The Memory Book reveals the phenomenal potential of your memory – and how you can make the most of it. Tony Buzan, the world's bestselling author on the brain and learning, reveals revolutionary memory techniques that have produced some of the most impressive human memories on this planet.
USE YOUR IMAGINATION
USE YOUR IMAGINATION
“Memory isn’t an old-fashioned filing system where you learn things in a list,” says Tony Buzan, author of The Memory Book. “It’s a playground for your imagination.
When you think of anything - for example, a banana - a picture pops into your head.” Thinking of your memory as a picture library is the solution to those ‘Where did I leave my keys?’ moments; instead of putting things - down without looking, help your brain rem~mber where they are by registering it for a microsecond. “Even better, put things in the same place as a matter of habit - your memory massively improves and life will be less stressful,” says Buzan
Be creative with your memory by making up stories. “If your online banking password is hello 1’, come up with a story to remember it,” says Australian Memory Champion,Tansel Ali. Tansel Ali is most famously known for memorising two Yellow Pages phone books in only 24 days.
“Imagine a hand coming out of the screen waving ‘hello’; Next time you log on to your account, that image of a hand reaching out will prompt you to remember the password.”
CHOOSE RELATED WORDS
“Use specific passwords for different things,” says Ali. “If you go on Amazon to buy electrical goods, use something associated with that. My association with Amazon is books, so I’d imagine a book being thrown at me and come up with a password from that.”
PAINT BY NUMBERS
“For help remembering phone or PIN numbers, use the ‘number-shape technique’,” advises Ali. Think of what the numbers zero to nine look like — ‘2’ might be a snake or ‘6’ a tadpole - then make up a scenario about that combination of numbers. “If you have to remember ‘9351’, you could makeup a story where ‘9’ is a basketball hoop, ‘3’ is a bird flying through it, ‘5’ is a hook it gets caught on and ‘1’ is a pen you write about it with.”
MAKE NOTES IN COLOUR
If you’re studying for a test or preparing a presentation, bring out the Textas. “The way we’re taught note-taking is boring,” says Buzan. “We use one colour, which is monotonous to the brain. If you add different colours and images, it lets you think more creatively and intelligently, and boosts your recollection.”
NOTICE THE LITTLE THINGS
Pay proper attention to faces and you’ll be more likely to retain people’s names, says Ali. He suggests studying someone’s features when you meet them, then linking their name to a prominent feature. “Let’s say you meet Tim and he has really funky hair. You could associate that with Tim Tams and think, Tim’s hair is so tasty, I could eat it.”
EMBELLISH A LITTLE
The more out-there the story, the better “If you met a Jane, you could picture her waiting for Tarzan,” says Ali. “This works because your brain questions stories that don’t make sense, and it loves drama.”
SLOW DOWN AND REPEAT
Using mental imagery may be difficult when you’re meeting a large group of people.
“Ask to be introduced to two or three people to begin with, then move on to the rest,” advises Buzan. “If it’s a hard name, have them repeat it and ask for the spelling or history of the name. Then you get more information to remember it by — and the repetition strengthens the memory.”
