So with the Oscars coming up a friend of mine asked how she could show off at her annual Oscar party by recalling best film winners.  This is what I shared with her for best film winners 2001 – 2010.

First of all we need an image to represent each year, so I gave her rhyming partners.  For 1, (or for our purposes 2001) I told her to visualize a Bun,  2 (2002) A Shoe,  3 Tree,  4 Door,  5 Hive,  6  Sticks, 7 Heaven,  8 Plate,  9 Wine and 10 Pen.

To each of these images I had her attach, in a crazy way, an image which would represent the film.

2001 winner was A Beautiful Mind.  She visualized a Brain (Beautiful Mind) in a hamburger Bun (1 or 2001)

2002 (Shoe) winner was Chicago, she thought of the Windy City, for Chicago, and imagined Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers being swept up in a Tornado.

2003 (Tree) Lord of the Rings. The rings of a Tree replaced by the Golden Ring from the movie.

2004 (Door) Million-Dollar Baby.  A huge 6’ baby nailing $1M bank notes to an ornate Door.

2005 (Hive) Crash. A car crashing into a huge bee Hive.

2006 (Sticks) Departed. Running through her favourite DEPARTMENT store smashing everything in site with a huge hockey Stick.

2007 (Heaven) No Country For Old Men.  Old Men, each holding a flag from a different country, jumping from cloud to cloud in Heaven.

2008 (Plate) Slum Dog Millionaire. A basketball player, worth a Million $’s, Slam Dunking a Plate.

2009 (Wine) Hurt Locker.  She saw herself smashing a bottle of Wine against a metal Locker, hurting herself with the broken glass.

2010 (Pen) The King’s Speech.  A Kings Crown with large fountain Pens in place of jewels, and the King uses each pen, one at a time, to write a Speech.

If you visualized each of those images as you read them, go back in your head and test yourself to see if you have them memorized.

This is a basic Peg System, which coupled with another system known as The Phonetic Index, would allow you recall, not only the Best Film winners of every year, but also the best actors, supporting actors, cinematography….. and so on and so on.

These same systems help in business, recalling model numbers, prices, speeches, presentations, clients names…… and so on and so on.

Funny, unique and interactive in his entertaining conference keynotes and workshops, Bob Gray reveals the untapped potential in each of us. His empowering systems and their many applications in the business world give participants immediate ‘walk away’ value. Book Bob Gray today as your next conference keynote speaker.  Watch Bob in action.

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What’s the most effective way to keep your brain healthy and stave off dementia as you age? You may not want to hear the answer….but it’s physical exercise, the type most of us hate, where we elevate our heart rate for at least 30 minutes several times a week….but it’s not all bad news.

You don’t need to be on a treadmill or stationery bike looking at that dreaded clock countdown, just to have the machine tell you you’ve burned off the same calories as a chocolate chip cookie.

I’m not talking about weight loss here, that’s a whole other story. I’m talking about our ability to stay cognitive savvy in our later years…..so you can ditch the treadmill if you want, a fast walk works just as well. I have a dog and our daily walks are something I actually look forward to.

Technically the neurons in our brain need oxygen and glucose from our blood supply in order to operate correctly, and as our circulatory system ages it has a more difficult time delivering it……and exercise helps overcome this.

There’s a whole bunch of other stuff about growth factors, plasticity and proteins that support synaptic growth in the brain….but who cares? Well actually I do, but most people don’t. I just find that in most every keynote presentation or memory workshop I give, more and more people are concerned about the decline of their cognitive abilities as they age.

So don’t think it’s too late! Middle agers who exercise regularly are one-third less likely to get Alzheimer’s in their seventies as those who do not. Even people who begin exercising in their sixties can cut the risk down by up to one half.

You don’t have to join a gym, gym memberships spike every January then fall off come March. New Year’s fitness resolutions are made with the best intentions but most people don’t follow through. You don’t have to join a gym. If you don’t currently exercise, go see your doctor and ask him/her about starting an exercise program that can be done at home or involves walking. Maybe start with a walk two or three times a week, then crank up the pace….who knows, you just might get to finish that Sudoku by the time you’re ninety!

Funny, unique and interactive in his entertaining conference keynotes and workshops, Bob Gray reveals the untapped potential in each of us. His empowering systems and their many applications in the business world give participants immediate ‘walk away’ value. Book Bob Gray today as your next conference keynote speaker.  Watch Bob in action.

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Answer this problem quickly.

A coffee and a cookie together cost $1.10. The coffee cost $1 more than the cookie. How much does the coffee cost?

Most people say $1, which is wrong.

The coffee costs $1.05 and the cookie 5¢.

Our brain often takes shortcuts based on how important it thinks accuracy is over speed. It usually opts for speed, giving rules of thumb too much consideration over straight logic.

This is evident when we make assumptions about someone based on how they are dressed and even how they speak.

By the way, if you know of a place that sells coffee and a cookie for $1.10…let me know!

Funny, unique and interactive in his entertaining conference keynotes and workshops, Bob Gray reveals the untapped potential in each of us. His empowering systems and their many applications in the business world give participants immediate ‘walk away’ value. Book Bob Gray today as your next conference keynote speaker.

The post Your Brain Lies To You appeared first on Funny Motivational Speaker, Entertaining Humorist - Bob Gray.

They say that a good deal of success in life just comes down to who you know. That’s certainly true, but I might amend that to include the people you’ve met and can remember.

If that seems like a small distinction, it isn’t – most of us meet hundreds, and maybe thousands, of people who could help us live better lives in dozens of different ways, if only we could make the right connections and associations at the right times. In other words, if we could recall the name of that great contractor we met, the recommendation for the dentist we got, or who the boss’s nephew was again, more things would tend to go our way.

That’s why it’s important that you make the most of holiday parties this year. It’s a virtual guarantee that you’re going to meet someone you’d like to know, or at least remember, at a later date, but most of us aren’t as strong with names and faces as we would like.

With that in mind, here are some quick tips for remembering the names and faces of people you meet at holiday parties this season:

Make a quick image association. This is one of the easiest memory techniques to learn, and one of the most powerful. When you meet a new person, associate their name with some image in your mind; perhaps they remind you of someone you know or someone famous. Or simply associate them with someone you know or someone famous who has the same name. Hold it firm for a moment or two. The stronger the picture is, emotionally speaking, the easier it will be to recall later.

Remember where you are when you meet someone. If you can recall where you were when you met someone, or who you were with, you stand a much better chance of recalling their name later. So, take a quick mental snapshot of your location and associate it with the new name.

Spell their name. Spelling their name forces you to hear it, most times we don’t actually forget a name, we just don’t remember it in the first place, and this is usually because we don’t hear it.

Say or repeat their name. Use the name once or twice in your initial conversation. Say the person’s name, either out loud in conversation or quietly to yourself. Then, remind yourself again at a later time of their name, and it will likely stick in your memory.

These are only simple techniques, of course, but they work. In my keynotes and workshops, I teach attendees to quickly memorize names and faces in rapid succession, and you can easily learn to do the same. Best of all, if you practice these techniques regularly, the names won’t just stay with you, but you’ll be able to recall them later, and maybe even for years to come.

Imagine how convenient it would be to remember the names, faces, and details of everyone you met at holiday parties, industry events, and social gatherings!

The post Are You Ready to Make the Most of Holiday Parties? appeared first on Funny Motivational Speaker, Entertaining Humorist - Bob Gray.

I will be completely upfront in telling you that I think any person, in any occupation, can strongly benefit from improving his or her memory. It’s just one of those skills that carries over into so many parts of your personal and professional life that it would be hard to overvalue.

With that being said, however, one of the groups that I tend to work with most often are salespeople. If ever there were a set of professionals who could use a memory presentation to make more money right away, it’s these hard-working folks who turn ideas into commission checks.

How can a stronger memory multiply your sales income? Here are just a few of the most obvious ways:

By helping you to remember every key point in a sales presentation. Using this system can assist you in not only recalling key points, but also delivering them in the correct sequence. Too many times salespeople give a dynamite presentation only to remember 30 minutes later that they forgot a key point. This leads to lost credibility . . . and potentially lost sales.

By helping you to remember customer names. Is there anything worse than sitting face to face with an important prospect – or seeing them at a convention or social setting – and not being able to remember their name? Putting names together with faces is the top challenge that salespeople ask me about, and it’s also one of the easiest skills to teach.

By letting you build stronger relationships with clients and colleagues.There is more to building rapport with customers than remembering names, of course. The more you can recall about their spouse, children, career background, and so on, the easier it is for your buyers to feel like they know and like you.

By giving you an edge with product knowledge and account details. There is also a professional component to your memory. When you have key product features, prices, part numbers, and other details available off the top of your head, you look and feel more confident. In addition, you are able to move sales forward more quickly.

By keeping you on top of what your competitors are selling. If you are able to master your competitors’ products as well as your own, you can counter nearly any objection. It isn’t enough to know about your industry – you need to be able to remember all key information at a moment’s notice to make it worthwhile.

To find out more about memory training for salespeople and my entertaining keynotes and seminars, contact my office today.

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So here is my ninth post on memorizing the US state capitals. Again, please take a moment to read the April post regarding how our memory tends to cling to the absurd and make sure you are reviewing these crazy images at the critical times in order to store them into your long term memory. (See below)

OK, let’s memorize the next five capital cities for South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Vermont.

The capital of S. Dakota is Pierre. Again, as in North Dakota, I will use the actress Dakota Fanning. This time I see her in a swimsuit; this allows me to differentiate from North (cold) to South (hot). So I see her perhaps on the beach and see her juggling huge Peas in the Air, Pierre.

Tennessee’s capital is Nashville. Anything related to Tennis will work here. Your favourite tennis player, a tennis court, a racquet, or even Wimbledon. For Nashville I think of Ash, so I imagine Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal playing centre court Wimbledon, and instead of using tennis racquets, they are using gigantic cigarettes which are dropping mounds of cigarette ash onto the court. See them trying to smoke between sets, disgusting and memorable!

The capital of Texas is Austin. This is an easy one for me but very English. For Texas I see the Alamo and driving onto the Alamo is an old Austin 16, a car that my dad had when I was growing up in England. You could use a Texas Longhorn to represent Texas and for Austin you could use Steve Austin, the old Six Million Dollar Man, or Stone Cold Steve Austin, the retired wrestler, see either, or both of them riding a Longhorn, or see Stone Cold wrestling one in a ring.

Utah’s capital is Salt Lake City. Utah always reminds me of the Bonneville Salt Flats. For Utah I think of You Tar and I see the Flats covered in hot sticky Tar. Perhaps someone is trying to set a new land speed record and they are stuck in the Tar. Or you could see a huge Salt Cellar stuck in a huge puddle of Tar. Once you remember Salt, you should automatically remember Salt Lake City.

And finally the capital of Vermont is Montpelier. I change Vermont to Fur Mint and Montpelier to Mt. Peel. So a Furry cat eating a Mint on top of a Mountain of orange Peel. Go ahead see that image!

So to review:

Dakota Fanning juggling Peas
South Dakota/Pierre

Roger and Rafael smoking at Wimbledon
Tennessee/Nashville

Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestling a Longhorn
Texas/Austin

New land speed record halted by Tar
Utah/Salt Lake City

A furry Cat eating a Mint on top of a Mountain of orange Peel
Vermont/Montpelier

Here is my standard wrap up.
Again, make sure you review these images within 60-75 minutes from now, it takes less than 60 seconds but is critical for long term storage, then again within 24 hr’s, then 1 week later and then 1 month later.

I will continue to post state capitals and their crazy images in groups of five. I have just five more to go then you will have all 50 memorized and a great handle on how to visualize the ridiculous and absurd. This is essential for us to apply memory systems to more practical business applications like recalling Names and Faces, speeches and presentations, model numbers, prices, to-do lists etc.

Please share if you found this informative, thanks.

Bob Gray CSP HoF

keynote speaker

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