not memorizing the lines, why all the repetition?

It’s because they’re looking for intentions. Motivations and the emotional experiences their characters go through. As we know from mnemonics, emotions are very memorable and build a lot of connections.

And if you think about it, the most memorable scenes from movies all feature hugely exaggerated reactions based on emotional states.

In sum, all of this repetitive reading builds associations at a microscopic level. The smallest detail in the dialog can make the lines much more memorable to the emotional being of the actor who must react from feeling just as much as from memory. And it’s the smallest twitch of a facial muscle that can make the difference between a blockbuster flop and an Oscar-winning movie.

2. Use Location and Movement

Acting takes place in time and space. It is an art of change, and as Plato and Aristotle pointed out about memory, change is always movement.

And just as actors link their lines to emotional states, they also link them to movement. Knowing where a character says something, in which emotional condition and in response to what context all provide powerful cues.

This cool technique resembles Memory Palace work in many ways. But instead of using a familiar home as a Memory Palace, the film set or theater stage becomes a specific-purpose Memory Palace designed to accomplish a specific task.

Both Mark Channon and Scott Gosnell have talked about different ways of making Memory Palaces like this on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast before. As an actor himself, Channon has used the technique just described. And Scott told us about going to an examination room before you take a test to install your imagery.

This “immersion” technique works extraordinarily well because you’ve got a real representation of your Memory Palace in front of you. This immediacy lets you focus on the memory triggering power of your associative-imagery with great immediacy. And if you’re an actor or want to perform well on an exam, you need immediacy. In fact, you need the target material to leap into your mind like mice on cheese in a world free from cats and barriers.

3. Focus on Emotions

We’ve already talked about emotions in the first part about mentally processing the lines of a play again and again. The idea here is that the more you read the lines, the more dimensions of the character in the context of their narrative world you’ll understand.

But the actor also needs to feel those emotions at a legitimate level. And theoretically, by making oneself feel the emotions in a genuine way, the lines should be more memorable.

And if you think about it, you’ve probably had more than one experience in your life where you could remember parts of an argument word  for word. Maybe you’ve experienced arguments so intense that you can still remember things you’ve heard and said. And it’s this power of supercharged emotions that actors use to help them remember their lines. They hunt for that same spike in feeling in real life that people use to win arguments and memorizers use to make information more memorable.

Those are the three main ways actors remember their lines and they can all add something to your practice as a memorizer. And you don’t have to go to your high school or college examination room to get results with real location projection.

Try using your home as a Memory Palace sometime. Take lyrics from a song or a poem and stand at or beside or on a station. Create associative-imagery for the first line and with eyes both open and closed, burn that imagery into place.

Do this with a couple of lines, physically moving from station to station. Then, looking back, see or reconstruct your associative-imagery using words and decode it. If you like, go back to the station itself and put some motion into your “act of recall.” If you’ve struggled with decoding associative-imagery before, this simple exercise in acting may be the breakthrough you need.

Other Ways Actors Have Memorized Their Lines

Since we’re here, let’s look at some other ways actors have “memorized” their lines. This part of the post is just for fun, so don’t try any of the following when the stakes are high like during an exam for school or professional certification. You could wind up failing your exam or even getting kicked out of school.

4. Don’t Memorize Anything At All

This tip for improving your memory is not going to help much, but it is a tribute to the talent of many film and television actors. They simply show up and have their lines fed to them, one at a time.

Remember when we talked about using the set of Deadwood a little while ago as a Memory Palace? Well, go ahead and use it to practice virtual Memory Palaces and recalling information, but rest assured of this. Although the actors on Deadwood certainly prepared by memorizing their lines, rarely did they deliver them as scripted.

Why?

Because the creator of the series, , changed the lines up to the last minute, including during the shooting of Deadwood. To deal with these changes, actors would assume their places and call “line” in order to be told by someone off-camera what to say. And then they would repeat the line, and their call for help would later be edited out of the footage during post-production.

Knowing this behind-the-scenes fact about Deadwood certainly has increased my appreciation for how well those actors managed to stay in character. How about you?

5. Scatter Your Notes Around The Set

It was pretty awesome having play Superman’s dad back in the Richard Donner film, wasn’t it? But it seems that the much-adored thespian was either lazy or Super-forgetful because, in this bit of film history, he insisted on having his lines on pieces of paper scattered around the set.

The people who worked with him were not pleased by his lack of professionalism. Yet, when you watch the film, he certainly does a great job of playing the father of one of the greatest superheroes ever invented.

And keep in mind that reciting from a script does not equal bad writing. Cartoon narrators do it all the time and no one criticizes them for that.

Still, it’s kind of a weird feeling to think that Brando couldn’t be bothered to memorize his lines in this film. But I’m sure most fans will forget this fact and forgive him.  

6. Use An App In Place Of An Assistant

There’s an app that looks interesting called Rehearser. It’s only available for Andriod, so I haven’t been able to assess it, but the idea is that you can import a script and it will feed you the lines that go before yours. These prompts train you to respond without needing an acting partner or a coach. Throw a dedicated Memory Palace strategy into the mix and you’re golden.

7. Let The Gods Of Acting Pump The Lines Invisibly Into Your Ear

Angela Lansbury will likely never be forgotten for her role as the star of Murder She Wrote. Yet, as age has taken its hold, and she’s boldly refused retirement (and apparently the Magnetic Memory Method), memorizing her lines has become increasingly difficult.

Her solution when acting from the stage? She wears an invisible earpiece that lets someone offstage feed the lines to her when the going gets tough.

Now You May Be Wondering …

Is there a way for an actor who needs radio controlled prompting to make improvements, regardless of age or present mental condition?

Of course there are ways. Lots of them. I would probably begin with some basic training in the correct construction of Memory Palaces. People who fail to have success with them usually haven’t had exposure to the finer details, which is why I created the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Following that, I would add a few simple memory drills. Memorizing a deck of cards would be one of them. Purely for strengthening visual association skills, it’s a great exercise. It’s also a memory exercise that paves the way for memorizing increasingly abstract words and phrases with greater speed and accuracy.

But were I to coach an actor with memory issues, I would soon add a simple drill we’ve talked about before: Memorizing using dice.

Starting with just one die and a poem or longer speech from a play, I would have the actor roll and come up with a number. Whatever number comes up, that’s how many lines she or he will memorize.

For example, take one of Adriana’s speeches in Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. If the actor rolled a one, then we would work on memorizing one line on one station. If the actor rolled a five, then we would go for five lines.

I would them send the actor home and let them roll that die a couple times a day for a week with the goal of having as many lines as possible memorized.

Then, when they show up for the next coaching session, we would roll again. Except this time, if they rolled a three, they would need to recite three lines starting from the third station. If they rolled a six, it would be six lines from the sixth station or six lines backwards if the actor had reached the end of the memorized material.

From that point onward, we would add more dice every week.

And you can use this memory tip for anything. If you’re working on a foreign language, roll the dice and memorize as many words as the number indicates. Then, use the dice to recall as many words as the dice indicate. Giving yourself a sort pattern like this is the mental equivalent of working out in a gym with skipping rope.

Just Do It

As I’ve hoped to show, actors use many different ways to memorize their lines, and we can take some tips from them to improve our memory abilities when using memory techniques.

So what are you going to do with this information? Let it sit like an unproduced play collecting dust on a shelf?

I hope not!

Get out there and put these ideas to use because taking action by staging a play in the gym of your mind is the only way to get results.

And these fun and games? They’ll make your memory Magnetic.

Further Resources

Magnetic Memory Method Podcast Episode on How to Increase Memory By Watching Movies And TV Series

Magnetic Memory Method Podcast Episode on using dice to memorize.

Superman info on IMDB. Check it out!

Memory Improvement Fun And Games: Mark Channon Talks About How To Remember Anything

Subscribe to the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Grand Master of Memory Mark Channon talks about memory improvement from his perspective as an actor, personal trainer and game show host creator.

As the author of How to Remember Anything, Channon presents us with stimulating ideas and actionable techniques you can get started using right away. This interview truly demonstrates just how profound his Total Memory Blueprint will be for you.

And in this interview, you’ll learn:

* How to build your memory skill set, even if you’re a busy person.

* How to memorize the streets of London using a Memory Palace, a bit of 21st Century technology and mnemonic chaining.

* How to create powerful reference stories that you can refer to months and years later to recall information.

* Exactly how it feels to compete in the World Memory Championships.

* How to deal with the occasional “effort” involved in the fun and games of using memory techniques by discovering your purpose.

* How to develop concentration, even if your body is busy as a beaver.

* How to let go of your inhibitions and remember more without even using any memory techniques whatsoever.

* The secrets of being present and active listening and the three levels of communication to focus on.

* How to memorize lines for an addition for a Stephen Spielberg film in a foreign language – even if you’ve never learned a word of that language before!

* The best mindset to develop for memorizing long texts verbatim.

* How to create visual (and yet invisible) cue cards. Use these during a presentation to recall a memorized speech without taking yourself out of the moment. This is great for people who “skip a beat” while searching through Memory Palaces.

* What you can learn about mnemonics from Iron Man in the Avengers.

* How to use relaxation to create focus and energy without putting yourself to sleep.

* How to harness the power of “tiny habits” to be more present, remember more information and deal with information overload.

* How to use memory techniques to get tips if you work at a bar or restaurant and one crazy party trick that will amaze your friends – and make them wonder if they can trust you!

* The importance of incorporating the fun of play into your memory improvement efforts.

* Why you should focus on memorizing “anything” rather than “everything.”

* … and much, much more.

Amazing Clip From the Pilot Of Mark Channon’s Memory Masters

Mini-MMM Review Of Mark Channon’s How To Remember Anything

As you know, books on memory skills are a dime a dozen. And few are memorable.

But what makes Mark Channon’s treatise and training on the art of memory so unique is its blend of unique ideas and Channon’s emphasis on sharing the sources of his learning and inspiration.

And you’ll want to be following up on many of those sources. Ranging from training for actors to ideas drawn from psychologists, Channon not only helps you take control of your memory. You learn to take control of many other aspects of your life too.

How to Remember Anything highlights the paradox of memory. It is both absolutely central and at the same time, peripheral to much that we do with it. Channon talks about the power of forgetting – or at least allowing ourselves to align so completely with the present that the ego steps out of the way. And when that happens, you can let memory fulfil its natural role of providing exactly what we need at exactly the right time.

Channon compliments the book with brain science, but not to the point of overwhelm. If you’re interested in how and why the brain works, this book presents a snackable primer and all the resources you could ask for if you want to explore further.

Each chapter of the book is well-structured and the exercises pack a punch. Many have value apart from raw memorization as well. You can use them to learn more, develop creativity, think critically at a higher level and elevate your communication style.

In sum, How to Remember Anything gives particular understandings of the classic memory techniques that will widen your perspective of how they can be used. And there is plenty more for those interested in memory improvement that you won’t encounter in other books on mnemonics, so be sure to check this one out.

Resources Mentioned In The Podcast And More!

Mark Channon’s free resources on his Memory School website

Mark Channon’s World Memory Championship stats

How to Remember Anything on Amazon

The Memory Workbook on Amazon

BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits

Phil Chambers (Chief Arbiter of the World Memory Championships) Talks About The Outer Limits Of Memory Skills