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Warren Banks

Mind Power

Miracles

An “insider” shortcut guide to turning

your mind into a mental magnet in a

single evening!

Module 2

Carl Marley and 5 Minute Learning Machine, LLC All Rights Reserved

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Module 2

Section 6: Peg Systems

Section 7: How To Remember Names & Faces

Section 8: How To Remember Speeches

Section 9: Remembering Advanced Numbers

Section 10: How To Remember Letters & Symbols

Section 11: How To Remember Books & Articles

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Section 6: Peg Systems

Peg systems are probably the best known of all memory systems. In these systems, items to be remembered are pegged to, or associated with, certain images in a prearranged order.

The idea behind the peg systems has been traced to the mid-1600s, when it was developed by Henry Herdson, who linked a digit with any one of several objects that resembled the number (for example, "1 candle").

The system gets its name from the fact that the peg words act as mental "pegs" on which you can hang the information that you need to remember.

The peg method is a better memory strategy than either the link or loci method because it's not dependent on retrieving items in sequence.

You can access any item on the list without having to work your way through the whole thing.

It is, however, a bit more complicated to learn at first.

In the peg system, you learn a standard set of peg words, and then you link the items you need to remember with the pegs.

The peg method can be used to remember ideas and concepts and to organize activities as well as to remember lists for shopping and errands.

The various forms of the peg system all use a concrete object to represent each number.

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What's different amongst them is how you choose the object that represents each number.

One peg system relies on using pegs that look like the numbers they represent, another relies on pegs that rhyme with the number, one relies on meaning, and another uses alphabetic pegs.

Two of the easiest peg systems to master are the rhyming and alphabet forms, which we'll discuss here.

Rhyming Pegs (Visual Pegs) The best-known of the peg systems is the rhyming peg method, in which numbers from one to ten are associated with rhymes: one-bun, two-shoe, and so on.

This system was introduced in England sometime around 1879 by John Sambrook.

The system is easy to use, and many people already know many of the standard rhymes from the nursery rhyme "one, two, buckle my shoe."

In order to use the system, you must memorize the words that rhyme with numbers one through ten (most peg systems don't include a peg word for zero, but you can make one up yourself):

1 = bun 2 = shoe 3 = tree 4 = door 5 = hive 6 = sticks 7 = heaven 8 = gate 9 = vine 10 = hen

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1. Now, as you say each rhyme, visualize the item that the peg word represents. Picture it vividly -- is the bun a hot dog bun or a hot cross bun? Is the shoe an old battered sneaker or a black high-heeled pump? 2. Now draw the item. The act of drawing will help you remember the rhyme, creating a strong mental association between the numbers and the words that rhyme with them. 3. Imagine each peg word as vividly as possible. By visualizing the object that each word represents, you'll fix it securely in your mind, creating a strong mental association between the number and the word that rhymes with it.

Once you've formed an association between the numbers and the words that rhyme with them, you've constructed your pegs.

Practice by saying each of the peg words out loud.

Then try picturing the peg words in place of the numbers as you randomly jump amongst the numbers: five, three, one, eight.

Because the words rhyme with the numbers, you don't have to say the numbers to remember the words.

If you want to remember a list, all you have to do is link each item with a peg: the first item with a bun, the second item with a shoe, and so on.

To remember the list, call up each peg, and you'll automatically remember the mental image that is linked to each peg.

Here's how it could work for a short grocery list of milk, bread, eggs, and ham.

You could start out by visualizing a jug of milk balancing a bun on its lid.

Then imagine a muddy sneaker squashing a loaf of French bread.

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Then think of a tree filled with eggs.

And finally, picture a ham in a beret banging on a door to be let in.

When you get to the store and you think of one -- bun -- you'll think of a bottle of milk.

Two -- shoe -- you'll see a shoe squashing the bread.

Peg words can help you remember lists of items or errands and daily activities.

This system may not work for those with memory problems caused by brain damage on one side of the brain, however, since it requires remembering in two distinct stages, one involving the right hemisphere and the other involving the left.

Alphabet Peg Systems

The alphabet makes a good system, since it is naturally ordered and everyone knows it.

In order to create concrete images for the letters, each image either rhymes with the letter of the alphabet it represents or has the letter as the initial sound of the word.

The alphabet peg system might be: A = hay, B = bee, C = sea.

Peg words can be created that rhyme with or sound similar to the letters of the alphabet that they represent:

A = bay B = bee C = sea D = deep E = eve

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F = effect G = geology H = age I = eye J = jay K = quay L = elm M = Emma N = end O = open P = pea Q = cue R = art S = essay T = tea U = you V = veer W = double you X = exit Y = why Z = zebra

If you don't like the rhyming aspect of the alphabetic peg-word system, you can come up with a list that doesn't rhyme but that simply uses the same letter of the alphabet to begin each word.

A = artichoke B = bat C = cake D = dog E = elephant F = fireman G = goat H = horse I = iron J = jelly K = kangaroo

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L = llama M = mouse N = napkin O = orange P = pail Q = queen R = rat S = shoe T = tank U = umbrella V = vase W = wagon X = xylophone Y = yarn Z = zebra

The only problem with using the alphabet system is that most people don't automatically know the numeric equivalent of the alphabet, so they can't be directly retrieved as easily.

For example, most people don't know, without counting, that S is the nineteenth letter, so if they wanted to recall the nineteenth item out of sequence, they would have to count off the letters and then retrieve the associated image.

The Number Shape System

In the Number-Shape System, the number and shape represent the

hangers, and the things you wish to remember with the system represent

the clothes to be hung on the hangers.

The system is an easy one and uses only the numbers from 1 to 10.

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The best system is one you will create yourself- rather than one supplied

for you.

This is because minds are infinitely varied, and the associations, links and

images that you may have will generally be different from mine and

everyone else's.

The associations and images you generate from your own creative

imagination will last a lot longer and be much more effective than any

that could be 'implanted'.

I will explain exactly how you can construct a system and shall then give

examples of its practical use.

In the Number-Shape System, all you have to do is think of images for

each of the numbers from 1 to 10, each image reminding you of the

number because both the image and the number have the same shape.

For example, and to make your task a little easier, the Key Number-Shape

Memory Word that most people use for the number 2 is swan because

the number 2 is shaped like a swan, and similarly because a swan looks

like a living, elegant version of the number 2.

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Look at the diagram below to have a feeling of what I am saying.

Listed below are the numbers from 1 to 10, with a blank beside each

number for you to pencil in the various words that you think best image

the shape of the numbers.

As you select the words, try to make sure that they are exceptionally good

visual images, with lots of good colour and basic imagination-potential

within them.

They should be images to which you will be able to link the things you

wish to remember with ease and enjoyment.

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Here are several examples:

1 Pole, pencil, pen, penis, straw, candle

2 Swan, duck, goose

3 Breasts, double chin, behind, molehills

4 Yacht, table, chair

5 Cymbal and drum, hook, pregnant woman

6 Elephant's trunk, golf club, cherry, pipe

7 Cliff, fishing line, boomerang

8 Bun, snowman, hourglass, shapely woman

9 Tennis racquet, sperm, tadpole, flag, lorgnette

10 Bat and ball, Laurel and Hardy

Give yourself not more than ten minutes to complete the list from 1 to 10,

and even if you find some numbers difficult, don't worry; just read on.

Now that you have generated several of your own number-images and

have seen other suggestions, you should select the Number-Shape Key

Memory Image for each number that is the best one for you.

When you have done this, draw in below and overleaf your appropriate

image for each number.

(Don't feel inhibited if you consider yourself not good at art; your right

brain needs the practice.)

The more colours you can use in your images, the better.

At the end of this paragraph you should close your eyes and test yourself

by mentally running through the numbers from 1 to 10 in order.

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As you come to each number, mentally link it with the Number-Shape Key

Memory Image you have selected and drawn, using the Basic Memory

Principles throughout, especially exaggeration, colour and movement.

Make sure you actually see the images on the video screen of your closed

eyelids.

When you have done this exercise once, run through the numbers in

reverse order, again linking them with your chosen word and again

applying the Basic Memory Principles.

Next, pick out numbers randomly and as quickly as you can, making a

game to see how quickly the image comes to mind.

And finally reverse the whole process by flashing the images on your

internal video screen, seeing how quickly you can connect the basic

numbers to your images.

Do this exercise now.

If you managed to do this successfully, you have already accomplished a

memory feat that most people would find difficult if not impossible.

You have now forged into your memory and creative imagination a

system that you will be able to use throughout your life and that

combines the qualities of both the left and the right hemispheres of your

brain.

The use of the system is simple and enjoyable and involves the other

major memory device: linking/association.

For example, if you have a list of items that you wish to remember not

simply by linking, as in the previous chapter.

But in numerical order, reverse numerical order and random numerical

order, the Number-Shape System makes the whole process easy.

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Let us put it to the test:

Assume you wish to remember the following list of items:

1 Symphony

2 Prayer

3 Watermelon

4 Volcano

5 Motorcycle

6 Sunshine

7 Apple pie

8 Blossoms

9 Spaceship

10 Field of wheat

To remember these items in any order, all that you have to do is to link

them with the appropriate Number-Shape Key Memory Image.

As with the Link System, and all memory systems, the Basic Memory

Principles should be applied throughout; the more imaginative you can

be, the better.

Give yourself not more than three minutes to complete your

memorisation of these ten items and then write them into a piece of

paper.

As a guide for those who might have had a little difficulty with this

exercise.

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The following are examples of possible ways in which the ten items to be

memorised might have been linked to the Number-Shape Key Memory

Images:

1 For symphony you might have imagined a conductor conducting

frantically with a gigantic pole or pencil, knocking over most of the

musicians as he did so, with ensuing pandemonium; or you might have

imagined all the violinists playing their instruments with straws; or again

you might have imagined them all with gigantic penises.

Whatever your image, the Basic Memory Principles should be applied.

2 Prayer is an abstract word. It is often mistakenly assumed that abstract

words are hard to memorise.

Using proper memory techniques, you will find that this is not the case, as

you may have already discovered.

All you have to do is to 'image' the abstract in concrete form.

You might have imagined your swan or duck or goose with its wings

upheld like hands in prayer; or filled an imaginary church with imaginary

swans, geese or ducks being led in a prayer service by a minister who was

also a bird.

3 Easy!

4 You might have imagined your gigantic volcano within the ocean, seeing

it erupting red and furiously beneath your yacht, the steam and hissing

created by the volcano actually heaving your yacht right off the water; or

you might have had your volcano miniaturised and placed on a chair on

which you were about to sit (you would certainly feel it); or imagined a

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mountainous table actually blocking the power of the volcano.

5 A giant hook might have come down from the sky and lifted you and

your motorcycle off the road along which you were speeding; or you on

your motorcycle might have crashed, incredibly noisily and disruptively,

into a musical instrument shop, knocking over cymbals and drums; or

seated astride the motorcycle is an enormous pregnant woman.

6 Sunshine could be pouring out of your pipe; or you might have flung the

golf club rhythmically up into the air, and it got entangled in a sunbeam

and drawn toward the sun; or the sunbeam could be zapping like a laser

into a cherry, making it grow gigantic before your very eyes, and you

imagine the taste as you bite into it, the juices dribbling down your chin.

7 Your gigantic cliff could actually be made entirely of apple pie; or your

fishing line could catch, instead of a fish, a bedraggled, soggy but

nevertheless still scrumptious apple pie.

Or your boomerang could fly off into the distance, and with a thunk, end

up in an apple pie as big as a mountain, not returning to you but sending

only the delicious smells of the apple and the piecrust.

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8 Your snowman could be decorated entirely with exquisitely pink

blossoms; or your hourglass could tell the time not by the falling of sand

but by the gentle falling of millions of tiny blossoms within the hourglass;

or your shapely woman could be walking provocatively through endless

fields of waist-high fallen blossoms.

9 You could miniaturise your spaceship and make it into one of thousands

of tadpoles; or miniaturise it even further and have it as the leading sperm

about to fertilise an egg; or imagine it leaving Earth's atmosphere with a

huge flag on its nose.

10 You feel the shock in your bat as it cracks against the ball, and you see

the ball sailing across endless fields of rhythmically waving, beautifully

golden wheat; or you image Laurel and Hardy playing the ultimate fools

and thrashing around, while trampling, the same endless fields of wheat.

These are, of course, only examples, and are included to indicate the kind

of exaggeration, imagination, sensuality and creative thinking that is

necessary to establish the most effective memory links.

As with the Link System, it is essential that you practise this system on

your own.

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Number-Rhyme System

These two systems can then be combined to enable you to remember

twenty items with as much facility as you have just remembered ten.

In subsequent sections more sophisticated systems will be introduced to

allow you to store lists of items stretching into the thousands.

These systems are recommended for long-term memory, the things you

wish to retain over a long period of time.

The Number-Shape System you have just learned and the Number-Rhyme

System you are about to learn are recommended for your short-term

memory purposes - those items you wish to remember for only a few

hours.

Before going to the next topic, I recommend you try this method over and

over. It only gets better as you try. So, keep trying.

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The Roman room system

The Roman room system, sometimes referred to as the Journey method, has been around (perhaps not surprisingly) since the time of the Romans.

In fact it possibly dates back even further.

The method combines Linking with Pegging.

Reinforcing these methods by staging them in a familiar setting.

A setting that the Roman in question would have absolutely no difficulty at all in visualizing.

Broadly speaking the method goes something like this.

The Roman would begin by creating a mental picture of there home, with their more familiar household items and decorations, mirrors, statues, chairs etc, taking on the function of peg images.

He would then attach events and memory cues onto these pegs.

For example, if the Roman wanted to remember a list of things that needed to be done during the course of a particular day.

He would mentally journey through his front door and then travel around the various corridors and rooms of his home, glancing at all of the paraphernalia that adorned his rooms as he went by.

He would then observe all of the important objects, such as statues, mirrors etc that he owned and then use the more prominent of these as pegs, linking an image relating in some way to what he wanted to remember to them.

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Example: If he wanted to remember to buy his son a present for his birthday, then he might picture his son with a small group of his friends, sitting around a table in one of the rooms of the house, celebrating the boy’s birthday.

Alternatively, if the citizen wanted to remember to buy a new sword, then he might visualize one of his statues waving around a huge golden sword as he walked by.

If on the other hand he wished to remember to take a look at a new chariot, down at Crazy Cicero’s used Chariot dealership, then he might imagine a horse drawn chariot, charging down the length of his hall.

He might have arranged a meeting with a friend at the baths.

To remember this, he could try picturing his dripping wet friend, leaning against one of the columns of the hall, with a towel wrapped around his waist looking anxiously at his sand timer.

Now in order to go over the above list, all that the Roman citizen would need to do, would be to simply close his eyes and mentally journey through the rooms of his house, making note of all that is unusual or out of place (the memory cues).

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The Modern Version.

The above system may be applied to any home, not just a Roman one.

Admittedly your average modern home is not exactly brimming over with columns and statues, however TV sets, computers, the humble garage and a variety of ornaments can easily be used to serve the same function.

The method involved is exactly the same as the one outlined in the previous section of this site.

All that is required is for you to take the time to mentally journey through your home, picking the more noticeable (and preferably permanent) of your brick-a-brack, such as chairs, tables, doors, beds, or TV sets and then selecting them as your homes peg images.

To use the method you simply retake the journey, linking whatever you wish to recall to your homes peg images.

The Roman room system has a large variety of possible applications.

For example, you could use it to memorize and recollect such easily forgettable things as anniversaries or birthdays.

You might also choose to use the Roman room system to remember such things as appointments with the bank manager, or even that bringer of pain - the dentist (if you really wanted to).

This last example could be easily accomplished by simply visualizing the dentist sitting on your sofa, with a large drill clenched firmly in his hands – of course such an image might put you off going to the dentist at all.

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The picture that you choose is not really important.

What is important is that the event that you want to remember is linked strongly to an object in your home, or even a particular area of your home.

For example a television set, or the hallway.

Here is an example:

Kitchen

1, Sink

2, Microwave

3, Stove

4, Fridge

5, Bin

Now run through the layout four or five times in your head. Remember to make them big, crazy etc…

Next we are going to attach new information.

1, Roses

2, Violin

3, Monster

4, Pig

5, Seaweed

If you wish to expand you room pegs you can use all the rooms in your house if you wish.

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The Journey Method

A slight modification of the Roman Room system is known as the Journey Method.

The Journey Method is considered one of the most versatile memory techniques.

It is also a very powerful technique which has been used by memory experts to attempt to break memory records.

In this method the journey through a Roman room is replaced with another kind of journey.

For example your journey to work in the morning.

Using your journey to work in the morning to peg information onto is a good choice.

After all if you have worked in the same place for more than a few weeks, you should know the route almost as well as you know your way around your own home.

And there are many pegs to use in this journey –

From smashing your alarm clock against the wall in the morning (well that’s what I do anyway), to closing the front door of your house as you leave for work, getting in your car, driving along the motorway, parking your car – the list can be very long.

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Some more examples for you to consider are listed below.

Example Journeys

1. If you are a student, then the trip to your University might be a good choice. Or even more useful might be the walk around your campus.

In my experience, the typical University is a rabbit warren of corridors, classrooms and Lecture halls.

All ideal peg images. Then of course there is always the student bar. A venue that most students know very well!

2. If you live in a relatively small town or village, then maybe use a trip around the town centre as your journey. Using such images as the Market square or the Butchers window as your pegs.

3. If you are a big computer game buff, then maybe the levels of a favorite game could be used. There is usually a more than ample supply of quite graphic peg images to use in most of today’s 3D shootem ups.

4. A walk around a local museum or art gallery may be a useful journey to use.

5. Or perhaps a well-known country walk would fit the bill. Rivers, old trees and hills can all be used as peg images.

The list of choices could go on, but I think that you probably get the idea!

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Example

Here is an example to remember multiple lists.

I will give you a description of a house and the various locations in it.

You see the main road in front of the house

You cross the road to the main gate

Adjacent to the main gate is the security cabin

You pass the cabin and walk onto the lawn

You walk across the lawn and see a car

You reach the main door

You enter the door and you see the sofa

You have just created a journey with your list of words in it.

Road,

Gate,

Security Cabin,

Lawn,

Car,

Door,

Sofa

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Now if you wanted to remember a completely new list.

Let’s say you have to remember

Respect The National Flag

Follow The Ideals Of Leaders

Render National Service

Etc..

You would make associations linking the two lists like this:-

You see the main road in front of the house

You would put a Giant Flag in the middle of the road – This giant flag reminds you of = Respect The National Flag

You cross the road to the main gate

You would put world leaders at the gate trying to get in – This reminds you of Follow The Ideals Of Leaders

Adjacent to the main gate is the security cabin

You would put soldiers in the security cabin – This reminds you of Render National Service

Etc…

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My Choice

Any one of the above journeys – or even all of them – could be used to peg information onto. Or you could just pick your own.

In most peoples lives there are a large variety to choose from.

Many people however, take a different approach.

Creating an entirely fictional journey to use.

They manufacture a castle or palace to navigate around. Generating an imagined environment all of there own.

Full of ballrooms and banquette halls, sprawling gardens and outlandish architecture.

The benefits of this method are obvious and strong.

An imagined environment does not change, unless you decide to make the changes.

It can also be populated with objects and images that would be impossible in the real world.

Dragons, floating islands or even long dead film stars can be a part of your journey.

Making it very visual and a good source of memorable pegs.

One thing to note however, is that the journey must be imprinted firmly in your mind before you start using it.

The route has to be so familiar, that you can go through it with the bare minimum of mental effort.

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Otherwise when you begin to link memories onto your chosen peg images, you will soon find that the whole journey becomes a confused jumble of memory and imagination.

Becoming near impossible to extract any useful information from.

So take the time to imprint the journey in your mind.

An hour or two should be sufficient.

Then you will reap the benefits of this very useful and fun system.

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Section 7: How To Remember Anyone’s Name & Face

Remember names and faces using Mnemonics

The most common complaint made by people who consider themselves to be in possession of a poor memory, is that they are continually forgetting peoples names.

They remember the faces (images are easy to recall), but the names fail to stick. The problem of forgetting names can be a big one.

Particularly if you work in an environment which involves meeting a large number of new clients, who may well take offence if you are continually getting their names wrong.

In fact they may even be so insulted, that they decide to take their business elsewhere.

A terrible calamity indeed! The problem of forgetting names is an extremely common one, which is experienced by most people throughout their lives.

But fortunately it is a problem that can be easily rectified by using mnemonics.

In this section I will explain two basic mnemonic methods, which when used in conjunction with one another, will enable you to remember a large number of individual names associated with their respective faces, after hearing them only once.

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This is an incredibly useful skill to have and is particularly useful on such occasions as parties, business meetings and various other kinds of work-related or social gatherings.

The mnemonic methods that I will outline are as follows:

1. The Observational system 2. The Association system

But before outlining these mnemonic systems, I would just like to bring to your attention a particularly pertinent fact.

Namely that faces are not processed by the human brain in the same sort of way that other information is.

In 1971, the scientists Goldstein and Chance conducted a series of tests in which subjects were shown a number of photographs of women’s faces, magnified snowflakes, and ink blots.

14 from each were shown for 3 seconds at a time and following an interval of 48 hours the subjects recall was tested.

It was then found that faces were the most easily recalled, this was followed by ink blots, and finally by snowflakes.

Thus showing that facial recognition (unlike name recognition) is a key part of human perception.

It seems that the human brain contains a number of different sections, which are responsible for different functions.

Although these sections are very indistinct, with some sections possessing the ability to take over the functions of other sections if those sections are damaged in some way, these sections do exist.

For example we all have a ‘Broca’s region of the brain, which plays an important role in speech. There is also (more relevantly) a particular section of the brain that is responsible for the recognition of faces.

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When this region is damaged, an individual may completely lose their ability to recognize faces.

Even those that belong to close relatives or friends.

This condition is known as ‘Prosopagnosia,’ from the Greek meaning ‘failure to recognize faces.’

The fact that we all possess such a specialized region in our brains, which is dedicated to the recognition of faces shows us that facial recognition is essential to being human.

Now, following that short semi-detour from the field of mnemonics, I will continue to outline the all important mnemonic technique for linking names to faces.

The Observational system of mnemonics

The first thing that you need to do upon meeting someone new whose name you want to commit to memory, is to somehow give their name meaning, so that it may be easily visualized.

For example the name ‘Johnson’ can easily be broken down into the two words John and Son.

These words possess meaning, and anything that contains meaning is far more memorable than something that does not.

The name ‘Rosenberg’ can also be broken down to form the three mnemonic images Rose, Hen and Berg (iceberg).

These words also possess meaning and are thus far more memorable than the abstract name ‘Rosenberg.’

The name ‘Greensmith’ could be separated into the mnemonic images of Green and Smith.

The color green is obviously fairly easy to visualize.

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Also smith (to me anyway) immediately conjures up the image of a blacksmith.

As a final example, the name ‘Standish’ may be split apart to form the two mnemonic images of Stand and Dish.

Again these two words are simple to visualize.

Some of the names that you will come across are obviously far easier than others to visualize.

For example the names Green, White, Brown and Black (being colors), already possess meaning and thus require no further processing in order for you to visualize them.

So to do the names Peacock, York, Smiley and Forester.

Other names may however, require a little more effort to transform into a meaningful phrase, or set of mnemonic images.

But with a bit of practice, you will I’m sure be amazed at just how easy you will find it to turn any name at all - no matter how abstract, into an easily visible mnemonic form.

However to help you on your way, I have listed at the end of this section, a large variety of different names, together with appropriate mental imagery.

The purpose of splitting an abstract name into a non-abstract collection of mnemonics is to allow your brain to categorize the information that is contained within the name.

Something that the human brain has some difficulty doing with the name in its abstract form.

Also the act of transposing a name into a meaningful mnemonic form, forces an individual to observe that name, and as was explained in an earlier part of the course, observation is the most important prerequisite of an individual’s memory.

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The Associational system

After breaking down a name that you wish to recall into an easily visible image (or set of mnemonics), the next step is to link that image to the individual concerned.

To accomplish this, you simply need to pick out the features or characteristics of the individual that stand out the most to you.

This could be a dimple on his chin, or a freckle on her nose, or even a limp in their left leg.

Other things that you could use are – big ears, a hooked nose, wide forehead, a large or a small mouth, full or thin lips, or even a pair of bushy eyebrows.

You could also choose something less visual, such as a lisp, or a stutter as the feature of the person that stands out the most to you.

Whatever the feature that you choose is, using mnemonics to link it to a name should not present you with much of a problem.

That is it shouldn’t if you are familiar with the concept of mnemonic linking.

I have listed a few examples below to show you exactly what I mean.

Remembering names and faces - A few Mnemonic Examples

1. In order to remember that a woman whom you have just been introduced to – who happens to have long, red hair – goes by the name of Miss fields. All that you would need to do, would be to simply visualize an image of her, lying in a large, green field, with her long red hair spread out around her head.

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See it twisting around the long green grass. You might also try exaggerating the length of the hair, in order to emphasize the link between her hair and the field.

This is so that when you see her (and her hair) again, you will immediately be reminded of her name ‘Fields.’

2. To remember that a man that you have just met at a party, is called Mr Taylor, first pick out his most outstanding feature (say thick eyebrows) and imagine him with eyebrows so long that they reach down to the floor.

Imagine him in this amusing predicament, whilst he is in the process of being measured for a new suit by his tailor.

Thus using mnemonics to powerfully link his most outstanding feature to his name.

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3. In order to remember that the name of a tall, thin man, that you have just been introduced to is Mr Adamson, you might try the mnemonic of visualizing the biblical first man ‘Adam’ (complete with fig leaf), holding a little boy in his arms. Adams son – ‘Adamson.’

4. 5. To remember the name of a dimpled young lady named Miss

Standwick, you could try picturing her face, with a number of large candle wicks standing in her exaggeratedly oversized dimples.

Stand wicks – ‘Standwick.’ If you really try hard to visualize the above image, then you should have absolutely no difficulty at all in recalling Miss Standwick's name.

6. Finally, in order for you to remember a Mr Hill (who happens to possess a wide forehead), you could imagine the mans forehead, with a miniature mountain stuck in its centre.

You might even like to visualize a large, snowy peak on its top. This is in order to make the image that much more amusing and thus more easy to recollect. Overall a strong mnemonic.

The key then to remembering people’s names and their respective faces, is to first break the name down into a meaningful (and thus visual sable) form, and then to link the image that you create, to an exaggerated feature of the face of the individual concerned.

Everyone has some feature that stands out in some way!

Here then, as was promised at the beginning of this section, is a list of names, together with a few memorable images that may help you to better recollect them.

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Name Image

Archer An archer firing an arrow.

Ali The famous boxer Mohamed Alli.

Baldwin A bald man standing on a winner’s rostrum. Bernstein Albert Einstein being burned alive.

Carter A cart full of hair.

Carrington A car driving through a door, that is carved into the side of a huge 10 tonne weight – Car-in-tonne ‘Carrington.’

Dean The Dean of a university. Or the actor James Dean. Dunn A large sand dune.

Someone having his or her hair cut.

Evans A convoy of vans, all with the letter E emblazoned upon their sides.

Flemming

The creator of James Bond – Ian Flemming. Or simply James Bond, covered in flames.

Feldman A man falling from a great height. Grover

Going over something.

Gillian Kill a lion.

Hunt A hunter, complete with an elephant gun.

Hamilton A piece of ham on the top of a large hill. Next to it is a tonne weight. Ham-hill-tonne (Hamilton).

Irwin

A man with incredibly long hair, standing on a large Winners rostrum .

Isaacs Sacks crammed full with eyes.

James James bond. Jackson The singer Michael Jackson.

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Keaton A tonne weight, falling on top of an enormous key. Keller Kill her.

Lawson A lawyer with his son. Lee The great martial artist Bruce Lee.

Morse

A telegraph operator, tapping out morse code on an - old-fashioned transmitter.

Moore A grassy moor.

Nelson

Someone caught in a full-nelson arm lock. Or the Famous Admiral Horacio Nelson.

Nixon The ex-President of the US, and professional liar Richard Nixon.

Oliver The Charles Dickens character Oliver Twist. Owens Hens that owe money to each other.

Palmer Having your palm read.

Perry The lead character from the TV series Perry Mason. Or parrying a blow from an enemy, in a fight.

Quinn A pin being threaded through a large letter Q. Quincy The doctor from the old T.V series.

Reynolds The actor Burt Reynolds. Rubin A painting by the artist Reuben’s. Or maybe a glowing Ruby.

Saxon An Anglo Saxon warrior, or the phrase ‘Sacks on.’ Sutton The phrase ‘Sat on.’

Tate The word ‘tight.’ Or the Tate gallery.

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Thatcher The ex-Prime minister of England Margaret Thatcher. Or Simply a Thatcher at work.

Underwood Someone sitting beneath a plank of wood. Unsworth The phrase ‘fun worth.’

Vincent The actor Vincent Price.

Vance Two knights crossing their lances to form the letter V.

Weiss A wise or intelligent individual. Watson Sherlock Holmes’s companion Dr Watson.

Xavier

A football goalkeeper, saving a ball that has emblazoned upon its side an enormous letter X.

Young A small Chinese child. Yoto A yo-yo tied to the end of a Japanese mans big toe. Zimmerman A man simmering in a cooking pot.

So there you go!

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Quick Exercise Remembering Names & Faces

Terry Smith Frank Jones

Mary Robrum Sarah Carruthers

Mrs Volkein David Knorr

Jack Welsh

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__________ __________

_________ ___________

_________ __________

_________

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Section 8: How To Remember Speeches

Good speakers do not attempt to memorize every word of the speech.

Why worry about one specific word when there are many others that

would do the job.

We can assume that the person giving the speech knows what he’s talking

about.

Since he/she knows what he’s talking about, he only need memorize the

thoughts of the speech.

He then can only fear missing a thought.

If you read your speech word for word, you’re a bad speaker because you

audience will know you reading.

You won’t be making eye contact for a start.

Good speakers make reminder notes, which is all right-unless you

misplace those notes.

Keywords

So you’ve written or been given a speech and you want to remember the

thoughts in the right order.

Go over the first thought of your speech which may be in your first

paragraph.

Then you select one word, phrase or image, that you feel will bring that

thought into your mind.

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In every thought there must be a word, phrase or image that will bring the

entire thought to mind.

You should highlight this key word to make it standout.

When you have selected your word, phrase or image (your keyword) do

the same thing with the next thought of the speech.

Now you’re ready to start forming your link, exactly as you know how to

(section 5 Link system).

Continue through to the final thought of your speech.

If you wrote your keywords onto a index card then these keywords can be

your notes.

But if you’ve linked your keywords then you don’t need a index card. Just

think of the first keyword of your link, this will remind you of the first

thoughts of your speech.

So you talk about that first thought looking at your audience, not a index

card or piece of paper.

Then the first item of your link will remind you of your link to the next

thought that you will talk about.

He is an example of a parent teacher association meeting. Your list of key

words might look like this:

Crowded

Teachers

Fire

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Furniture

Subjects

Playground

So you would start your speech talking about crowded conditions at the

school. Then you move onto the teachers salaries etc.. Next you would

move on fire exits/precautions etc...

Then onto the dilapidated state of the schools furniture etc etc.

If you make a link between crowd associated to teacher, teacher to fire,

fire to furniture, etc etc..., each thought would lead you to the next all the

way through to the end of your speech.

So an example for this speech you might link crowded & furniture = a

place so crowded with furniture no one can fit in.

Then furniture & salaries = See yourself paying salaries to pieces of

furniture.

Then Salaries to fire = people salaries burning in a fire etc.. etc..

The speaker knows what he wants to say about each thought covered in

his speech and forming the link assures that he won’t miss out an entire

thought.

Once the speaker forms the link he is then able to approach the podium

without any notes in full confidence.

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Section 9: Remembering Advanced

Numbers

This will take a bit of time to learn and become proficient, but is arguably the most useful of all the techniques discussed.

The Phonetic Alphabet is a method for converting numbers into objects that can be easily visualized.

The system can be used to memorize long-digit numbers and the like.

I’m going to give you 10 consonant sounds for each of the digits 0 - 9.

Along with each I’ll give you a helpful way to remember the sound.

With time you won’t need the hints, but they will assist you initially in quickly memorizing the code. Here it is:

Digit Consonant Sound Hint

0 Z or S First sound of the word zero

1 T or D The letter T has 1 down-stroke

2 N The letter N has 2 down-strokes

3 M The letter M has 3 down-strokes

4 R The final sound of the word four is R

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5 L Roman numeral for 50 is L

6 J, SH, CH, or soft G

(”gel”)

The letter J turned around looks a bit like a

6. [J 6]

7 K, hard C (”cat”), or hard

G (”golf”)

The letter K looks like two horizontal 7s

put together

8 F or V A cursive f has two loops like an 8

9 P or B The number 9 turned around looks like a P

None of the vowels have any meaning at all, nor do the letters W, H, or Y (think of the word WHY).

Memorize this list, keeping in mind that it isn’t the letters that are important; it’s the sounds.

For example, ‘kn’ in the word knife would translate to a 2 because it has the N sound.

Why is this Useful?

The Phonetic Alphabet Code is useful because it allows you to convert numbers into words, representing physical objects which can be visualized

Combined with linking, this system allows you to take a string of digits and convert them into one or more images linked together in order.

These images can then be converted back into numbers when you want to recall it later.

For most people, remembering images of things linked together in an imaginative story is far, far easier than remembering a string of digits.

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The first 6 digits of PI can be remembered as “matter, tall ape.”

If you’re having trouble seeing this, let me write it formatted a bit differently:

MaTteR TaLl aPe 3 1 4 1 5 9

I imagine matter flying outward in a big explosion after the Big Bang and then forming into a tall ape.

This simple linking of two images gives me the first 6 digits of PI.

Method of Perfecting

The best way to learn this system is to practice over and over. A good exercise to do throughout the day is to take numbers you see and convert them into their respective sounds.

Then take it a step further and make words out of those sounds. You can do the reverse process with any word that pops into your head. Break apart the sounds of the word and convert into digits.

If you do this over and over, you’ll get to the point where it’s a very speedy process.

If you use this method to memorize a number, what’s the easiest way to remember the beginning of your “story?” I like to associate the first object in my story with the thing the number represents.

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So if I had a crush on a girl named Jenny and finally got her phone number, which happened to be 867-5309 (fish, gale, mishap), I’d have to first associate the beginning of my story (fish) with Jenny.

So I might picture us out on the lake in a boat catching a fish. Suddenly a mighty gale sweeps in, causing a major mishap as we tumble into the water.

Ready to try it?

I find this system to be an unbelievably powerful way of recalling numbers, and it’s actually kind of fun.

If you take nothing else away from Mind Power Miracles, master this!

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Section 10: How To Remember Letters

& Symbols

Mastering a system that enables you to commit to memory abstract symbols and letters, is a very useful piece of knowledge indeed to have.

For example you could use such a system to memorize mathematical and scientific formulae, equations, stock symbols.

In fact anything at all – from license plates to chemical nomenclature.

In this section, I will endeavor to outline two distinct systems.

One system for aiding you in the recollection of letters – ‘The Alphabet System’ – and one more that may be used for the recollection of mathematical symbols – ‘The Picture/Symbol System.’ Both of these systems are relatively easy to learn.

So without further delay, here they are.

The alphabet system

All that you need to do to memorize abstract letters, is to transform the abstract into the non-abstract.

This is done by providing each of the letters of the alphabet, with its own easily visual able image.

I have listed the alphabet images that I personally prefer to use below. These are:

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The Alphabet System

A – Hay K – Kiss U – Yew tree

B – Bee L – Elephant V – Vine

C – Sea M – Hem W – Wheel

D – Dish N – Hen X – Eggs

E – Eagle O – Hose Y – Wine

F – Frog P – Pea Z – Zebra

G – Jeans Q – Cue

H – Age R – Art

I – Eye S – Ass

J – Jail T – Tea

Now there are a number of methods that may be employed in order to memorize the above list of images.

However the best way is to simply read through them a couple of times.

As the words sound similar to the letters that they represent, they should soon stick firmly in your mind.

The picture/symbol system

In order to commit to memory such abstract entities as the mathematical

symbols as a part of an equation or formulae, what you really need to do, is to choose a series of non-abstract images to represent these symbols.

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A so-called ‘Mathematical code.’ The images below are the ones that I personally prefer to use.

The Mathematical Code

Symbol Image

+ Window frame

- Canal

/ Tennis court

Chair

x Kiss

= Double Decker bus

The above set of images should not take you very long to memorize and they can come in extremely useful (particularly if you are a mathematics or a science student).

The next logical step after mastering the two memory systems outlined above, is to try to combine both of them, in order to create a system that will enable you to memorize formulae.

Such a system can be used to memorize any manner of mathematical or scientific data that you choose to put your mind to.

I have given an example of how precisely this may be accomplished below.

To use the alphabet and the picture/symbol system in order to commit to memory a formula such as Einstein’s famous equation E = MC2.

All that is required is for you to attempt to form a strong mental image, that links together the letters E, M, C, the = sign and the number 2.

Now I know that most of you probably already know this formulae, but it serves well as an example nonetheless!

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Referring to the above code, the images in Einstein’s formula are elephant, double decker bus, hem, sea and knee.

You could link these images together quite easily, by simply imagining an elephant trying desperately to squeeze itself through the door of a double decker bus.

You could then imagine the bus driving along the hem of an enormous pair of trousers.

Next you might visualize the pair of trousers, floating on a clear blue sea.

Finally to link together the last two images – sea and knee, you could try visualizing a large bony knee, pocking through the surface of the deep blue sea.

With for good measure, Einstein surfing on the waves that surround it.

If you go through the above images, then Einstein’s formula should immediately spring to mind.

Now the above example is I know a familiar and short formulae and it may seem that the images that you just created are harder to recollect than the actual details of the formulae itself.

But understand that with this system you can build up large collections of images, which can allow you to commit to memory equations and formulae that are several lines in length.

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Section 11: How To Remember Books &

Articles

The same ideas used to memorize speeches are used to memorize articles

and books.

First read the article to get the gist of it.

Then you pick out the keywords for each thought, then make a link to

each keyword and you’ve got it.

With some practice you can do this while you read.

You can be reading for enjoyment and when you come across something

you would like to remember simply make a conscious association of it,

while you’re reading.

You associate just the main point that you feel are important to

remember.

The same system of linking keywords can be used for remembering

scripts.

Because you will need to know your script word for word you will have to

go over them more often, but the keyword idea will make the job a lot

easier.

To memorize you cues in a play, you would associate the last word of the

other actor’s line to the first word of your line.

Here is how you can use the key word system for your jokes and stories

don’t forget a line again.

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Using the key word method just take one word from your story or joke

(punch line the best) to use as your key word.

You now link the keywords to remember all the stories in the right order.

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