Principle 1: Imagination

Whatever information we receive, the brain tries to remember it as an image. That is why simply reading words or hearing them is not enough.

For example, if someone says ‘run fast’, we imagine ourselves running. If they say ‘drink milk’, we imagine the process of drinking milk. For ‘orange’, we visualise its colour, fragrance, juiciness and taste.

More the senses you engage with while visualising the image, the more is the likelihood of remembering it.

Principle 2: Association

Whenever we have to remember a list of things, we try to link each item with something else to aid the recall process. This could be associating the items on the list with one another or with the person who gave us the list.

Say, for instance, you have to remember this list: pencil, eraser, ruler, sharpener. To create associations between these objects, you can imagine the mistakes you make while using a pencil are erased with an eraser, the eraser is measured with a ruler and the ruler is sharpened with a sharpener.

Story Method

This method makes use of both imagination and association. It is the best way of remembering a list because it involves creating one single story with all the items on the list in such a way that every item leads to the other in a chain of events.

Try and memorise the following list of ten words:

bike, tea, drums, suitcase, drone, key, bomb, stone, necklace, door

Imagine that a bike is getting washed and the water is splashing everywhere. The bike hits a tea stall and knocks over a deer that was sipping tea.

The deer jumps onto a set of drums and starts beating it furiously. A suitcase is placed on the drums and it bounces as the music grows louder. A drone picks up the suitcase and flies off into the distance.

On the drone’s back is a colossal key that you have to turn to make it work. On turning the key, a bomb inside the drone explodes. The bomb, however, is halted by a stone that is glowing. Around the stone is a necklace that is hanging from a door.

Now, take a moment and try to recite as many words as you can from the list above.

If you could recite most or all of the words on the list, then it is safe to assume that one can memorise anything even if it seems impossible at first.

How to Practice

You can try creating as many interesting images as you like that stick in your memory for a long time. Use exaggerated actions and reactions. You can also create sentences and stories using words from your surroundings, your house, your routine or your favourite book or movie. Start with ten items and move on to longer lists.

Conclusion

An excellent memory is not innate but something you can develop with constant practice. This technique employs your imagination, association and the storytelling ability in you to help you remember lists, dialogues, events, speeches, stories and more. All it takes is a little dedication and effort every single day to see improvement. So, try it out for yourself and drop a comment below mentioning how many words you were able to memorise from the sample list!