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1. Sensuality
Most of the great natural memorizers blended their senses and
introduced
the following elements when they memorized:
1. Vision
2. Hearing
3. Sense of smell
4. Taste
5.Touch
6. Kinesthesia (awareness of bodily position).
So the more that you involve your senses, the greater your ability
to
recall the information that you have learnt.
2. Movement
Ask yourself which of the two situations are you likely to
remember the
most? First of all consider an oak tree in a forest of oak trees.
Now
consider the same oak tree swaying violently while the trees
around it are
seemingly unaffected by whatever is causing the movement. The
motion gives
the mind more possibilities for it to 'link in' and thus remember.
3. Association
Association is one of the keys to a good memory. If you leave your
coat
in a cloakroom at a theatre, you will be given a ticket. When you
return
you expect to exchange the ticket that you were given for your
coat. That
is because the ticket you had was associated with the peg that
held your
coat. The same works with your memory. You will have a series of
pegs in
your mind (to be covered next month) which you associate with what
you
want to remember and when you recall, you go to that peg and the
association will prompt the information stored.
4. Humor
Have fun with your memory and make all of your images funny,
absurd and
ridiculous. If you watch pedestrians walking past a lamp post in a
crowded
street nothing really stands out until someone does not watch
where they
are going and……….
5. Imagination
Einstein (see the section on The great Minds) said "Imagination is
more
important than knowledge". Your imagination is vital to a good
memory and
the more you use it the better your memory will be.
6. Number As Tony Buzan says, "Numbering adds specificity and
efficiency
to the principle of order and sequence".
7. Symbolism
A picture speaks a thousand words and so a more meaningful image
that
represents something boring or abstract will aid the memory
process.
8. Color
If we introduce the facilities of both sides of the brain into our
memory
techniques our overall performance improves - Color is a feature
of the
workings of the right side of the brain. Also the more colorful
the
image, the easier it is to remember.
9. Order and/or sequence
By adding order and/or sequence it is easier for the brain to
randomly
access any piece of the information learned.
10. Positive Images
The more positive and pleasant your mnemonic images are, the more
likely
your brain will want to return to them.
11. Exaggeration
Exaggeration of size, shape and sound will enhance the image. If
you saw
a 10 foot high mouse wandering around your home town, I am sure
that you
would remember it!
So if you apply all of the elements above to your mnemonic
imagery, then
your are on your way to developing a good memory. All that you
need now is
a mnemonic technique to apply these principles to. I will cover
such a
technique next month.
About the Author
Michael Tipper is an entertaining speaker specializing in
the practical
business and educational application of Mind Mapping®, Speed
Reading,
Memory Skills, Accelerated Learning and Creative Thought.
www.michaeltipper.com – Michael’s home page
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