Unlimited Memory by Kevin Horsley

Date finished 20 Aug 2020

Some powerful strategies for memorisation and recall. Quite a bit is overly explained; the techniques are simple (a good thing). I skimmed over fluff and pulled out what I thought could be useful. I have no need to remember long strings of numbers, but linking names and information to images and other associations is something I’ll use.

The big idea

Use the senses and your imagination to enhance memory. Associate numbers and names with sounds, images, emotions; massively improves your recall.

My notes

• Images are powerful

  • People that learn quickly or have a so - called photographic memory apply creativity to everything they learn.
  • When you see information as an image in your mind, you can jump in and out of it; this improves your understanding.
  • neuroscientist John Medina said, “Hear a piece of information and three days later you’ll remember 10 percent of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65 percent. ”
  • The SEE Principle
    • S — Senses
    • E — Exaggeration
    • E — Energize: Give your mental pictures action. Would you rather watch a movie of your holiday or a slide show? What creates more feeling in your imagination: a horse standing still or a horse that is running and moving?
  • The greatest secret to having a powerful memory is bringing information to life with your endless imagination.
  • Organizing new information is key to retention and retrieval.

• Use your car or body to remember

  • The car list works because your whole car is in your long - term memory (LTM). LTM offers you a place to store the new information; that is, the locations in the car become “ storage compartments ” for short - term memories (STMs). All the memory methods in this book work with this formula: LTM + STM = MTM
  • The body method was originally invented by the ancient Greeks. You can use it to remember information for exams, work, shopping, or any list of items.

• Remembering numbers

  • The “ shape peg ” method was developed in 1651 by Henry Herdson, who linked numbers to objects shaped like the digits. The “rhyming peg ” method was introduced two centuries later by John Sambrook in 1879.
  • Rhyming Pegs - eg 1 = fun
  • The 10 emotions of power help you remember. Use one of them with a peg.
    • The 10 emotions of power are: Love and warmth Appreciation and gratitude Curiosity Excitement and passion Determination Flexibility Confidence Cheerfulness Vitality Contribution
  • Shape Pegs The second peg method, the shape system, converts numbers into concrete shapes. It works in the same way as the rhyming peg method, only this time the pegs are shaped like the number.

• Linking Thoughts

  • You can remember all 45 presidents just by linking one thought to the next. If you have any problems recalling the list, just make it more detailed and make the links clearer. Here is the list of the first 12 presidents: George Washington: washing a tin.

• Remembering Names

  1. “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”. — Dale Carnegie

  2. Concentrate
     • the first thing you have to do is take control of the introduction so you can slow it down. Next, pay attention and really listen to the name, because if you don’t hear it you will not remember it. As Oliver Wendel Holmes said, “ A person must get a thing before they can forget it. ” If you hear the name, repeat it back to the person ; this will improve your recall. If you don’t hear the name, ask the person to say it again. If it is a difficult name, ask them to spell it, too. Listen and be genuinely interested in the other person’s name.
  3. Create
     • Create an image for the name in your mind so you can recreate it later.
  4. Connect
     • Remember that all learning is creating relationships between the known and the unknown. When you’re introduced to someone, you see ( know ) their face — an image — so you need to connect their unknown name to their known face. When you see their face again it must act as a trigger or peg to bring the name to your awareness. Here are some methods to make the connection. All the methods listed here take a great deal longer to explain than to use. Comparison Connection With this method, you connect the person to a name that you already know.
     • Face Connection
     • With this method, you make a link between the name and an outstanding feature in the person’s appearance. Every face is unique and every face has an outstanding feature.
     • Meeting Location Connection
     • Continuous Use - If you concentrate, get the name, make it meaningful, and connect it to the person, you will remember it for the short term. To make the name stick in your long - term memory, however, you have to continue using it. Talk about their name. If it is a foreign name ask the person what it means. How do they spell it? Also, use their name in conversation.

• Presenting from Memory

  • Great presenters know that audiences tend to remember:
    • F — First things
    • L — Last things
    • O — Outstanding information
    • O — Own links
    • R — Repeated information
    • Therefore, they make their introductions and conclusions powerful and outstanding. They open with memorable demonstrations, questions, facts, quotations, or meaningful stories. They also continually link information to the audience, make it more outstanding, and repeat the main points. If you design your presentation with the FLOOR principle in mind, your audience will remember more — and your presentation will be more enjoyable.