photo by fosscoti

Why is this important

I once observed Hillary Clinton present a speech at an elementary school in Queens.  The principal made opening remarks, followed by a short speech by a student and a summary of a project by a teaching artist.  When Hillary got up to speak, she had no notes in her hand.  She kept her eyes forward, making you feel she was speaking directly to you and as she spoke, she quoted the principal, the student and the teaching artist, weaving in what they had just spoken about into her speech.   What she did was make her speech everyone’s speech.

Very impressive.

How did she do that?

She paid attention.  A lot of it.  And I am willing to bet she used some simple techniques that helped her to remember the details she felt were important.  I have put together a list of my top ten memory tricks that I use to do what Hillary did, to remember all the things I need to, to keep track of my wallet, keys and phone, to  memorize 32 Beethoven sonatas.

Here’s my top ten memory tricks:

1. Repeat a person’s name

There couldn’t be a simpler way to remember a face and a name than to repeat the person’s name immediately after being introduced.  And if it is an unusual name, or kind of long and unexpected like mine, this is the best time to say, 

“How nice to meet you (difficult to pronounce name).  Am I saying it correctly?  (Repeat the name).”

2. Rephrase what you have just heard

This is a the same little trick only you are repeating a fact or something someone has said.

“I can’t believe that (fact you just heard)!  Do you think that (fact you just heard) is true?”

3. Remember chunks of information

It is easier to group stuff to remember.  Try memorizing a random string of 10 numbers and you may have some difficulty.  Try thinking of  10 numbers as if they were a phone number, in familiar groups that are easier to remember:

17185551212 is easier to remember if you break it up like this:  1 718 555 1212

4. Re introduce yourself

OK, this is really a way to recapture a person’s name you have probably met a few times before but just cannot remember their name.  It is also a really nice way to help someone remember your name.

“Oh, so nice to see you, I’m Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer.  Tell me your name again?”

5. Recognize patterns

Is there someone in your life who always arrives late to everything?  The old wisdom here is to remember that and to tell that person the meeting is actually an hour earlier.  The idea is to see these repetitive patterns and to remember what to do.

6. Reject useless data

Edit down to the essence of what you need to remember.  Develop a ruthless sense of what you really need to know and do not allow your mind to be clogged up with anything else.  Hey, that’s what Google is for.

7. Replay an event

To remember a sequence of events, imagine that you can press a rewind button and recreate what just happened.  If you can instant replay the scenario, you have a better chance of remembering it.

8. Recreate using templates

It is so much easier to remember things in structures like templates.  I like using templates to create budgets, spreadsheets, outlines etc., to help me recall large pictures of information.

9. Release unnecessary information

A psychologist named Zeigarnik noticed how waiters in a Viennese restaurant let their memories evaporate once the order has been filled.  Sherlock Holmes did the same thing.  He immediately purged his mind of anything he felt was of no use or interest to him to make room in his memory for what was important.

10. Relax

Your memory is a mental muscle in your body.  Like the rest of you, it needs to rest in order for it to continue functioning well.  Close your eyes and close down.

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Hoong Yee

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