personalcutandpaste: 26.06.05

Introduction to Memory Master

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Welcome to the Memory Master training course. This course has three main aims :

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To demonstrate the enormous power of the human memory, and to show that memory ability is a skill, which can be learned.
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2
To teach you how to dramatically improve your memory.
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3
To show you how an efficient memory can be of enormous benefit to you in your everyday life.

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Memory Training is one of the most rewarding self-improvement courses you can ever embark upon, because an efficient memory can help you in so many other areas of self-improvement :- learning foreign languages, studying, learning how to give speeches or presentations, and so on.

Apart from the practical rewards of improving your memory skills, learning the Memory Master systems can also be fun. You will be using your powers of imagination and creation in a way you probably haven't done since your early childhood.

The Memory Master course consists of a series of training sessions, each of which deals with either a specific Memory Training System (for example the Peg System), or with the practical application of one or more of the Systems, such as Remembering Names and faces.

The training sessions generally consist of the following :

an Introduction section, which introduces the topic of the training session, and gives an overview of what will be achieved.

one or more Tutorials, most of which provide :

Factual information on the topic of the training session.

Some mental exercises for you to perform.

Self-tests for you to monitor your progress.

an Additional Exercises section, which suggests further mental exercises connected with the topic, which you might like to try.
It is very important that you complete all the training sessions in the sequence which they appear in the Main Menu. Even though you may not be particularly interested in, for example, Remembering Foreign Vocabulary, you should still work through that session. Each of the training sessions contains important Memory Training concepts, and invaluable mental exercises.

The Memory Master User's Guide tells you how to use the Memory Master program - how to input and edit data, how the menus are structured, and so on. Memory Master really is very simple to use. If you are stuck at any time, read the Status Line at the bottom if the screen. This line always tells you which keys to press for the available options.

You are about to make some discoveries about your own memory which will truly amaze you. If you work through all the training sessions thoroughly, and work hard at all the mental exercises, your effort will be repaid many times by your greatly improved powers of memory.

Association of Ideas - Introduction

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How often do you hear the two words 'I forgot ...' used in conversation ? Probably several times every day, at the very least. But when someone says 'I forgot...', the chances are that they didn't really forget - they just didn't remember in the first place. Just think about that idea for a moment - if you initially remember something , how can you subsequently forget it ?

An important principle of all memory training systems is the idea of Initial Awareness. If you are Initially Aware of something, you will not forget it. All the Memory Master systems which you are about to learn work on this principle - they concentrate the mind on whatever you are trying to remember for just long enough to force Initial Awareness.

This may sound like hard work at first, but in fact all the Memory Master systems are childishly simple. Once you have taken the time and effort to learn them, you will be able to remember any new item of information you want to, easily and quickly. If you follow the course thoroughly, and work through all the exercises, you will soon discover that your memory is far more powerful than you ever imagined !

The Ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called Mnemonics, a name derived from their Goddess of Memory, Mnemosene. In the ancient world, a trained memory was an immense asset, particularly in public life. There were no convenient devices for taking notes, and early Greek orators delivered long speeches with great accuracy because they learned the speeches using Mnemonic systems.

The Greeks discovered that human memory is largely an Associative process - that it works by linking things together. For example, think of a pineapple. The instant your brain registers the word 'pineapple', it recalls the shape, colour, taste, texture and smell of that fruit. All these things are associated in your memory with the word 'pineapple'.

Any thought, action, word, statement, or whatever, can trigger another, associated memory. When you recall what you had for lunch yesterday, that may remind you of something someone said during lunch, which may recall the memory of some background music which was playing, which may evoke something which occurred ten years ago, and this can go on and on. These associations do not have to be logical - they can be completely random or absurd.

The Principle of Association forms the basis of all the memory systems which you will be taught by Memory Master. The principle is that You Can Remember Any New Information If You Associate It To Something You Already Know Or Remember.

You have actually used this principle of association all your life, though probably subconsciously. Do you recall the five lines of the treble clef music staff, E,G,B,D,F ? If you were ever taught to think of the phrase Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, then you do remember them. You remembered some new (and abstract) information, the letters E,G,B,D,F, by associating them to something you already knew, or at least understood - the simple phrase Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.

Do you remember the shape of Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany ? Probably not. What about Italy though ? If you remember the shape of Italy, it is because you've been told at some time that Italy is shaped like a boot. You made an association with something already known, the shape of a boot, and Italy's shape couldn't be forgotten once you had made the association.

There are many other common uses of the Principle of Association. American students are told to think of HOMES on Great Lake to help remember the five great lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Music students think of the word STAB to remind themselves of the four voices in a quartet - Soprano, Tenor, Alto, Bass.

All these examples of association are limited to the extent that they work only for one specific thing. The Memory Master systems, however, can be applied to absolutely anything you wish to remember. When you have learned how to associate consciously anything you want to remember to something you already know, then you will have a trained memory. It really is as simple as that

Association of Ideas - Tutorial 1

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For your first exercise in Association, let's assume you want to memorise these ten everyday, unrelated items, in sequence: banana, car, newspaper, sausage, pen, tree, watch, tie, television, football. In order to do this, you are going to consciously apply the basic memory rule defined in the Introduction, but with an an important addition - You Can Remember Any New Information If You Associate It To Something You Already Know In Some Ludicrous Way.

First, picture a banana in your mind. You can't apply the rule yet. But now we come to the next item - car. If we assume that you already know banana, you can now apply the memory rule. You simply need to create a ridiculous picture, or image, in your mind's eye - an association between banana and car.

In order to do this you need a ludicrous, far-fetched, crazy, illogical, absurd, - picture or image to associate the two items. What you don't want is a logical or sensible picture. For example, a sensible picture might be - someone sitting in a car eating a banana. Although this would not be something you would expect to see every day, it is in not in any way bizarre or impossible.

An impossible, crazy, picture might be - a gigantic banana is driving a car along the motorway, or you open a car door and billions of bananas tumble out and knock you over. These are ludicrous, illogical pictures.

What you need to do is select one of these pictures, or a crazy image you thought of yourself, and see it your mind for just a fraction of a second. Be careful not to picture the words banana and car. You need to see the action you've selected - the huge banana driving the car, or the mountain of bananas tumbling out of a car, or whichever image you've decided on. See that picture in your mind's eye for just an instant, right now.

The next item on your list is newspaper. Assuming that you already remember car, you now need to form a ridiculous association in your mind between car and newspaper. For example, you open a newspaper and a car leaps out of the pages and knocks you over. Or you are driving a huge rolled up newspaper instead of a car. Or you are driving a car when a massive sheet of newspaper appears in front of you, which the car rips as you drive through it. Choose one of these images, or one you conjured up yourself, and picture it clearly for a split second.

Sausage is the next item to remember, so you now need to form a ludicrous association between newspaper and sausage. You could picture yourself eating rolled up newspapers and eggs for breakfast instead of sausages and eggs, or you are reading a gigantic sausage which has lots of news printed on it, or a paperboy is walking along a street pushing very long sausages through letterboxes instead of newspapers. See one of those crazy images.

Next on the list is pen. Associate it to sausage. See yourself trying to write with a sausage instead of a pen, or you cut into a sausage with a knife and fork and gallons of ink shoot out of the sausage into your face. Picture one of these scenarios clearly in your mind.

The next item is tree. Picture millions of pens growing on a tree instead of leaves, or a colossal fountain pen is growing in your garden instead of a tree. Be sure to see the image clearly.

Watch is the next item on the list. Picture a tree with lots of branches which are wearing giant wristwatches, or you look at your watch and see that there is a tree growing out of it, with roots curling up your arm. Select one of these images, or one of your own, and see it for an instant in your mind's eye.

Tie comes next. See yourself wearing an elongated wristwatch instead of a tie, or an enormously long tie is tied around your wrist instead of a watch, so long that it drags along the floor.

The next item to be remembered is television. You might picture yourself with a television hanging around your neck instead of a tie, or you switch on the television and a vast, horribly spotted tie bursts out of the screen, unrolling itself for yards and yards. Select a crazy association between tie and television, and see the picture in your mind.

The final item on the list is football. See a football match where the players are kicking around a television instead of a football. Or you are watching a football game on television when millions of footballs suddenly burst throught the screen and hit you in the face. Picture one of those images.

If you have really tried to see all those pictures, you will now remember the list of ten items in sequence, both forwards and backwards. Press 'Try Me' to test yourself on how well you have memorised the ten items.

Association of Ideas - Additional Exercises

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Now that you've been introduced to the principle of association, spend some time practicing those mental pictures. Make up a list of items, then form associations between those items in your mind. Remember that your mental images should always be as illogical, crazy, and far-fetched as possible.

The items you associate can be any everyday, ordinary things that you think of. They don't have to be logically connected in any way. Start with a list of ten items, then increase the list to twenty, or as many as you feel you can handle at this stage. If you can associate a list of twenty items and then recall the list both backwards and forwards, you are doing very well.

You can practice your association skills anywhere - on a train or bus, or while out walking, or during commercial breaks on television, or during your lunch break at work or school... any time you have a few spare moments.

Association forms the basic building block around which all the Memory Master systems are built. The more time you spend practicing the creation of those ludicrous mental pictures now, the easier you will find the rest of the systems to learn.

When you feel confident with your new found memory skills, get a friend or relative to call out twenty items to you, or as many as you feel comfortable with. Let him write down the items as he calls them, so that he can check you later. If he doesn't write the items down, he won't remember the items himself - unless he's followed the Memory Master course !

As he calls out the list, you associate each item in turn to the last one, using the techniques you have just learned. When he's called out all the items, you can repeat them straight back to him. If you miss an item, simply ask him what the item was, strengthen that particular association, and call the list out in reverse !

To make sure you remember the first item in the list, simply associate it to your friend's head. If the first item was banana, see billions of bananas come tumbling out of your friend's mouth.

Each time you try this exercise you will gain confidence in the Principle of Association, and see that the system really does work !

The Link System - Introduction

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In Tutorial 1 you were introduced to the concept of consciously associating items together in your mind. In doing this, you were applying a small part of the 'Link' or 'Chain' Memory System. You were forming the links of a memory chain, by systematically linking one item to another. If you make the associations strong enough in your mind, then one item in the chain must lead you on to the next item.

Once the Link system has been applied to a list, you can retain that list for as long as you wish. Of course, there's no reason why you should retain the list of items you Linked during Tutorial 1 - they were just everyday items with no logical connection.

But when you begin to apply the Link System for practical reasons, you will be memorising lists because you intend to make use of those lists. The practical use will provide the motivation to remember it in the first place.

The Link System can be used to memorise any information which has to be learned in sequence. Speeches, presentations, stories, jokes, recipes, and formulas are all examples of things which must be learned in sequence.

The most common problem experienced by people trying to learn the Link System is how to make their mental pictures sufficiently ludicrous to make strong associations. It does take a certain amount of imagination to form ridiculous pictures in your mind. Children have no trouble in forming silly or ludicrous pictures - they do it naturally.

Unfortunately, as we grow up, most of us tend to use our imagination less and less, and so it becomes a little rusty. However, that capacity for imagination we had when we were children is still there - it just needs a little oiling. Applying the Memory Master systems will automatically provide the exercise that your imagination needs.

So don't worry if at first you have to apply some effort to create those ludicrous mental pictures. After a bit of practice, you'll find that you can do it quickly and easily.

There are five basic principles you can apply in forming your mental pictures which will help to make your associations strong and long lasting -

(1) OUT OF PROPORTION - In all your images, try to distort size and shape. In Tutorial 1, you were told to picture a 'Huge' sausage or a 'Gigantic' tie. Conversely, you can make things microscopically small.

(2) SUBSTITUTION - Tutorial 1 suggested that you visualise footballers kicking a television around a football pitch instead of a football, or pens growing on a tree instead of leaves. Substituting an out of place item in an image increases the probability of recall.

(3) EXAGGERATION - Try to picture vast quantities in your images. For example, Tutorial 1 used the word 'billions' (of bananas).

(4) MOVEMENT - Any movement or action is always easy to remember. For example, Tutorial 1 suggested that you see yourself cutting into a sausage and gallons of ink squirting out and hitting you in the face.

(5) HUMOUR - The funnier, more absurd and zany you can make your images, the more memorable they will be.

Applying any combination of these five principles when forming your images will help make your mental associations truly outstanding and memorable.

At first you may find that you need to consciously apply one or more of the five principles in order to make your pictures sufficiently ludicrous. After a little practice however, you should find that applying the principles becomes an automatic and natural process.

The Link System - Tutorial 2

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Your second memory training exercise again involves memorising a list of items in sequence, but this time we'll make the list more practical. Assume you wish to memorise the following shopping list of fifteen items :

Chicken, Melon, Scouring Pads, Shredded Wheat, Milk, Baked Beans, Shampoo, Runner Beans, Meat Pies, Car Polish, Evening Newspaper, French Loaf, Tea Bags, Soap, Eggs.

Of course, it's just as easy to jot down your shopping list on a piece of paper as it is to try and memorise it. But how many times have you reached the supermarket or shops only to realise that you've left your list on the kitchen table, or in the pocket of a coat which you decided not to wear after all ?

Any way, let's assume for the moment that you wish to memorise the list of items above. You are going to memorise the list of items in sequence, using the Link System. Of course, it;s not important to know a shopping list in sequence - you simply want to remember all the items. But, if you don't memorise the list in sequence, and particularly if it's a long list, how else will you be sure you've remembered all the items ?

Actually, there is another method of memorising all the items, using the Peg System, but we'll come to that later !

O.K., let's make a start on memorising that shopping list. The first item is Chicken. Before moving on to item two, consider for a moment how you can be sure that you will remember the first item in any Link. After all, there is nothing to asssociate it to. The answer is to associate it to the subject of your Link - in this case the supermarket.

For example, picture yourself opening the supermarket door and millions of chickens flying out, knocking you over. If you can picture that ridiculous image, or a similar ludicrous picture, clearly in your mind for just an instant, then you will remember that first item on your shopping list.

An alternative method of remembering the first item of any Link is to think of any item in the middle of the Link, and work backwards through your associations. This must eventually lead you to your first item.

For the moment, let's assume that you know the first item, chicken. The second item is melon. Now, form a ridiculous association between chicken and melon. You might picture a chicken trying to lay a huge melon insead of an egg, with a contorted expression on its face. This is rather a crude picture, but one that is likely to stay in your mind. See that image, or a similar zany association between chicken and melon in your mind's eye, right now.

Remember that the ludicrous associations suggested here are only suggestions. If you come up with your own images then so much the better - you are increasing your Original Awareness.

Now, continue with your Link. The next item is scouring pads, so you might picture yourself trying to clean some dishes with a massive melon instead of a scouring pad. Next comes Shredded Wheat. To associate that item to the previous one, you could picture yourself eating a bowl of scouring pads soaked in milk, instead of Shredded Wheat.

The fifth item is milk. You might picture yourself pouring from a milk bottle, but instead of milk out come hundreds of Shredded Wheat. See each one of those Shredded Wheat squeezing itself painfully out of the bottle, so that it bursts into a thousand pieces when it finally squeezes through the neck of the bottle.

Next comes baked beans. Imagine yourself piercing a can of beans with a tin opener, when gallons of milk squirt out, soaking you from head to toe. The seventh item is shampoo. Picture yourself pouring some shampoo over your head, but instead of shampoo, tons of baked beans come squirting out of the bottle, until you are knee deep in them.

The next item is runner beans, so associate that item to shampoo. You could see yourself lathering your hair with shampoo, when dozens of runner beans suddenly start sprouting out of your hair. See that association, or one you thought of yourself, for just a split second. Remember, you don't have to see the picture for a long period of time - you just need to see it clearly for a fraction of a second.

You are now just over half way through forming your Link of fifteen items. Before continuing, just pause and review the associations you have made so far. Look back over the associations suggested up to this point, and consider how the five principles of Out of Proportion, Substitution, Exaggeration, Movement, and Humour have been used in the suggested images.

O.K., let's continue with the ninth item in the Link, meat pie. To form a ludicrous association with runner beans, you might see yourself cutting into a meat pie with a knife and fork. Suddenly a huge runner bean plant sprouts out of the middle of the pie, so tall that it shoots right through the ceiling.

Next comes car polish. See yourself trying to clean a car with a meat pie, instead of a tin of car polish. Picture yourself dipping a cloth into that meat pie, and covering the car with dripping gravy. See that image clearly.

The eleventh item is evening newspaper. A zany association here might be - you open the evening newspaper to the middle pages, and an arm holding a duster covered in car polish zooms out of the newspaper and polishes your face, causing you to splutter and cough.

Next, associate evening newspaper to french loaf. For example, imagine yourself trying to make sandwiches out of the evening newspaper, instead of the french loaf. Then comes tea bags. A ridiculous picture here could be - you are trying to push a gigantic french loaf into a teapot.

The fourteenth item on your shopping list is soap. See yourself perhaps washing your face with tea bags, and getting into an awful mess. To complete your Link, associate soap to eggs. You could picture yourself eating a bar of soap out of an egg cup for breakfast, instead of a boiled egg. As you eat the soap out of the egg cup, your mouth fills up with soap suds !

If you have really seen all those crazy pictures in your mind's eye, you will now know the shoopping list in sequence, both forwards and backwards. As stated earlier, there's no reason why you would want to know the list in sequence, but it's an extremely useful exercise in practising the techniques of Association and Linking.

Press 'Try Me' to test yourself on how well you have memorised the fifteen items in the imaginary shopping list.

The Link System - Additional Exercises

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Whenever you have a list of items that you need to remember, for any reason, try applying the Link System to help you remember that list.

It might be your weekly shopping list, or perhaps a list of items you need to take when you are going out somewhere. Apply the Link System to that list, and you will be sure to remember it.

In the previous training session - Association of Ideas - you were forming Links of items which had no logical connection. The system works even better when you apply it to lists of items for a practical reason. If you really want to remember a particular list of items, then you will concentrate on it harder - your Initial Awareness will be increased.

Make an effort to try some practice Links over the next few days. If you find Linking fifteen items fairly easy, then try Linking thirty, or more. Once you have mastered the basic technique, there really is no limit to the number of items than you can Link in this way.

Substitute Words and Phrases - Introduction

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You've now learned two of the basic building blocks of all Memory Training systems - Association Of Ideas and the Link System. Using these techniques you should now understand how to memorise any list of items in sequence, and be able to recall that list both forwards and backwards.

That's fine when you're trying to memorise items which can easily be pictured in your mind. But what if you want to remember something which cannot easily be pictured, such as the name of a person, thing or place ? Most names are intangible, which is why they're so difficult to remember.

This problem is easily overcome by using the Substitute Word system. When you hear a word or phrase that seems abstract to you, think of something, - anything - that sounds like, or reminds you of, the abstract material and can be pictured in your mind.

For example, it would seem impossible to 'picture' (or associate) the place name Hereford. You might, however, easily picture a 'Hairy Ford' - a Ford car with masses of hair sprouting out of it.

To take another example, how would you picture the surname Harrington ? Unless you know someone with that name, in which case it might remind you of that person, the name is virtually impossible to picture.

Using the Substitute Word system however, you might easily picture Herring Ton - a ton of herrings. This can easily be visualised, and would be an easy picture to associate to something else.

Of course, not all names are so easy to conjure up Substitute Words for. Take the place name Massachusetts. There is no obvious Substitute Word there. But if you split the name into three parts you could use mass - chew - sit and picture a mass of people who chew and sit around. It does take a little time to come up with that mental picture, but the more practice you get, the easier it becomes. After a surprisingly short time you will find that you can come up with a Substitute Word or Phrase for most names almost instantly.

Tutorial 3 takes you through a detailed example of how the Substitute Word system works.

Substitute Words and Phrases - Tutorial 3

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For your first exercise in using the Substitute Word System, you are going to memorise the twelve largest English counties, in order of area :

1 North Yorkshire (8,316 square Km)
2 Cumbria (6,809 square Km)
3 Devon (6,715 square Km)
4 Lincolnshire (5,885 square Km)
5 Norfolk (5,515 square Km)
6 Northumberland (5,034 square Km)
7 Hereford & Worcester (3,925 square Km)
8 Suffolk (3,807 square Km)
9 Hampshire (3,772 square Km)
10 Kent (3,730 square Km)
11 Essex (3,674 square Km)
12 Cornwall (3,546 square Km)

There are two steps involved in memorising the list. Firstly, form a Substitute Word or Phrase to remind you of each of the county names. Secondly, apply the Link System to link those Substitute Words and Phrases together.

For each of the county names you are going to be given a Substitute Word or Phrase. If you can though, try and think up some Substitute Words or Phrases of your own for the names. Although using the suggested Substitute Words will normally work perfectly well, suggesting them to you does remove some of your Initial Awareness.

Let's begin with the largest English County, North Yorkshire. You need a Substitute Word or Phrase which will remind you of that county name. For North you might picture snow or a snowstorm. For Yorkshire you might see a giant Yorkshire pudding. So to remember North Yorkshire, you could visualise an enormous Yorkshire pudding in the snow.

The second largest county is Cumbria. The phrase come near, or perhaps comb beer might remind you of that name. Choose one of these phrases or one you can think of yourself. Now start forming your link, by associating that phrase to your mental picture of North Yorkshire. For example, picture that huge Yorkshire Pudding in the snow coming nearer and nearer, until it almost flattens you.

The next county is Devon. A convenient Sustitute Word here might be heaven, which rhymes with DEVON. Continue your link by associating heaven to your Substitute Word or Phrase for Cumbria. For heaven you might visualise, say, some angels sitting on a cloud playing their harps. As you watch, they come nearer and nearer, until the cloud envelopes you and you are sitting on it with the angels.

Next comes Lincolnshire. Link - on - chair sounds very similar, so you might try and associate that phrase to heaven (Devon)\. Picture those angels standing on a gigantic chair. They link arms on the chair, and dance round and round in a circle.

Next on the list is Norfolk. For this you might substitute no fork, or north folk. Now, continue your link. Picture, say, some north Folk - Eskimos - standing on that huge chair. As you watch they link arms on the chair.

Northumberland comes next. A good substitute phrase might be no thumb hand. Now associate that to North Folk. Picture those Eskimos - one by one, they hold up a hand which has four fingers and no thumb. Make the hand as large as possible in your mental image, and the picture will stick.

The next county is Hereford and Worcester. For this you could picture a 'hairy' Ford car. The hair on the car is dripping with a thick black liquid - Worcestershire sauce. Now associate that to no thumb hand. Picture yourself trying to thumb a lift - without a thumb - as lots of Hairy Fords dripping with Worcestershire sauce drive past.

Suffolk comes next. You might substitute South folk or surf fork for this name. Continue your link - visualise that Hairy Ford surfing on a mammoth fork in the sea. Be sure to see that image clearly in your mind.

Next on the list is Hampshire. An obvious substitute Word here is Hamster. Associate that to your Substitute Word for Suffolk. Perhaps a giant Hamster is surfing on that enormous fork. Remember to make the picture as silly as possible - perhaps the hamster is standing upright, wearing swimming trunks and a bathing cap.

Tenth on the list is KENT. For this you might substitute can't or canned. Choose one of these, or a Substitute Word of your own, and continue the Link. See yourself, say, opening a can and hundreds of hamsters jump out into the air - they are canned hamsters.

Next comes Essex. For this you might substitute yes eggs. Associate that, or a substitute word of your own, to canned (Kent). Picture yourself opening a can, when dozens of eggs spring out - they all have faces, and are nodding busily and shouting 'yes'.

The final county in the list is Cornwall. A good substitute might be >corn\, or a packet of Cornflakes growing on a wall. See that picture, and associate it to Essex. You might see those nodding yes eggs popping out of the packet of cornflakes growing on the wall.

That completes the Link. If you've made all the suggested Associations (or used your own Associations), and really seen the images in your mind, then you know the twelve largest English counties, just as you knew the ten unrelated items at the end of Tutorial 1.

One advantage of applying the Substitute Word System is that it forces you to think about that name, to concentrate on it as you normally would not.

Of course, there are many other Substitute Words or Phrases you could have used for the above examples. If you thought of Clotted Cream or Devon Cream Teas or Dartmoor when you thought of Devon, then picturing one of those images would have served the purpose for you.

Remember that Linking and associating are personal and individual - what you think of is usually best for you. Also, the first Substitute Word that comes to mind is normally the best to use.

Substitute Words - Additional Exercises

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Try applying the Substitute Word and Link systems to the complete list of 45 English counties, in order of size. You have already memorised the first twelve, so start by associating the thirteenth largest county - Shropshire to the twelfth largest - Cornwall.

If you find this too large a task to handle in one go, memorise say ten or twelve at a time. When you have accomplished this task, and can call out the complete list both forwards and backwards, you will be amazed at your new 'powers' of memory.

Also, when you have memorised the list, you might like to reflect on how difficult it would be to memorise a list of 45 abstract names without using the systems. Most people would find this extremely taxing, if not completely impossible.

Press Page Down for the complete list of English counties, in order of area
in square kilometres.

1 North Yorkshire (8316)
2 Cumbria (6809)
3 Devon (6715)
4 Lincolnshire (5885)
5 Norfolk (5115)
6 Northumberland (5034)
7 Hereford & Worcester (3925)
8 Suffolk (3807)
9 Hampshire (3772)
10 Kent (3730)
11 Essex (3674)
12 Cornwall (3546)
13 Humberside (3512)
14 Shropshire (3490)
15 Wiltshire (3481)
16 Somerset (3458)
17 Cambridgeshire (3409)
18 Gloucestershire (3117)
19 Lancashire (3005)
20 Staffordshire (2660)
21 Dorset (2654)
22 Oxfordshire (2612)
23 Derbyshire (2631)
24 Leicestershire (2553)
25 Durham (2436)
26 Northamptonshire (2367)
27 Cheshire (2332)
28 Nottinghamshire (2118)
29 West Yorkshire (2039)
30 West Sussex (2017)
31 Warwickshire (1980)
32 Buckinghamshire (1883)
33 East Sussex (1795)
34 Surrey (1655)
34 Hertfordshire (1634)
36 Greater London (1580)
37 South Yorkshire (1562)
38 Avon (1338)
39 Gtr. Manchester (1284)
40 Berkshire (1256)
41 Bedfordshire (1235)
42 West Midlands (958)
43 Merseyside (648)
44 Cleveland (583)
45 Tyne&Wear (567)

Remembering Names and Faces - Introduction

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Remembering names and faces is probably the most common reason for people wanting to improve their memories, because it is the one case where written notes will really not help. You can jot down a person's name, but how does that help you when it comes to linking it with his face.

Many people seem happy to carry on forgetting names, thinking they can always get round it somehow, and who cares anyway ? Of course, the person who %does\ care is the one whose name has been forgotten.

People $like\ to be called by their names. For example, if you go to a local shop regularly how do you prefer to be addressed - 'Hello Mr/Mrs/Miss so - and - so', 'Hello luv/dear/dearie/', or with a vacant stare ? If the shopkeeper has taken the trouble to remember your name, you will probably have a higher opinion of him or her and possibly be more likely to frequent the shop.

Most of us recognise %faces\ - it's the %names\ that cause us trouble. After all, have you ever heard someone say 'I know your name, but I don't recognise your face' ?#

Since we can usually remember faces, the best system to use for remembering names and faces is one where the $face\ actually %tells us\ the $name\. To do this, you simply need to |associate\ the name to his face.

To do this there are two steps involved :

(1) Forming a mental picture of the name.
(2) Associating that picture to the face.

Tutorial 4 shows you how any surname, however long or complicated, can be pictured.

Tutorial 5 demonstrates how to associate a mental picture of a person's name to that person's face, giving you a never - fail system for remembering names and faces.

Picturing Names - Tutorial 4

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Some names can be easily pictured, because they have meanings. For example, the surnames Wood, Bell, Fox, Bush and Green immediately create an image in your mind.

But what about names which have no meaning, such as Forbes, Harrison, or Pensford ? Using the Substitute Word system which you learned in section C, any name can be pictured.

For Forbes, you might picture four bees. To visualise the name Harrison you could picture a hairy sun, and for Pensford - someone writing with a gigantic pen all over a Ford car.

The Substitute Word System works beautifully for remembering names. Just applying the system will force you to concentrate on the name - to be Initially Aware of it. And, no matter how long or strange - sounding a name is, there is always a Substitute Word or Phrase you can use to help you picture the name.

For Rubenstein you could picture someone vigorously rubbing a stein (of beer). For Polanski you could use pole and ski, and picture someone holding a huge, striped barber's pole in his teeth while trying to ski. For Poppadopalis you might use poppadum and police and a picture a policeman wrestling with a gigantic poppadum.

The Substitute words and phrases you create can be anything, as long as they remind you of the name you want to remember. For MacDonald, you could picture Donald Duck wearing a kilt. Other people might prefer to picture Mac don old - an old don (professor) wearing a mac (macintosh). Remember that the first Substitute Word you think of is usually best for you to use.

For short names, you can often use a Substitute Word which rhymes, or is similar - sounding. For the name West, you might use Whist, or Vest, or Waist, or Waste. Any word (or phrase) which can be pictured will do the job.

Associating Names and Faces - Tutorial 5

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Having learned how to picture any person's name using Substitute Words and Phrases, the next step is to associate that picture with the person's face.

First of all, you need to look at the person's face and select one outstanding feature, such as a high forehead, large or small nose, spectacles, moustache, beard, narrow or wide-set eyes, large or small ears, thin or thick lips, thin or bushy eyebrows, dimples, freckles, warts - anything which is at all memorable.

First impressions are, more often than not, lasting impressions, and whatever seems outstanding to you now will usualy still seem outstanding when you next meet that person. What's more important is that by looking closely at a face, you are concentrating on it, and etching the details on your memory.

Having decided on the outstanding feature of a person's face, you then simply associate the Substitute Word or Phrase you've invented for that person's name. If you make a strong enough association, it will be almost like having the person's name written on his or her face !
For example, suppose you've just met Mr Ball, and want to be sure that you remember his name. The name Ball might suggest to you a football, or a rugby ball, or perhaps a golf ball. Let's also suppose you have decided that the outstanding feature of his face is his red, curly hair. Now, you look at that hair and picture millions of golf balls springing out of it, and bouncing around everywhere. Or, picture a football with Mr Ball's red curly hair growing out of it - the football is on his shoulders in place of his head.

Remember the rules of association, and make your mental picture as ludicrous and exaggerated as possible. If you really see that image clearly in your mind's eye, you will know Mr. Ball's name the next time you meet him.

Imagine next you meet a Mr Carrington, who has large ears. Use the Substitute Phrase Carry Ton to help you picture the name, and associate that picture to those unusually large ears. Imagine him carrying a ton weight on his head. His head is being flattened by the weight, pushing his ears out at right angles to his head. This image is the sort of picture you might see in a 'Tom and Jerry' cartoon, and in fact the ridiculous pictures you see in children's cartoons are exactly the sort of zany images you need to create to make the pictures memorable.

Although these pictures take a little while to describe in text, they can actually be pictured in your mind in a fraction of a second. Many 'Memory Man' stage performers throughout the world use this system to remember the names of five hundred or more people in an audience, after hearing the names just once ! This is an extremely impressive stunt when seen on television or in a theatre, but is actually based solely on the simple system described above.

Of course, you will need some practice before you can memorise five hundred names in quick succession, but you can benefit from the system after a very small amount of practice.

Try it now, with ten example names. For the moment, as you're trying it without real people or faces, just see the features themselves, and the (ludicrous) associations.

First on the list is Mrs Lambert, who has a long, pointed nose. You might use lamb butt to help you picture the name Lambert. Picture a lamb jumping up and butting that long pointed nose. Not a pleasant picture, but you're sure to remember it.

Next is Mr Biggs, who has a bushy beard. Picture millions of big letter 'S's dropping out of the bushy beard onto the floor, or see that beard gradually uncurling into a big 'S' shape. Choose one of those pictures, or one of your own, and reallly see that image in your mind's eye.

Third on the list is Miss Fortescue, who has silver-white hair tied up in a bun. You might see a Fort Askew (lopsided) on top of that bun of white hair. Remember, the crazier the picure the better.

Fourth comes Mr Whitelaw, who has a noticeable gap in his front teeth. Associate Whitelaw (perhaps white law - a policeman covered from head to toe in white paint) to that gap in his teeth. You could picture a policeman covered in white paint trying to crawl out of Mr. Whitelaw's mouth through the gap in his front teeth. A ridiculous, illogical picture which is sure to remind you of the outstanding feature of Mr Whitelaw's face.

Next on the list is Mr Pontin, who has a high forehead. Picture that high forehead and see a hand, with one finger outstretched, shooting out of the forehead and pointing at you. Make you you see the picture clearly, just for a split second. Miss Webb comes next, and she has very long blond hair, right down to her waist. Picture that hair covered in masses of cobwebs, with spiders crawling all over it.

Seventh on our list of fictitious people is Mr Cleese, who has very bushy eyebrows. A good Substitute Word to help you picture Cleese might be cheese. Picture those bushy eyebrows covered in cheese, which is melting, and dripping everywhere.

Next we have Mrs Green, who has a mole on her right cheek. Picture that mole gradually turning green. It gets greener and greener, until it is really bright and luminous.

Ninth on the list is Mr Hetherington, who has long ginger sideburns. You might use heather in ton to help you picture this surname. Visualise tons of heather suddenly sprouting out of those sideburns, until it covers his face.

Finally comes Mr Price, whose outstanding facial feature is a large dimple in his chin. Picture that dimple with millions of price tags stuck to it. If you prefer to use a crazy picture of your own, then you will probably remember it even more clearly.

Remembering Names and Faces - Additional Exercises

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(1) Over the next few weeks, whenever you are introduced to someone you have not met before, apply the systems you have learned to help you remember their name. If you do not hear the name clearly as you are introduced, ask them to repeat it. You will be amazed at how your memory for names will improve !

(2) Pick up any magazine, and memorise the names of all the people whose photographs appear in the magazine. Simply associate the name under each photograph to the outstanding feature of the face in that photograph. Of course, for some names you will need to come up with suitable Substitute Words. This is an excellent mental exercise, and will rapidly improve your skill at using the systems.~

Remembering Foreign Vocabulary - Introduction

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In the previous section you learned how to remember names and faces by associating a person's name to his or her face. In doing this there were two factors involved - the name and the face.

Most memory tasks can in fact be viewed as associating together two factors - a name to a face, an author to a book, a composer to a piece of music, a telephone number to a person or organisation, a capital city to a country, and so on. Even when forming a long Link, for example when you memorised the imaginary shopping list, you were still basically working with just two items at a time.

The same principle can be applied to remembering foreign vocabulary. In order to memorise any foreign word, you simply associate the word to its meaning in English. To do this you will first need to form a Substitute Word or Phrase to help you picture the foreign word.

For example, to remember a simple French word like poulet (chicken), you could picture a gigantic chicken which is operating a pulley. To make the picture more vivid you could picture some buckets at the other end of the pulley, each of which contains another chicken.
For the French word poisson (fish) you might see yourself sitting at a dining table - someone hands you a huge, monstrous, evil-smelling fish on a plate which you pass on to the person sitting beside you. Picture that fish being continuously handed around the table, each person passing it on to their neighbour. To remember that escargots is French for snails, you could visualise an enormous snail pulling a trailer down the road. The trailer contains a cargo of letter S's - it is an 'S' cargo.

If you really try to see those absurd pictures, the system just must work for you, for the reasons you have already learned. In trying to form these images you are concentrating hard on the foreign word, and thus forcing Initial Awareness. It is impossible to apply the Substitute Word system to a foreign word without using your imagination and really concentrating on both the word and its English meaning.

The beauty of the Substitute Word system for remembering foreign vocabulary is that it can be applied to absolutely any language. To remember that the Esperanto word for 'happy' is felica (pronounced fell-eetch'ah), you might picture yourself being very happy (laughing) when you begin to feel itchy. You start to scratch yourself where you are itching, but you are still very happy, laughing loudly.
To remember the Welsh word for carrot, moron, you could see yourself in a restaurant, being served carrots. The waiter serves a plateful of carrots, but then puts more on, and more on, until you are absolutely up to your neck in carrots.

When you have formed your silly mental picture, just thinking of that picture must remind you of the two things you need to know - the foreign word and its English meaning.

Of course, it does take a little time to come up with appropriate Substitute Words and silly associations. But, if you have ever tried to learn foreign vocabulary from a text book or phrase book without a system, then you will appreciate how valuable it can be to have a system, especially one that really does work ! Also, you will find that after a small amount of practice at creating Substitute Words and zany associations, you will be able to come up with them almost instantly.

Tutorial 6 takes you through a detailed example of memorising ten Spanish words and their English meanings. Tutorial 7 demonstrates that the system works not just for foreign words, but also for foreign phrases.

Memorising Foreing Words - Tutorial 6

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For your first exercise in applying the Substitute Word system to remembering foreign vocabulary, you are going to memorise the following Spanish words and their English translations :

Spanish Pronounciation English
------- -------------- -------

marido (mah-ree-dhoa) husband
corbata (kor-bah-tah) tie
barca (bahr-kah) boat
lago (lah-goa) lake
helado (ay-lah-dhoa) ice cream
pluma (ploo-mah) pen
carpeta (kahr-pay-tah) file
bata (bah-tah) dressing gown
resaca (ray-ssah-kah) hangover
maleta (mah-lay-tah) suitcase

Let's begin with marido, pronounced mah-ree-dhoa, which means husband. Picture a husband - a bridegroom - marrying a door. See the bridegroom perhaps standing at the aisle next to a front door, which is dressed in a wedding gown and veil.

Corbata, pronounced kor-bah-tah, is Spanish for tie. A good Substitute Word might be Core Batter - an apple core batting in a cricket match. Picture that apple core taking guard at the wicket on a cricket field - it is wearing a huge, horribly spotted tie.

As with all the Memory Master systems, if you prefer to use your own silly pictures rather than the ones suggested here, then so much the better. Remember that suggesting the pictures to you does take away some of your Initial Awareness.

The next word is barca, pronounced bahr-kah, which means boat. Picture a boat which is barking - see the hull of the boat opening and shutting, like a dog's mouth, as it cruises down a river.

The Spanish word for lake is lago, pronounced lah-goa. See yourself swimming in a lake of lager. As you swim, you swallow some of the lake (lager), and begin hiccoughing comically. The fifth word to memorise is helado, which means ice cream. It is pronounced ay-lah-dhoa. For helado you could use the Substitute Phrase hail-a-door, which you then associate to ice cream. Perhaps you are standing at a taxi rank eating a monstrous ice cream, when some doors drive past instead of taxis. You hail a door instead of hailing a taxi.

Next comes pluma (ploo-mah), the Spanish for pen. Picture yourself writing with a huge plume (a feather) instead of a pen. To make the image humorous, you could perhaps see the plume tickling your nose and making you sneeze as you try to write.

Carpeta (kahr-pay-tah) is next, which means file. This is an easy one - see yourself walking on a carpet of files.

The Spanish word for dressing gown is bata (bah-tah). See yourself wearing a dressing gown - the pockets are full of batter, which overflows disgustingly onto the carpet as you put your hand into the pockets.

Next comes the Spanish for hangover - resaca (ray-ssah-cah). Picture yourself with a terrible, blinding hangover, after consuming too much sangria. To make matters worse, you are lying under a car, which is almost flattening you. In order to escape, you have to raise-a-car.

The final Spanish word to memorise is maleta, pronounced mah-lay-tah. A possible Substitute Phrase here would be ma-lay-tar - an elderly woman - ma - who is laying tar. You then need to associate that phrase to suitcase. You could perhaps picture ma laying the tar by pouring it out of your suitcase.

In all the above examples, the Substitute Words and Phrases suggested have been based on the pronounciations of the Spanish words rather than the actual spelling. Remember that if you were seriously trying to learn a specific foreign language you would be aware of the basic sounds and letters of that language.

If you read through the preceding text without really concentrating on seeing the suggested pictures,or pictures you thought of yourself, then go back and do it right now. Once you have really tried to visualise the ludicrous pictures, you will know all ten Spanish words and their English equivalents.

Press Page Down when you are ready to test yourself on the ten Spanish words and their English translations.

Memorising Foreign Phrases - Tutorial 7

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You've now had some practice at memorising foreign words using the Substitute Word system. The system is equally applicable to foreign phrases - after all, phrases are simply groups of words.

The French phrase 'quelle heure est-il' means 'what time is it'. Picture Associate 'kill hare at heel' to 'what time is it' and you will have memorised the phrase. You might picture yourself asking a French man the time - as you ask him the question, he is trying to kill a hare at his heel, which is biting him.

Not a pleasant picture - but, as mentioned as before, the more vivid the picture, the more likely it is to stick in your mind.

The French phrase for 'how much' is 'combien'. A possible Substitute Phrase to use here might be comb bean. Picture yourself asking a shopkeeper how much a particular item is - as you ask them the question, you are combing a bean. Make the image as exaggerated and silly as you can. If you picture that ridiculous image clearly in your mind's eye for literally just an instant then you will have remembered that phrase. Many people, when visiting a foreign country, go armed with a phrase book which gives dozens of useful phrases in that country's language. This is fine, but when you arrive in the country you often find yourself frantically searching through the book for the right phrase whenever you need to make yourself understood. Unfortunately, the phrase books never give you any hints on how to remember all those really useful phrases in the book.

However, a few hours spent applying the Substitute Word system to memorising the most useful phrases in the book could help you enormously in making yourself understood. Those few hours could even be spent on your journey - on an aeroplane, or boat, or bus, or whatever.

Of course, it will take a little more time to apply the Substitute Word system to a phrase than to a single word. But, once you can picture that ridiculous picture clearly in your mind, you will have memorised the phrase. And, bear in mind how difficult it is for most people to memorise phrase from a book without a system - repeating the phrase over and over, hoping that they will 'stick' in the memory. Try the Substitute Word system on the following French phrases :

French Pronounciation English
------ -------------- -------

quelle heure est-il kehl uhr eh-teel what time is it
combien kohng-byang how much
le voici luh vwah-see' here it is
faites-le plein feht luh plang fill the tank
qui-est-il kee-eh-teel who is he
je desire zhuh day-zeer I want
comment allez-vous koh-mahn'tah-lay-voo how do you do
quelle ville est-ce kehl veel ehs what town is this
ou est le quai oo ay'luh kay where is the platform
il faut que je parte eel foh'kuh zhuh pahrt' I have to leave

You have already been given Substitute Phrases for the first two examples. Try and form your own Substitute Words or Phrases for the remaining phrases - remember that giving you suggestions for the phrases removes much of your Initial Awareness and concentration. You are much better off inventing your own Substitute Phrases and crazy mental images. Press Page Down when you are ready to test yourself on the above phrases.

Remembering Foreign Vocabulary - Additional Exercises

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Try applying the systems you have just learned to help you memorise some of the basic vocabulary of any language you choose. If you are planning a foreign holiday this year, then the choice of language will be obvious. If not, perhaps there is a country you would like to visit at some time in the future. Obtain a simple phrase book from your local library, and set yourself a task of memorising a minimum number of words or phrases per day. By applying the Memory Master systems, you will soon build up an impressive vocabulary in your chosen language.

Many people, when faced with a phrase book containing foreign translations of English words, give up after trying to memorise just a few of the words or phrases. They find it such hard work trying to commit the information to memory that they abandon the task all together. You now have the knowledge to make that task a creative one.

Remember that the most important words in any foreign language are always the nouns. Suppose you are visiting a foreign country for the first time, and are suddenly taken ill. You don't need to know how to say 'Please could you tell me where the nearest...', or 'Can you direct me to a ...', but you had better know the word for doctor !

How to Remember Numbers - Introduction

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Of all the areas concerned with memory, the most difficult category to remember is, without doubt, numbers.

Numbers are completely abstract and intangible - they cannot be pictured in the mind. They are also some of the most important things that people have to remember - telephone numbers, PIN numbers, addresses, credit card numbers, prices, bank account numbers, statistics, dates - the list goes on and on.

Fortunately, the chore of remembering numbers can be made easy by learning a simple Phonetic Alphabet, which substitutes letters for numbers. Using this system, numbers can be transposed to letters and then words, which can be pictured, and therefore memorised.

Tutorial 8 explains the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, and how digits can be transposed into letters. Tutorial 9 shows how a string of digits can be transposed into words. Finally, Tutorial 10 demonstrates how any long - digit number can easily be memorised, by combining the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet with two of the memory systems you have already learned - the Link system and Association of Ideas.

The Phonetic Alphabet - Tutorial 8

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The Phonetic Alphabet is based on the simple concept that there are ten digits in our numerical system, and also ten basic consonant phonetic sounds.

For example, think of the letters 'p' and 'b'. When you pronounce the letter 'p' your lips and tongue are in the same position as when you say the letter 'b'. For the purposes of the Phonetic Alphabet, these letters can be classified as one phonetic sound.

Similarly, think of the letter 'm'. When you pronounce 'm' you have your lips together, as if you are going to hum a tune. No other letter in the alphabet requires your lips, tongue, and teeth to be in that position for pronounciation, so the letter 'm' can be classified as a phonetic sound on its own.

There are ten groups of basic phonetic sounds, and each group is paired against one of the ten digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. The following table illustrates the groupings, together with some simple memory aids to help you remember them.

1 = t or d
(the letter t has one downstroke)

2 = n
(the letter n has two downstrokes)

3 = m
(the letter m has three downstrokes)

4 = r
(the word 'four' ends in the letter r)

5 = l
(the Roman numeral for 50 is l)

6 = j,sh,ch,or soft g
(j is almost like a 6 the other way round)

7 = k,hard c or hard g
(the letter k contains two 7's, back to back)

8 = f,v,ph
(a handwritten 'f' and 8 both have two loops)

9 = p,b
(the letter p is the mirror image of 9)

0 = s, z, or soft c
(the word 'zero' begins with the letter z)

Vowels have no value in the phonetic alphabet and are disregarded, as are all the consonants not listed. They are used simply as 'fillers' when transposing numbers to words. For example, the number 32 translates to the letters 'm' and 'n'. Using the filler vowel 'a' gives us the word 'man', which immediately transposes back to the number 32. Study the above table carefully, right now, and memorise the rules. When you think you know the rules, press Page Down to test yourself on how thoroughly you have learned them.

Transposing Numbers to Words and Phrases - Tutorial 9

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Having learned how to translate digits into letters, the next step is learning how to transpose numbers into words and phrases. Once you have transposed a number into a word or phrase, it can easily be memorised using the principle of Association of Ideas.

For example, take the number 9520. Let's imagine that it is your P.I.N. (Personal Identification Number) for a Cash Point card which you have been issued by your bank or building society. You need to remember the number but, for obvious security reasons, you don't wish to keep a written record of it.

In order to transpose 9520 into a word, you simply transpose the digits to letters one by one, then join those consonant sounds together using any suitable vowels. The consonant phonetic sounds in the number 9520 translate as follows :

9 transposes to p or b
5 transposes to l
2 transposes to n
0 transposes to s, z, or soft c

This gives us several possible words
which can be formed from these letters,
using any 'filler' vowels you choose.
Some examples are :

balloons (b-a-ll-oo-n-s)
9 5 2 0

(double letters count as one sound
except where they make two sounds)

pylons (p-y-l-o-n-s)
9 5 2 0

balance (b-a-l-a-n-ce)
9 5 2 0

To remember the number 9520, you simply choose one of these words, and memorise it. Let's say you choose ballons. Once you have memorised it, the word 'balloons' must lead you back to the number 9520 - simply remove the vowels and transpose the consonant sounds one at a time.

But how do you connect the word 'balloons' to your PIN number ? Easy - you simply form a mental association between balloons and your Cash Point card, or between ballons and the cash dispensing machine. For example, picture yourself inserting your card into a cash dispensing machine, and billions of balloons fly out of the machine and hit you in the face. Once you have made that ludicrous association you will not forget it - and once you remember 'balloons' it must lead you back to your PIN number - 9520. If you have a Cash Point card, or any type of card with a P.I.N, try it now, with your own number. Form a word from the number, then associate it to your card or cash dispensing machine. Remember to make the association as ridiculous as possible. Do that right now, before reading any further.

Let's take another example, this time a telephone number. Imagine you have a friend called Fred, and that you are constantly forgetting his telephone number, which is 941680. This number is a bit too long to easily transpose into one word, so we need two words, or a phrase.

Some examples of words which can be formed from 941680 are :

parrot jives (p-a-rr-o-t j-i-v-e-s)
9 4 1 6 8 0

bread shoves (b-r-ea-d sh-o-v-e-s)
9 4 1 6 8 0

pirate shaves (p-i-r-a-t-e sh-a-v-e-s)
9 4 1 6 8 0

To remember Fred's telephone, simply associate one of these to a picture of Fred using the telephone. For example, Fred is talking on the telephone while a parrot jives on top of his head. Or Fred is talking on the telephone and he has a huge pile of bread which he shoves down the telephone receiver as he speaks into it. Whenever you think of Fred using the telephone you would then be reminded of, say , 'parrot jives' , which must lead you back to his telephone number - 941680.

Before proceeding, try the system now, with the telephone numbers of three or four of your friends.

There are two main pitfalls to avoid when learning how to apply the Phonetic Alphabet - transposing according to letter rather than sounds, and counting a double letter as two sounds instead of one. Always remember that it is the sounds that count, not the actual spelling.

For example, the letter s in the word television transposes to 6, not zero - the 's' makes a soft 'sh' sound. Similarly, the letter 't' in the word audition transposes to 6, not 1.

The double letter 't' in the word 'matter' transposes to 1, not 11. However, a double letter can sometimes make two sounds, in which case both sounds count. For example the double 'c' in the word 'accident' would transpose to 70, because the sound produced is 'ks', as in 'axe'.

Finally, note that silent letters do not count phonetically, because they make no sound. So the word 'knight' would transpose to 21, not 721 - the silent 'k' is not counted.

In Tutorial 10 you will be shown how to transpose long numbers into several words and then link those words together using the Link memory system.

But first you will need some practice at transposing words to numbers. Press Page Down to test yourself.

Remembering Very Long Numbers - Tutorial 10

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Having worked through Tutorials 8 and 9, you should now feel confident with transposing any number into a word or phrase. By combining this knowledge with the Link System which you have already learned, you can easily memorise numbers with 15, 20, 50 or even 100 digits.

Of course, it's unlikely that you'll ever need to remember a number with 15 or more digits. But it's an impressive memory feat, and anyone who can easily remember, say, 174120526400647 is unlikely to forget a telephone number or a bank account number.

Let's take that number 174120526400647. In order to memorise it there are three steps involved :

Divide the number up into several smaller groups of digits
Transpose each group of digits into a word or phrase
Apply the Link System to each of those words or phrases
For example, 174120526400647 could conveniently be divided into 5 groups of 3 digits - 174 120 526 400 647. Next we need to transpose each of those groups into a word or phrase.

Take the first group, 174. There are several words which would fit these digits - tiger, dagger, digger, ticker, docker are a few examples. When you are trying to transpose digits into words for yourself, the first one you think of is usually best for you.

Now move on to the next three digits. What fits 120 phonetically ? tennis, tons, tens, dons, dennis... - try to think of some yourself.

Having decided on words for the first two groups, you can start forming a link. Let's say you choose tiger and dennis. Now make a ludicrous association between the two - for example, picture a tiger playing tennis in the Wimbledon final. Be sure to see that picture clearly in your mind's eye.

The next group is 526. Lunch, launch, lunge, lounge would all fit phonetically. Now continue the Link - visualise yourself trying to eat your lunch with a tennis racket, or make up a ridiculous picture of your own.

Next comes 400. Roses, raises, rouses or ruses would fit this group. Associate lunch to roses - picture yourself eating lunch, when dozens of roses on long green stems suddenly begin growing out of the table. Finally, think of a word to fit 647. Shark, jerk, or shirk would do the job. Now complete your link by associating roses to shark - see a shark trying to swim through a bed of roses instead of in the sea, or any other bizarre picture which comes to mind.

You now have a short Link of 5 words. Go over that link in your mind right now. Tiger is associated to ... tennis, which reminds you of ... lunch, which is associated to ... roses, which reminds you of shark.

If you know that simple Link, then you also know 174120526400647. Just think of each word in the Link, and transpose it back to digits. The word 'tiger' MUST transpose to 174 - if you apply the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, there can be no ambiguity in transposing words back to digits.

Similarly, 'tennis, MUST break down to 120, 'lunch' must give us 526, 'roses' can only be 400, and 'shark' must transpose to 647.

If you have any problems in transposing sounds to numbers then you haven't learned the Phonetic Alphabet rules properly. Go back to Tutorials 5 and 6 and work through them thoroughly - the Phonetic Alphabet should become second nature to you.

Of course, if you remember 174120525400647 forwards, then you also know it backwards. Taking each word in your Link backwards, shark, roses, lunch, tennis, and tiger must give you 746004625021471.

Easy, isn't it ? By combining the simple rules of the Phonetic Alphabet with the equally simple Link System, you have the means of memorising any long digit number, forwards and backwards.

Remembering Numbers - Additional Exercises

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Remembering Numbers relies on you mastering the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet. Playing a simple mental game will help you learn the Phonetic Alphabet backwards, forwards, and inside out.

Whenever you see a number - a telephone number, car registration number, price tag, whatever - mentally transpose the digits into phonetic sounds. Whenever you see a word on a billboard or sign, mentally transpose the phonetic consonant sounds to digits.

Play this game for a while, and the sounds will be second nature to you. When you know the phonetic sounds really well, you will be ready to learn the most powerful of all the Memory Master systems - the Peg System.

The Peg System - Introduction

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Having thoroughly learned the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, you are now equipped to tackle the most versatile amd powerful of all the Memory Master systems - the Peg System.

You have already learned how to memorise any list of items in sequence, using the Link system. But supposing you wanted to recall, say, what the seventh item of a list was - how would you do it ? You'd probably have to go over the Link in your mind and count the items one by one, until you reached the seventh item.

The Peg System enables you to memorise any list of items - in and out of order. For example, think back to the Tutorial on Substitute Words, where you memorised a list of the twelve largest English counties, in sequence. If you were to memorise that list using the Peg System you would automatically know that, for instance, the fifth largest county is Norfolk, and that the ninth largest county is Hampshire.

The Peg System uses a series of Peg Words, based on the Phonetic Alphabet. Every number from 1 to 100 has its own Peg Word, which can be associated to anything you want to remember. The Peg Word then gives you a reference back to the number that it represents.

Tutorial 11 introduces the Peg Word concept, and teaches you Peg Words for the numbers 1 to 20, which you need to learn thoroughly before proceeding any further.

Tutorial 12 takes you through a detailed example of how to put the Peg Words to practical use.

Tutorial 13 teaches you Peg Words for the numbers 21 to 100. This tutorial is different from all the others, in that you do not have to work through it all. One of the beauties of the Peg System is its flexibility - you only have to learn as many Peg Words as you will actually need to use. This will depend on the type of memory chores to which you decide to apply the Peg System.

Peg Words 1 to 20 - Tutorial 11

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The Peg Word system is based on the sounds of the Phonetic Alphabet. The Peg Word for each number contains only the consonant sounds which that number transposes to, plus any vowels needed to form the word, as necessary. Remember that vowels have no value in the Phonetic Alphabet.

For example, the number '1' is always represented by the phonetic sound 't' or 'd', so the Peg Word for 1 must contain only that consonant sound. The word tie contains only the consonant sound 't', and can also be easily pictured, so tie can be the Peg Word for the number '1'.

Of course, there are many other words which could have been chosen to represent the number '1' using these rules - toe, tea, dye, die, and dew are just a few examples. But the Peg System revolves around the idea that there will be one Peg Word for each number, and it will always be the same word. So, a picture of a man's necktie will always represent the number '1'.

Using the same rules, the Peg Word for '2' must contain only the consonant 'n'. The word that will always represent '2' is Noah. Picture whatever image this word conjures for you - perhaps an old man with a long, grey beard standing on his ark.

The Peg Word for '3' will always be ma - picture a little old lady, or your mother, or whatever that word suggests to you.

The number 4 will always be represented by ray - picture a ray of sunlight, or a beam from a torch.

The Peg Word for 5 is law - picture a policeman, or perhaps a high court judge - anything which suggests 'law' to you.

Shoe is the Peg Word for 6. Picture a shoe.

Key is the Peg Word for 7. Picture a key.

Your Peg Word for 8 is ivy - picture ivy climbing all over a wall.

Bee is the Peg Word for 9 - picture a large bumble-bee.

The Peg Word for 10 must contain two consonant sounds, because the number '10' has two digits. The Peg Word for 10 will always be toes.

Those are the first ten Peg Words in the Peg System. They are simple to remember, because the phonetic sounds more or less tell you what the words are. Read through them once more, and you should know them. You will know them in and out of order, because you know the phonetic sounds out of order. When you are confident that you know the ten words, proceed with learning Peg Words 11 to 20 :

11 : toad
- picture a croaking, wart-covered toad.

12 : tin
- picture an empty tin can.

13 : dam
- picture a dam on a river.

14 : tyre
- picture a car tyre.

15 : doll
- picture any sort of doll.

16 : dish
- picture any sort of dish.

17 : dog
- picture any dog that comes to mind.

18 : dove
- picture the white, cooing, bird.

19 : tap
- picture a tap, perhaps a dripping one.

20 : nose
- picture your nose.

Go over the twenty words in your mind several times , right now. Remember that the phonetic sounds practically tell you what the words are. You should be able to think of any number from 1 to 20 and know the Peg Word instantly. Conversely, if you hear any of the Peg Words, you should immediately know what number it represents.

When you know the first twenty Peg Words thoroughly, you will be ready to learn how to start applying the Peg System of Memory.

Press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have learned the first 20 Peg Words.

Applying the Peg System - Tutorial 12

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Having learned the first twenty peg words, you are now ready to start putting them to practical use.

Assume that you wish to memorise the following twenty items, both in and out of order :

1. telephone 11. trumpet
2. table 12. spectacles
3. axe 13. carrot
4. porridge 14. moon
5. ladder 15. peach
6. sparrow 16. hat
7. piano 17. boat
8. cigar 18. daffodil
9. grapefruit 19. radio
10. camera 20. envelope

As you can see, these items have been chosen completely at random, and have no logical connection. To memorise the list of items in order, you could simply apply the Link System, and associate telephone to table, table to axe, and so on until you reach the twentieth item.

But, as mentioned in the introduction to this section, applying the Link method would not allow you to instantly recall, say, the fourteenth item. To recall that the fourteenth item was moon, you would have to work from the start of the list and count through the items mentally, until you reached number 14.

In other words, although the Link System is excellent for remembering lists of items in sequence, it doesn't provide an easy method for remembering any item on a list out of sequence.

To memorise the twenty items on the previous page out of sequence, you simply associate each item to the Peg Word for the corresponding number.

Begin with item 1, telephone. Associate telephone to Peg Word 1, which is tie. See a ludicrous picture in your mind's eye which will associate the two items. Perhaps you are wearing a telephone around your neck instead of a tie. See that zany image, or any crazy image which associates the two items, right now, in your mind's eye.

Next, associate item 2, table, to the Peg Word for 2, which is Noah. You might picture Noah calling pairs of tables into his ark, instead of pairs of animals. Make a ridiculous association between table and Noah in your mind, right now.

Item 3 on the list is axe, so associate it to Peg Word 3, ma. Perhaps you can picture yourself chopping off a little old lady's head with an axe. This is an image which may well make you shudder, but you certainly won't forget it ! Make the association now.

Item 4 is porridge. Associate it Peg Word 4, which is ray. You might picture yourself sunbathing in your bathing costume, when the sun's rays suddenly turn to streams of porridge, and you are covered in a horrible, sticky mess.

The fifth item is ladder, and you need to associate it to law, the Peg Word for the number 5. You could perhaps picture yourself being arrested by a ladder wearing a policeman's helmet, or see yourself trying to climb a ladder made out of policemen.

Get the idea ? For each of the numbered items on the list, make a ridiculous association between that item and the Peg Word for that number. Try making your own associations for the remaining fifteen items, right now. Remember that creating your own images always increases your Initial Awareness.

Associate item 6
- sparrow to shoe (Peg Word 6)

Associate item 7
- piano to key (Peg Word 7)

Associate item 8
- cigar to ivy (Peg Word 8)

Associate item 9
- grapefruit to bee (Peg Word 9)

Associate item 10
- camera to toes (Peg Word 10)

Associate item 11
- trumpet to tin (Peg Word 11)

Associate item 12
- spectacles to toad (Peg Word 12)

Associate item 13
- carrot to dam (Peg Word 13)

Associate item 14
- moon to tyre (Peg Word 14)

Associate item 15
- peach to doll (Peg Word 15)

Associate item 16
- hat to dish (Peg Word 16)

Associate item 17
- boat to dog (Peg Word 17)

Associate item 18
- daffodil to dove (Peg Word 18)

Associate item 19
- radio to tap (Peg Word 19)

Associate item 20
- envelope to nose (Peg Word 20)

If you have really made the associations for all twenty items and visualised them clearly, you will know all the items in and out of order. Think of the Peg Word for number 1 - tie - what does it remind you of ? A telephone, which you pictured around your neck instead of a tie.

Think of the Peg Word for 5 - law - it will instantly remind you of ladder, the fifth item. Think of Peg Word 18 - dove - it should immediately make you think of daffodil, the eighteenth item.

Also, if you think of any item on the list, you will immediately know its numerical position. For example, where was the trumpet ? Well, trumpet makes you think of toad, which is the Peg Word for 11, so trumpet just has to be number 11.

If you haven't yet made associations in your mind for all twenty items, go back and do it, right now. When you are ready, press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have memorised the items, in and out of sequence.

Learning Peg Words 21 to 100 - Tutorial 13

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As mentioned in the Introduction, this tutorial is a little different from the other tutorials, in that you can work through as little or as much of it as you like.

You should now be completely familiar with Peg Words 1 to 20, and you will find countless applications to which you can put them. This tutorial introduces you to Peg Words 21 to 100, and you can learn as many of them as you can find practical uses for. If you can think of any memory chore where you will want to memorise 100 items by numerical order, then learn all of them. Otherwise, just learn as many as you think you will use.

Of course, there's no practical reason why the Peg Words should stop at number 100, and the concept of forming your own Peg Words beyond 100 is discussed in the Additonal Exercises section.

The Peg Words have been formed using the same rules as before. The Peg Word for each number contains only the phonetic consonant sounds contained in that number, with filler vowels used as necessary to form the word. Here are Peg Words 21 to 100. Decide how many you would like to learn at the moment, then study those words carefully. Pay particular attention to the phonetic composition of each word - remember that the phonetic sounds practically tell you what the Peg Word for any number is. Press Page Down when you are ready to test yourself on a section of the Peg Words.

21. Net
22. Nun
23. Gnome
24. Nero
25. Nail
26. Notch
27. Neck
28. Knife
29. Knob
30. Mouse
31. Mat
32. Moon
33. Mummy
34. Mower
35. Mole
36. Match
37. Mug
38. Movie
39. Map
40. Rose
41. Rat
42. Rain
43. Ram
44. Roar
45. Reel
46. Rash
47. Rock
48. Roof
49. Rope
50. Lace
51. Lad
52. Lane
53. Lamb
54. Lair
55. Lolly
56. Leech
57. Leg
58. Loaf
59. Lip
60. Cheese
61. Sheet
62. Chain
63. Jam
64. Jar
65. Jail
66. Judge
67. Shack
68. Chef
69. Ship
70. Goose
71. Cat
72. Coin
73. Comb
74. Car
75. Coal
76. Cage
77. Cake
78. Cave
79. Cab
80. Vase
81. Fat
82. Phone
83. Foam
84. Fire
85. File
86. Fish
87. Fog
88. Fife
89. Fob
90. Bus
91. Bat
92. Bone
93. Bomb
94. Bar
95. Ball
96. Beach
97. Pig
98. Puff
99. Pipe
100. Daisies

The Peg System - Additional Exercises

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Try thinking of some practical ways in which you can apply the Peg System to things that you would like to remember. Anything which you need to remember in a numerical or 'keyed' sequence can be memorised quickly and effectively by applying the simple principles of the Peg.

If the items you wish to remember are abstract or intangible, then you simply form Substitute Words or Phrases for the items, and associate them to the relevant Peg Numbers.

For example, the list of English counties which you learned by applying the Link System could easily have been memorised by applying the Peg principles. To remember that the twelfth largest county is Cornwall, you would simply associate Cornwall to Peg Word 12, which is tin, and so on.

Incidentally, if you are worried about the ludicrous pictures staying with you forever, running round and round in your mind, don't be. One of the best things about the Peg System is that it is simply a means to an end. Once that end has been accomplished, the means simply fade away and disappear - they are no longer necessary.

When the information you have memorised is used a few times, you will know that information. What you will not remember are your original ridiculous pictures. For this simple reason, you can use the same set of Peg Words over and over again, as many times as you like !

Also, there is no limit to the number of Peg Words that you can use. To extend your set of Peg Words beyond 100, simply choose words which fit each number phonetically. For example, the Peg Word for 101 could be Dust; the Peg Word for 150 perhaps towels; and the Peg Word for the number 500 could be laces. There really is no limit to how far you can extend the Peg Word idea.

Overcoming Absentmindedness - Introduction

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Absentmindedness is probably the most commonplace of minor self-annoyances. We have all had countless instances where we have "forgotten" to pass on a message, or to post a birthday card, or to make a telephone call, or to put petrol in the car, or to turn off the oven. And, how many times have you put something "in a safe place", so that you won't forget where it is, only to later spend hours searching for it ?

Just think for a moment how often you have seen people searching for their front door key, or their spectacles, or wallet, or umbrella, or calculator, or cheque book, or a pen they had "just a moment ago".

These instances can range from being mildly irritating to completely and utterly devastating. If you put down a newpaper, or a pen, and subsequently "forget" where you placed them, then you may feel slightly irritated. But, consider the case of someone who checks his football pools coupon on a Saturday, and discovers that he has 24 points, with a jackpot dividend forecast. Imagine his devastation when he finds his entry coupon in his jacket pocket, and realises that he has forgotten to post it. There have been several reported cases of this actually happening !

There are many other situations where absentmindedness can be costly or embarrassing. If you have a credit card, and settle the balance each month so that you avoid paying interest, it can be very costly if you forget to pay that balance one month, and the interest is added !

To take another example, consider a hostess who has invited a dozen guests around for a dinner party. She spends hours preparing a casserole, places it in the oven, and waits two and a half hours for it to cook. But, she forgets to turn the oven on, and doesn't realise it until the guests have arrived. Result - one red-faced hostess dashing round to the nearest Take-Away Restaurant.

To some people, absentmindedness may seem a trivial problem. They probably don't realise just how much time and effort they spend hunting for items they've "just put down for a second", or on retreiving items they have left in cars, taxis, buses, trains, and friends' houses, or worrying about whether they have locked the front door, or fed the cat, or switched off the iron, or set the video recorder to record their favourite television program...

Many people have their own methods of trying to deal with absentmindedness. These include tying a knot in a handkerchief when they want to remember something, or scrawling messages in ink across the back of their hands. The trouble with such methods is that they frequently don't work - you spend ages staring at your knotted handkerchief trying to recall what it was you needed to remember, or trying to decipher the messages on your hand, which have now become smudged and illegible.

Tutorial 14 teaches you some simple, systemmatic methods for overcoming the problem of absentmindedness, using the techniques of association and visualisation with which you are now very familiar.

Overcoming Absentmindedness - Tutorial 14

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This tutorial suggests some simple systems which can be used to overcome absentmindedness. They are based on principles which you have already learned - Initial Awareness and Association of Ideas.

The definition of absentmindedness is staightforward - you are absentminded when you perform actions unconsciously, without thinking. If your mind is 'absent' while you are performing an action, there can be no Initial Awareness of that action.

The solution to the problem of absentmindedness is equally straightforward and obvious - you simply have to think of what you are doing at the time you are doing it. Of course, this is easier said than done - how can you be sure to force yourself to concentrate on a simple, everyday action at the time you are doing it ?

Think right back to Tutorial 1, where you learned that Association can be used to force Initial Awareness, and you have the answer to the problem. As Initial Awareness is the same as having something register in your mind in the first place, then forming an instant association when you perform an action must solve the problem of absentmindedness.

An example will make this much clearer. Suppose you are one of those people who freqeuently writes an important letter and then forgets to take it out and post it. What is the last action you perform before leaving your home ? Probably pulling the front door shut. So, after writing a letter, instead of saying to yourself 'I must remember to post this...' and then forgetting about it completely, do the following - associate letter to the action of closing your front door.

As ever, the association should be as ludicrous as possible. Visualise yourself closing the front door, when millions of letters come flooding through the door, pulling the door off its hinges and knocking you over. If you make that crazy association, the next time you go to close your front door you will think of letter, and if you have left one inside then you will go back and get it.

Of course, this will help you remember to take the letter, but you may still forget to post it and leave it in your pocket for a few days ! One way to avoid this is to associate the addressee of the letter to a post box. If it is addressed to someone you can visualise, picture that person's head popping out of a post box and rolling down the street.

The next time you notice a post box - which you inevitably will - you'll be reminded to take that letter out of your pocket and mail it. If the letter is addressed to a company or organisation, use a Substitute thought and associate that to a post box. If it's your football pools coupon, picture billions of footballs flying out of a mailbox.

This simple idea can be applied to any action or item you wish to remember. Why spoil an evening out because you spend most of it worrying about whether you unplugged the iron, or switched off the oven ? Form the habit of making a quick association at the time you do these things. For example, as you unplug the iron, picture your fingers being sucked into the socket, giving you a violent electric shock. You might perhaps see your hair standing on end to make the picture vivid.

Every time you switch off the oven, picture your head inside the oven, being slowly roasted ! Later, when you think about the oven, you will >know\ that you have switched it off.

Don't worry about the image you formed yesterday coming to mind when you think about whether you switched off the oven today. 'True' memory and Initial Awareness will tell you the truth. If you haven't formed the silly picture of your head in the oven on any particular day, then you will know that you haven't switched the oven off.

Perhaps you are one of those people who frequently goes outside the house to the garage or garden shed, only to stand there wondering what you came out for ? Simply make an association the moment you decide that you need to get something from the garage. If it's a hammer, picture yourself opening the garage door and millions of hammers tumbling out. Try this idea - it really does work !

If you wear spectacles and are frequently forgetting where you put them down, try forming an association at the moment you put them down. If you place them on the dining table, picture them on a serving dish in the middle of the table, surrounded by a large salad. If you place them on top of the television set, picture the television wearing a large pair of spectacles. The next time you think of your spectacles, you are sure to know where they are.

Always form the association at the moment you are performing the action. If you put off doing it you'll forget to form the association and you'll forget where you put your glasses !

You may feel that forming these associations is a waste of time. But, after trying the idea a few times you will find that the pictures are formed in next to no time. Even more important is that time and effort that you will be saving.

Speeches and Presentations - Introduction

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Many speakers, when delivering a speech, rely on one of two methods - they either try and memorise the speech word for word beforehand, or they read from notes as they talk.

Both these methods are often disastrous. Memorising the speech word for word will make it sound exactly like that when you deliver it - memorised. Also, there's a good chance that you will fumble over one or two words you can't remember, and so lose the thread of your talk completely.

If you've been asked to give a speech or talk, the assumption is that you know something about the subject you are going to talk about, so it really shouldn't be necessary to memorise it word for word.

Reading a speech is not a good idea either, because you are likely to send your audience to sleep rather than holding their attention. Of course, you can look up at your audience at regular intervals, but that won't disguise the fact that you are reading to them, not delivering a real speech. And, when you look up and then look back down at your notes, there's a good chance that you will lose your place, leading to lots of 'Er..umming'.

Tutorial 15 teaches you some simple techniques to help you remember and deliver any speech confidently and effectively.

Remembering Speeches and Presentations - Tutorial 15

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The most effective way to deliver a speech is to speak it in your own words, thought for thought. Any speech is basically a sequence of thoughts. If the thoughts are random, out of sequence, they won't make a lot of sense.

You should by now be completely familiar with using the Link System to memorise things in sequence. The Link System, with the addition of the Key Word idea, will enable you to remember any speech you want to deliver, thought for thought.

This is how you do it. Firstly, write (or type) out your speech, including all the ideas you want to get across, and everything you want to say about those ideas. When you are happy with the speech, select a Key Word or Phrase for each of the thoughts in the sppech which will remind you of the entire thought.

This is not as difficult as it may appear. Almost any thought, whether you intend to express it in six words or sixty words, can be recalled by just one Key Word or Phrase. Take as an example the following excerpt from a speech to a sales conference.
'We have high expectations of our new products, Eclipse, New Woman, and Femme Fatale. These products should help us stir a lot of new business. It has been over a year since we introduced any new product lines at all, and we must push these products as hard as we can...'

This paragraph can be summed up by the Key Phrase new products. Assuming that you are familiar with the facts about which you are talking - for example that your company has launched no new products for over a year - then thinking of new products sums up the entire thought of the above paragraph.

Having extracted the Key Thoughts from your speech, if you then link them together, in sequence, you will have memorised your speech, thought for thought.

Of course, you could simply jot down your Key Words on a piece of paper and occasionally glance down at your notes to remind yourself of your next Key Thought. However, you may not instantly see the next point if your list is fairly long, and you can easily miss points out if your eye runs over them. It can ruin a point finished on a high note to link to the next point with an 'Er...um....ah...' as you glance surreptitiously at your notes.

Once you are confident with the idea oflinking Key Words to help you remember a speech, you can use the method with more aplomb than even the scantiest notes. You will find that you can move smoothly from one point to another, recalling the next Key Word as you are reaching the end of the one before it.

Let's consider an example. Suppose you have to deliver a brief speech to a meeting of company employees, outlining reasons for changes in policy by the company. Assume that you have written out your speech and selected the following ten Key Thoughts which you need to remember :

(1) New Technology (6) Productivity
(2) Progress (7) Costs
(3) Manpower (8) Profit Margins
(4) Redistribution (9) Overseas
(5) Talent (10) Morale

Assume also that you know what you want to say about each of these thoughts. If you new nothing about the subject, why would you be speaking about it ? Your problem is simply to remember the Key Thought in the correct sequence, without missing any.

The first Key Thought is New Technology. Think of a Substitute Word or Phrase to remind you of New Technology. For technology you could picture your computer (you must have a computer or you wouldn't be running Memory Master !). For new you could perhaps visualise your computer being brand, spanking new - so new that it shines and gleams with newness.

The second Key Thought is Progess, so begin your link by associating that thought to New Technology. You might picture your new, gleaming computer sprouting legs and marching (progressing) down the road. Or, to make the image more vivid, you could picture millions of new computers progressing down the road. See that zany image, or a ludicrous association you thought of yourself, in your mind's eye, right now.

The next Key Thought is Manpower, so continue your Link by associating it to Progress. For Manpower you might visualise an army of identical little matchstick men. To associate it to Progress, you might picture that army of little men progressing down a road, or perhaps progressing slowly up a very steep hill. Make that association now.

Redistribution is the next Key Thought. To help you picture this thought, you could visualise your army of matchstick men being moved around by a giant hand, like a chess game. See that crazy picture now.

To help you picture the fifth Key Thought, Talent, you could picture some entrants in a talent contest - jugglers, singers, clowns, comedians - anyone you might see on a talent contest. Now associate Talent to redistribution. Picture those talent contest entrants being redistributed around a stage by a huge hand or claw, in a zany, comic fashion. See that picture.

Complete the Link yourself, by adding the remaining five Key Thoughts - Productivity, Costs, Profit Margins, Overseas, and Morale to the five thoughts you have linked so far. Here are some suggestions for Substitute Words and Phrase to help you make the associations.

Productivity - someone busily producing huge quantities of something Costs - huge piles of coins or notes Profit Margins - ma (a little old lady) selling gin and making a profit Overseas - a ship sailing on the ocean, or just an expanse of water Morale - more ale (lots of beer)

Forming a Link accomplishes two things. It forces you to concentrate, and be Initially Aware of, the thoughts of the speech, and it will give you the sequence of thoughts. When you know that you definitely have that sequence fixed in your mind, it gives you a confidence you wouldn't have if you were relying on notes.

If you haven't yet seriously tried to form a mental Link between the ten Key Thoughts listed on the previous pages, go back and do it right now. When you are ready, press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have memorised those ten Key Thoughts.

Remembering Jokes and Stories - Introduction

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The ability to recall jokes, anecdotes, and stories is a great social asset. People like to be amused by funny stories, even if they are really 'corny' ones, and telling jokes is a great ice-breaker at social gatherings.

Many people can never remember a single joke or story, even though they have probably heard hundreds. Other people remember parts of stories, and end up telling the story out of sequence, or giving away the punchline in the middle of the story.

Tutorial 16 demonstrates how can you easily memorise any joke or story acccurately, without forgetting any of the main points.

These systems are not limited to helping you remember the 'I say, I say, I say' type of quick gag. They can be applied to any amusing incident that happens to you or someone you know, which you would like to remember. For example, perhaps you have young children in your family, and would like to remember some of the hilarious things they (inevitably) say.

Remembering Jokes and Stories - Tutorial 16

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You have already learned the systems which will enable you to remember any joke or story. The Key Thought idea, the Link System, and the Peg System can all help you to remember Jokes and Stories.

Have you ever wondered how professional comedians can tell jokes for an hour or more, and repeat the same act night after night, telling the same jokes in the same order ? Well, many professional comedians Link a Key Thought of one joke to the Key Thought of the next, and so on. The comedian knows each of the jokes - he simply needs reminders of the jokes and their sequence.

So, a Link of Irishman to hamster to doctor to figs would be sufficient to remind a comedian to first tell the joke about the Irishman, then tell the one about the hamster, then the one about the doctor, and so on.

If you would like to remember a number of jokes, simply form a Link of Key Thoughts which will remind you of the jokes. To start your Link, you can picture any simple joke or gag, and associate that to a mental image of yourself dressed as a circus clown, telling jokes.

Suppose you pick a very old gag such as 'What's black and white and red all over..... a newspaper'. The Key Thought from this joke is newspaper, so you would associate newspaper to that picture of yourself telling jokes as a clown.

When you hear or read a joke that you would like to remember, you simply decide on a Key Thought to remind you of the joke, and associate it to the last item in your mental 'Joke Chain'. So the second joke you want to remember would be associated to newspaper, the third joke to the second, and so on.

Selecting a single Key Thought or Key Word to remind you of a joke is easier than you might think. After all, when you hear people talking about jokes, they usually say things like 'Tell us the one about the elephant', or 'Did you hear the one about the nun'. Each joke is summarised by one, Key word. Also, concentrating on the joke to come up with a Key Thought will make you concentrate on that joke, and be Initially Aware of it.

When you are forming your 'Joke Chain', use the principles you have already learned to make your visual associations strong ones. Be sure that your mental pictures are ludicrous and humorous. See them clearly in your mind's eye for just a fraction of a second, and you will not forget them.

To recall the jokes you have memorised, you simply run through your Link mentally, and stop at the Key Thought for any joke that you wish to tell or recall.

For short gags, you can extend the Link idea by associating the punchline to your Key Thought for the joke. Take the following short joke :

Two eggs were in a saucepan. The first egg said 'I'm fed up with this - it's boiling in here'. 'Just wait till you get out' said the second egg, 'They smash your head in !'

The Key Thought of this joke is eggs, so you would include eggs in your 'Joke Chain'. If you then associated eggs to smashed head, you would also remember the punchline of the joke.

For longer jokes, anecdotes, and stories, you simply associate your Key Thought for the story to a series of 'minor' Key Words that will remind you of the sequence of the story.

Consider the following story :

A duck walked into a Public Library. It went over to the counter and said to the librarian 'Book Book...Book Book...Book Book'. The librarian grabbed a broom and shooed the duck out of the library. Five minutes later the duck waddled in again, went over to the counter and said 'Book Book... Book...Book'.

This time the librarian became angry and threw a book at the duck, which picked up the book in its beak and rushed out. It carried walking until it reached a big pond. In the middle of the pond was a frog, sitting on a big water lily. The duck splashed into the water, swam over to the water lily, and dropped the book in front of the frog.

The frog picked up the book, tossed it impatiently aside, and croaked 'Reddit Reddit...Reddit Reddit'.

Now, your Key Thought for this story could be duck. To remember the sequence of the story, simply Link each of the main points of the story, starting with duck. For example, you could Link duck to library to broom to angry librarian to book to pond to frog to reddit. This would remind you of all the points in the story, in sequence.

An alternative method to Linking the jokes you want to remember is to use the Peg System. If you know Peg Words 1 to 100, then you have the means to remember a hundred jokes, in and out of sequence.

Simply associate the Key Thought of each joke you want to remember to a Peg Word. You then have an easy method of recalling jokes at random. Simply think of a Peg Word between 1 and 100, and the Peg Word for that number will remind you of the Key Thought for the joke you associated to it.

For example, suppose you associated a joke about a donkey to net, which (as you know) is the Peg Word for 21. If you subsequently think of 21, you know that the Peg Word for that number is net, which will remind you of donkey.

Before leaving this tutorial, go over the ideas discussed and think how you might apply them to the sort of jokes, gags, anecdotes. stories, etc., that you would like to be able to tell.

As an exercise, try the following over the next week or so. Every time you see, hear or read any type of joke, wisecrack, funny story, etc., decide on a Key Thought for that joke and associate it to a Peg Word. Start at Peg Word 1, and continue until you have exhausted all the Peg Words you know. The joke could be heard or seen anywhere - television, radio, at work or school, in a newspaper or book - absolutely anywhere. Make sure that the associations you form are strong and clear, and you will not forget those jokes.

When you have completed the exercise, go over each of the Peg Words you know, and you will be amazed to find that you have memorised that number of jokes within a week. You will be particularly impressed if you know 100 Peg Words, and so a hundred jokes !

That concludes the Tutorial on Remembering Jokes and Stories. Pres Page Down to return to the Main Menu.

Reading, Studying, and Learning - Introduction

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The process of learning involves the following steps :

(1) The Search for Information

(2) Remembering the Information

(3) Applying the Information

The search for information relies on teachers, sources of knowledge, and your thirst for knowledge.

The application of that knowledge is up to you, with guidance from teachers, text books, etc.

Remembering the information is where the Memory Master systems come in. Simplistically, it can be said that virtually all learning is based on memory. Many teachers, who like to put down 'memorisation', don't like to admit this, but it is nevertheless true.

If you are sitting in a history examination, and have remembered few of the dates, names, places, and events you were taught in your history classes, the fact that may have have an exceptionally high I.Q. will not help you a lot in passing that examination.

A large percentage of all written examinations are basically examining two things :

(1) Your knowledge of the subject.
(2) How well you can express that knowledge in written replies to the questions asked.

The second point depends on a variety of factors, such as intelligence, flair for the subject, how well you have been taught to express yourself in writing, and so on.

The first point depends largely on memory - how many facts, figures, events, dates, names, quotations, etc., you have learned or remembered about the subject.

Very few schools or teachers offer advice to students on how to remember the vast amount of new information that they present you with. This is despite the undisputable fact that memorising information plays a large part in passing many examinations.

Many students rely largely on 'rote' memory when revising for examinations - reading information over and over again in the hope that some of it will 'stick' in the memory. Other students write out the information several times, or repeat it to themselves 'parrot fashion'.

Some students are more organised, and extract from their notes the key points they wish to remember, in a similar manner to the 'Key Thoughts' idea discussed in the section on Remembering Speeches. However, having extracted those key points, they probably still apply 'rote' memory to remember those key points.

There is really only one way to read and study more effectively - and that is to remember as you read.

Tutorial 17 shows you how you can use the Memory Master systems you have already learned to help you remember any reading material, as you read.

Reading, Studying, and Learning - Tutorial 17

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Having worked through Memory Master tutorials 1 to 16, you now have the necessary knowledge to remember any reading material as you read it.

The facts in reading material are normally sequential, so you can apply, basically, the Link System. Within most reading material you may come across names, unfamiliar words, numbers, technical data, and so on. None of this need present a problem, because you already know how to memorise them.

You are familiar with the Substitute Word system, which will help you remember names, unfamiliar words, and concepts. You know the Key Word or Key Thought idea, which, together with the Link System, will help you remember those things in sequence. You also know how to picture numbers, which will enable you to remember them as you read.

All you have to do is simply apply the Memory Master systems to the reading material you wish to remember.

Let's see how that actually works in practice. Assume you want to remember the facts in the following 'mini geography lesson' about the island of Jamaica.

'The island of Jamaica lies in the Caribbean Sea, and is one of the group of islands known collectively as the West Indies. Jamaica covers an area of some 4,411 square miles, and has a population of 2,388,000. The island's capital is Kingston, which is situated in the South.

Jamaica was first reached by Europeans when Columbus landed there in 1494. The island became British in 1655, and independent within the Commonwealth in 1962.

The island's chief exports are sugar, bananas, bauxite, and coffee. Jamaica also has a rapidly expanding tourist industry.'

Now, start applying the Link System to the facts in this text about Jamaica. You should begin your Link with a 'Heading' picture, a Substitute thought which will remind you of Jamaica. You might, for example, picture a Jam Maker, a chef dressed all in white who is frantically making pots and pots of strawberry jam, and getting covered in it from head to toe.

As always, the picture which you think of yourself is best for you to use, but let's assume for the moment that you are going to use Jam Maker to begin your Link.

Before proceeding with the Link, you should realise that although the silly pictures described on the next few pages take a lot of words to describe, the actual images are formed in your mind as fast as thought.

O.K, picture a Jam Maker carrying beans to some Vest Indians - a group of Red Indians wearing string vests. This ludicrous picture will remind you of the first few facts - you're reading about Jamaica, which lies in the Caribbean, and forms part of the West Indies. See the crazy picture in your mind's eye for just an instant, right now.

The next two facts to remember both involve numbers - the area of Jamaica is 4,411 square miles, and has a population of 2,388,000. This is precisely the type of data which is normally so difficult to remember - it is completely abstract.

But, you have now learned how to picture numbers, so (as, incidentally they say in Jamaica) it is 'No Problem !'. The number 4,411 could transpose to Re-routed, and 2,388,000 to Gnome Viva Success. So you could picture those Red Indians in string vests running around and being re-routed as they run, by a giant hand. And, as they are re-routed, they keep tripping over a garden gnome, which hops about shouting 'Viva Success'.

Now, it may take a little time to come up with that picture, but, in order to do so, you are really concentrating on the material, and heightening your Initial Awareness of the facts you wish to remember. Also, how would you set about memorising a number like 2,388,000 without a system ?

Make sure you see that last picture clearly, then continue your Link. Associate the gnome saying 'Viva Success' to King's Ton (Kingston). You might picture a King sitting on a throne, surrounded by a ton of gold coins. Suddenly, out of the gold pops that gnome, still merrily shouting 'Viva Success !'.

The next fact to remember involves a date - Columbus discovered the island in 1494. To picture any date, simply split it into two two-digit numbers and link the Peg Words for those numbers. So, 1494 would be Tyre Bear.

Now, link King's Ton, Column Bus (Columbus) and Tyre Bear. Imagine the King counting his ton of gold when out of the gold pile drives a bus shaped like Nelson's column. The column bus drives round and round on the ton of gold, then screeches to a halt. Out of the bus leaps a bear, swinging a big tyre around its middle like a hoola-hoop. Try and see that zany picture right now. It does take a little imagination to come up with the sily pictures, but once you see them clearly, just for a split second, you will have memorised the facts you wish to learn.

The next fact to remember is that the island became British in 1655. To picture this, you could see a dish - shaped lily (16 - 55) waving a Union Jack flag. Now associate that image to Tyre Bear. Picture that bear, still swinging the tyre around its middle, leaping into a pond full of dish-shaped lilies which are vigourously waving Union Jack flags. As mentioned earlier, this picture takes a lot of written words to describe, but is actually seen in an instant.

Continue your Link. Jamaica became independent in 1962 (tap - chain). Picture a tap with arms and legs which swings a heavy chain around in the air. As it does this, it jumps across that lily pond, stepping on the dish-shaped lilies as it goes, until it falls in the deep end (independent) of the pond and sinks slowly, dramatically, to the bottom.

Now, form your own silly pictures to Link to the next facts - Jamaica's exports include sugar, bananas, bauxite, rum, and coffee. Include each one of these items in your Link :- associate tap - chain to sugar to bananas to bauxite to rum to coffee (hint - for bauxite picture box it - the other items can be easily pictured). Make those associations clearly, right now.

Complete your Link by associating coffee to the final fact - the island's rapidly expanding tourist industry. Picture lots of tourists who are somehow expanding very quickly, as if being inflated by a giant pump. They are drinking coffee, which is so hot it makes them burst, like balloons. Make that mental image as comical as possible, and you are sure to remember it.

That completes your Link, and also the task of memorising the stated facts about Jamaica. Go over the complete Link in your mind once more, before reading any further. If you have really tried to see all the ridiculous pictures, you will remember all the facts in the 'mini lesson'.

In this example, every fact from the reading material was included in the Link. Obviously, when you actually start to use the system in practice, you will be selective and only link the facts you feel you want to remember.

Press Page Down to see how well the systems worked for you in remembering the facts from the example given

Reading, Studying, and Learning - Additional Exercises

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Practice applying the systems you have just learned to any reading material of your choice. The first few times you apply the systems to technical reading material, they will slow down your reading speed. However, you won't have to spend time going over the material again and again, because you will remember it after that first reading.

As you become more proficient at applying the systems, you'll find that you are reading closer and closer to your normal reading speed. What's more , you will only be reading the material once. The Memory Master systems are applicable to any type of reading matter, and the more technical the material, the more useful the systems become.

As you read, you can remember facts, figures and prices in a business report; names, dates, events and places in a historical novel; names and applications of new drugs in a medical journal; names and quotations in a political report; specifications and dimensions in an engineering magazine; - absolutely anything !

If you want to, you can even memorise the page number on which a particular quote or fact appears. Simply associate a Key Word from the fact or quote to the Peg Word that represents that page number. If you don't have a Peg Word for that particular page number, make one up that fits the page number phonetically - the system will work just as well.

Taking the idea a bit further, you can associate section headings, diagram numbers and chapter titles to page numbers. You can, to all intents and purposes, effectively memorise an entire book this way !

Remembering Playing Cards - Introduction

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In the majority of popular card games, a player with an efficient memory can significantly increase his or her chances of success. For the majority of card games, which are discard games, this involves remembering which cards have been played during the current hand.

For many people this presents a tricky problem, because playing cards are like numbers :- they are abstract, and difficult to remember.

The tutorials in this section will teach you a system to enable you to mentally picture any playing card instantly, and to remember sequences of playing cards quickly and efficiently.

Even if you do not play cards, you should follow the ideas in this section, because they provide an excellent mental exercise.

This section assumes that you are already familiar with the Link and Phonetic Alphabet ideas - if you have not yet worked through those sections, then go back and do so before continuing with this section.

Learning The 52 Card Words - Tutorial 18

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As stated in the Introduction, playing cards are difficult to remember because they are intangible. The system you are about to learn is based on having each card in the deck represented by a tangible item, which can easily be pictured.

The system is in fact an extension of the system you have already learned to help you remember numbers. You will be taught a Card Word for each of the 52 cards. The Card Words follow a definite phonetic pattern (remember the Phonetic Alphabet ?), and are easy to learn. Each of the Card Words is an item which can easily be pictured, and hence associated to other items.

The phonetic pattern used is very simple. The Card Word for each card will begin with either C,D,H,S, for Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. The next consonant sound in the word represents the value of the card. For example, the word home can only represent the 3H. It begins with a H for Hearts, and the next consonant sound in the word is m, for 3.

The word (and also picture) cake must represent the 7C. It begins with a C, for Clubs, and the next phonetic sound is k, for 7. Similarly, the 9S is soap, and dune can only be the 2D.

Once you understand the pattern, there are no choices or decisions to make. Before proceeding any further, make sure you understand the examples given so far.

Now, before presenting you with the full list of 52 Card Words to learn, here are some further rules about the Phonetic Pattern used.

The s sound will always be used to represent the four 10 cards - i.e. 10C, 10D, 10H, 10S. Since there is no zero of any suit, this fits in nicely with the pattern. The Aces are simply counted as 1 - e.g. the AD (Ace of Diamonds) will always be represented by the Card Word date.

The Court Cards Jack, Queen, and King are treated as numbers 11, 12 and 13 respectively. So the QC (Queen of Clubs) will always be represented by the word cotton - c for clubs, tt for 1 (the first digit of 12), and n for 2 (the second digit of 12). Similarly, satan will always represent the QS (Queen of Spades), and hooded will be the Card Word for the JH (Jack of Hearts).

As with the Peg Words, you will need to form a definite mental picture for each Card Word, and learn the words so well that every time you see, say, the Jack of Hearts in a deck of cards, you will instantly see a mental picture of a hooded man. Once again, the mental pictures you form are entirely up you - the important thing is that you should be able to see each picture clearly, and be able to conjure up the picture instantly.

On the next page is a list of the 52 Card Words for you to learn thoroughly. To obtain a hard copy of the list, print the file 'CARDS.LST' on the Memory Master disk. Because the words follow a definite pattern, they are much easier to learn than you think. Take some time now to learn them thoroughly - you will find them just as effective an aid for remembering Playing Cards as the Peg Words are for remembering numbers.

As you learn each Card Word, fix on a definite mental picture for that word and stick to that same picture every time. We could give you suggestions for the mental pictures, but you will be aware by now that this removes your Initial Awareness - it is much better if you form your own, vivid mental images for the words. Here is the complete list of 52 Card Words :

Clubs Diamonds
----- --------
AC - Cute AD - Date
2C - Can 2D - Dune
3C - Come 3D - Dame
4C - Core 4D - Door
5C - Cool 5D - Duel
6C - Cash 6D - Dash
7C - Coke 7D - Deck
8C - Cuff 8D - Dive
9C - Cap 9D - Dip
10C - Case 10D - Daze
JC - Cadet JD - Dotted
QC - Cotton QD - Detain
KC - Cut Me KD - Dead Ham

Hearts Spades
------ ------
AH - Hat AS - Suit
2H - Hen 2S - Sun
3H - Home 3S - Sum
4H - Hair 4S - Sore
5H - Hole 5S - Sail
6H - Hash 6S - Sash
7H - Hog 7S - Sock
8H - Hoof 8S - Safe
9H - Hoop 9S - Soap
10H - Hose 10S - Suds
JH - Hooded JS - Steed
QH - Hoe Down QS - Satan
KH - Hit Me KS - Steam

Take some time right now to learn them as thorougly as you learned the Peg Words. Remember that the phonetic pattern almost tells you what the word for each card is. When you think you are ready to test yourself on the Card Words, press Try Me.

Try Me

Sequences of Playing Cards - Tutorial 19

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Having learned the Card Words thoroughly, you now have the knowledge to memorise a complete deck of 52 cards - in sequence !.

Difficult ? Not at all, if we combine the Card Word System with our old friend the Link System.

Of course it will take a little practice, so let's start with say a dozen cards. Imagine someone is turning over twelve cards off the top of a shuffled deck, one at a time, and you are trying to remember them in sequence.

The first two cards are the 4H (Hair) and the KS (Steam), so begin your Link by picturing steam coming out of your hair. As ever, make your mental picture as ludicrous and vivid as possible. Imagine that steam pouring out of your hair really viciously, so that your are enveloped in steam.

The next card is the QD (Detain), so continue your link by picturing a policeman detaining you for some crime - he is so mad that steam is pouring fast and furiously out of his ears.

The fourth card is the 7S (Sock), so link detain to sock. Perhaps the policeman is now detaining a gigantic sock - make the picture ridiculous, and see it clearly in your mind's eye for a split second.

The fifth card is the 2H (Hen), so to continue the Link you might picture yourself wearing a hen on your foot instead of a sock. See that picture.

Now, continue the Link with the following seven cards, in sequence :

6C - Cash, 9S - Soap, 7H - Hog, 5S - Sail, 5D - Duel, AH - Hat, 2C - Can

Link Hen to Cash, to Soap, to Hog, to Sail, to Duel, to Hat, to Can. Make those ridiculous associations right now, and be sure to see each mental picture very clearly.

When you have completed the Link then you must know the twelve cards in sequence, because the Card Words tell you what the cards are. Following the phonetic pattern you learned in the previous tutorial, Hen can only transpose to the two of hearts, and so on.

The system applies equally well to 52 cards as 12, though it does take a little longer !

Press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have learned the sequence of twelve cards.

Applying the Card Words - Tutorial 20

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You now have the knowledge to picture any playing card instantly, and to memorise sequences of playing cards quickly and efficiently. The exact way in which you apply these skills to playing card games will depend on which games you play. The systems you have learned are flexible - you can adapt or expand them to help you improve your chances at any card game you choose.

This tutorial aims to demonstrate a few ways in which the systems can be applied to various card games . Once you understand the basic idea, you can creatively apply the systems in your own way to your own favourite card game or games.

Although the Link system when applied to memorising the complete sequence of a deck of cards is a truly impressive stunt, the Link idea is not actually the most useful when applied to games such as bridge, solo, gin rummy or canasta.

In all these games, you need to know which cards have been played so far during any hand - the order in which they were played is usually not so important. The easiest method of accomplishing this is to use the mutilation idea.

To memorise all the cards played, you simply picture the Card Word for each card as it is played, and mutilate that picture in some way. If the 3H is played, picture a burning home. When the 5S is played, see a ripped sail; the 2H, picture a headless hen; the 7D picture a burning deck, and so on. Simply mutilate the picture that represents the card in your mind, in some quick way.

As you get more practice, this will become easier and easier to do. For one thing, you will get to know the Card Words better and better. Also, once you see a mutilation of any Card Word, you will use that same picture all the time.

Try the idea now, with a deck of cards. Take out, say, ten cards, without looking at them, and put them to one side. Now, turn over the remaining 42 cards one at a time, and as you look at each card, mutilate the Card Word for that card in your mind. The way in which you mutilate the picture is entirely up to you, but remember that whatever comes to mind first is the best picture to use.

When you have turned over the 42 cards, and created 42 mutilated Card Word pictures in your mind, you will easily remember which ten cards were taken out of the deck. You simply go over the 52 Card Words in your mind - any picture which has not been mutilated will stand out like a sore thumb !

Practice this stunt a few times on your own, then try it with a friend calling out the cards to you as he turns them over. This is a truly impressive stunt when done quickly. Incidentally, it does not matter how many cards are removed from the pack - in fact, the more cards removed the easier, because there are fewer to mutilate. For bridge players, thirteen cards is a good demonstration. Have someone deal four hands of thirteen cards, and call out three of the hands, a card at a time. You then tell him exactly what is in the fourth hand !

To gain speed, you will need to work at making the Card Words second nature. The better you know them, the quicker you will be able to perform the missing card stunt. When you are running through the list of Card Words in your mind to determine which ones have been mutilated, is a good idea to always use the same order for the suits - say Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. This will save you the time and possible confusion of going over the same list twice.

The mutilation system works well for any discard game. Bridge players in particular use the system to great effect. Some memorise only the trump cards which have been played, so they mutilate only the trump cards. More experienced players will often memorise all the cards played, so they mutilate each one as it is played.

In gin rummy, it is important to know whether it is safe to play any particular card. So, as you play, mutilate each card discarded by yourself and your opponent. When you want to know if it is safe to discard a particular card, you just need to think of three or four Card Words. If you are thinking of discarding the 7D, think of the Card Words for the 6D and 8D. If they haven't been mutilated then your opponent may be waiting for the 7D to complete a diamond run. When your opponent takes a card, associate the Card Word to his face. If he takes the 2H, see a hen sitting on his head. Later, you will remember all the cards your opponent has picked up !

In Pontoon or Blackjack, knowing what cards have been played is a great help in knowing when to double your bet, and when to stop, or twist.

Although poker is not a discard game, a memory of what has been played is certainly very useful. All good poker players have an idea of poker odds, and the odds do change according to cards played. So in a stud poker game it would be bad play to keep betting because you are waiting for an ace when you know that two aces have already been dealt to other players.

The above ideas are just some of the ways in which you can apply the Card Words to various card games. The most important thing to remember is that applying the systems is a creative activity. We have given you the basic systems - the way in which you apply them to the card games you play is now up to you. Good Luck !

Impressive Memory Stunts - Introduction

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The systems you have learned during the Memory Master course will enable you to perform 'feats' of memory that most people would find totally impossible.

Some of the best stunts involve knowing Peg Words 1 to 100 thoroughly, so if you would like to try some of these stunts and have not yet learned all one hundred Peg Words, go back to Tutorial 13 and work through it all. If you are confident with the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, the Peg Words really are very simple to learn.

As you gain more and more practice at applying the Memory Master systems, you will probably find that you can invent your own memory stunts. The beauty of the systems is that they are flexible, and can be applied to anything you wish to remember.

If you have a particular hobby or interest, you may find that applying the systems to facts and data about your hobby will help you become an 'expert' at that topic, because you can rapidly increase your knowledge. In fact, this is the area where the systems probably work best. You are already interested in the information, or you presumably wouldn't have chosen that hobby.

This means that your Initial Awareness of the information will already be high - you concentrate on the information because you are really interested in it. Applying the systems will enable you to improve your knowledge of the subject, rapidly and effectively.

The same applies to your work. If your job in any way involves facts, figures, names, dates, etc., you will find that applying the systems to some of that data will quickly gain you a reputation as a source of knowledge among your colleagues. This can do your promotion prospects no harm, and a lot of good !

Tutorial 18 suggests some memory stunts that you can use to demonstrate your new-found mental 'powers'

Impressive Memory Stunts - Tutorial 21

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This tutorial suggests some 'amazing' feats of memory you can perform, using the systems you have learned throughout the Memory Master course.

When reading how to perform these stunts, bear in mind that they are really only suggestions for memory demonstrations that you might like to try out on your friends. If you can think of ways to adapt or expand these stunts to suit yourself, then so much the better.

Memory Stunt Number 1 - Missing Numbers
Get someone to number a piece of paper from 1 to 100, and tell him to circle or highlight any five of the numbers, at random. Then tell him to call out all the remaining numbers one by one, and to cross them out as they are called. The numbers should be called out randomly, not in any numerical sequence.

You don't of course look at the paper while he is doing this. You could be blindfolded, or sitting with your back to him. When all the numbers except the circled ones have been crossed out, you tell your friend exactly which five numbers he originally circled !

Difficult ? Not at all, provided that you know Peg Words 1 to 100 really thoroughly. As your friend calls out the numbers, you simply picture the Peg Word for that number, and mentally 'deface' the picture. Suppose the number 5 (Peg Word law) was called. Think of your mental picture for law - a policeman, and deface it. Perhaps the policeman has been stripped of his uniform, and is wearing nothing but his underwear and his police helmet.

If the number 20 is called, see a bleeding nose. For 14 you might see a punctured tyre; for 73 a comb with teeth missing; for 97 a book with its cover torn, and pages missing; for 30 a mouse without a tail; and so on.

When all the numbers have been called out, go over the Peg Words from 1 to 100, and any one that has not been 'defaced' in your mind has to be a circled number.

The process of 'defacing' your mental pictures of the Peg Words will become easier and quicker to do as you practice doing it. There are two reasons for this - you'll get to know the Peg Words better and better as you practice, and once you picture a 'defaced' Peg Word, you'll use the same picture to deface it every time. The defaced picture will become an instantaneous image in your mind.

If you don't feel confident with handling a hundred numbers, then you could start with fifty, and increase the number each time you perform the stunt. When you are completely confident with the Peg Words, and your friend calls out the numbers quickly, this really is a most impressive demonstration of 'memory power'.

Memory Stunt Number 2 - Memorising a Magazine
A really impressive feat of memory is to memorise the highlights of every single page in a magazine. To do this, you simply associate the Peg Words for each page number to the outstanding stories or pictures on that page.

If there are more than a hundred pages in the magazine, you can make up Peg Words to fit. Using the Phonetic Alphabet, there is literally no limit no the number of Peg Words you can create.

This stunt probably works best with a magazine that you are actually interested in, such as a hobby magazine for your favourite hobby. However, it will work well for any magazine. Once you have made all the associations, you should be able to describe the highlights for any page number called. You will probably find that you know the positions of the pictures, without making a special effort to remember them.

Each association will conjure up for you a mental picture of the whole page. This is one of the closest things to a 'photographic' memory. Try it for yourself, with any magazine, and you'll be surprised how effective it is !

Memory Stunt Number 3 - Thought Transference
This stunt relies on you having one or more friends or relatives who are prepared to occasionally accept a strange phone call, and who understand the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet.

It works like this. Tell a group of friends (or your 'audience') that you know someone who can read thoughts over long distances. Before you begin the 'demonstration', give one of your audience the phone number of your 'medium' friend.

Next, ask someone to jot down a six-digit number on a piece of paper. Your audience then have to look at the number and concentrate on it very hard. You then ask someone to dial the telephone number you gave them earlier. As they are dialing, you say 'Ask for Thomas Smith'. When your friend answers the phone, he tells the caller that the number you are all staring at is 130031, and he will be dead right !

How is it done ? Well, you have told your 'accomplice' that the number is 130031, via the name Thomas Smith, which phonetically translates to 130031.

Of course, the name you tell the caller to ask for will be different each time, because it depends entirely on the six-digit number. You will have told your assistant beforehand that the number will always be six digits, so he or she will ignore any phonetic sounds in the name after the first six.

For example, if the six digits were 926329, you might give the name :

Benjamin Biggs

(9-26-3-2-9-7-0)
Your assistant would only give the first six digits - 926329, because he knows that the number only contains six digits. Your 'medium' friend should not blurt out the number, but give the digits slowly, one at a time, as if really concentrating on the process of thought transference. At your end, the showmanship is really up to you. Don't worry about being able to come up with a name that fits the number given. You will have plenty of time while your audience are 'concentrating' on those digits.

With the right amount of showmanship from you, and dramatic pauses from your assistant, this really is a most effective stunt !

That concludes the Memory Master training course. If you have just skipped through the course, nodding as you understand the principles but not really stopping to try all the examples, you should go back to the beginning and learn the basics thoroughly. Start with Association and the Link, and really make an effort to perform the mental exercises given.

The time you spend doing it now is guaranteed to save you huge chunks of time and effort in the future. Above all, remember that the Memory Master systems are designed to be flexible - adapt them to your needs, and to the things that you personally would like to remember.

The Game
©1999, Tom Smid, Last Updated: 7/18/103

http://www.vlaardingen.net/~tom/Mainmenu.htm

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