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Your brain doesn’t always tell you the truth, it often lies to you.

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!

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After delivering a recent keynote presentation, I decided to send the client a gift basket to say thanks.  I looked up a company in Ottawa and chose a gift.  The next day I received an email with my invoice and this note attached:

Dear Bob,
Thank you for your order.
Delivery in Ottawa is $15.00.
However we offer Free Delivery to anyone who can say,
“Antidisestablishmentarianism” backwards on the spot.
Lee Anne
DreamWeaver
www.dreamweavergifts.ca

It took Lee Anne perhaps 15 minutes of her time to look up my website from my email address, watch the short video, and get a sense of myself, and then personalized the email with the $15 off.
Do you think I’ll ever use anyone else in Ottawa?
I was so impressed that I posted it to Face Book and have decided to write about it here.  It’s the small things that make all the difference.
Think how you can make your next interaction with your customers or clients more ‘memorable’.

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.

How to memorize the US Presidents. In my previous posts I had you memorize the 1^st fifteen presidents by linking them together in groups of five to three separate rooms in your home, with the first president, Washington, associated to your 1^st location in your home, I used my downstairs hallway and placed a huge Washing Machine there. If you don’t recall them, please go back and review these fifteen images. Here is a link to that first post with the other two directly after it. http://bit.ly/13zWvBM

So to continue memorizing our next five presidents, Lincoln to Garfield, we will again link together a crazy sequence with the first, Lincoln, to your next (4^th) location or Loci. In my home it would be the Living Room. This is where we open our fourth folder containing the next five presidents.

Here are the images I personally would use to represent these names. These are by no means the strongest; they are just the ones that would work for me. Your own images will always be stronger, but feel free to use any or all of these if you wish.

Lincoln = A large black Lincoln Town Car.

Johnson = Johnson’s Bay Powder

Grant = Money, hundreds of Dollar Bills

Hayes = Hay Stack

Garfield = Garfield The Cat

So off we go again. The image that reminds me of my Living room is the large 70” TV I have mounted on the wall, this is my starting point. Obviously you need to pick a piece of furniture or appliance that reminds you of your fourth location or room in your house. So I have the large TV with which I need to associate the Lincoln car. How about visualizing a gigantic Lincoln Town Car driving out of the TV and landing on my living room floor. Hear the sound of the shattering glass and the sound of the car’s engine, smell the fumes from the exhaust.

Next: Lincoln to Baby Powder (Andrew Johnson)

Imagine this: After the car has landed on my living room floor I open the passenger door and a ton of white Johnson’s baby powder pours out, knocking me over…I am completely covered.

Next: Johnson, to an image of Money (Grant).

Imagine this: As I get up and start to brush off the powder with my hands, the powder immediately and magically turns into $100 bills that flutter to the floor.

Next: Money to Hay stack (Hayes)

Imagine this: After brushing off all the powder that has magically turned into $100 bills littering the floor, I grab them all up and stuff them into a gigantic Haystack situated in the corner of the room.

Next: Hay Stack to Garfield the cat (Garfield)

Imagine this: As I am stuffing the haystack with $100 bills, a gigantic Garfield springs out and jumps on top of me scratching the crap out of me. I imagine wrestling on the living room floor with this enormous cat. Hear the loud sounds of the cat screaming.

So, to review. What flies out of my large TV on the wall of my living room? A Lincoln Town Car = Lincoln

I open the car door, what pours out? Johnson’s baby powder = Johnson

I brush off the powder from my clothes, what does the powder turn into? Money = Grant

Where do I stuff the $100 bills? The haystack = Hayes

What jumps out of the haystack and starts a fight with me? Garfield the cat = Garfield

Just as with the first fifteen presidents, you need to review these images within the hour then again tomorrow, then review them each time I post another five. By the end you will know all 44 in sequence, a great exercise to show how images need to be formed to take advantage of memory systems. Remember to share with your children.

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 Memorize the US Presidents appeared first on Funny Motivational Speaker, Entertaining Humorist - Bob Gray.

Memorize the US Presidents. In my previous two posts I had you memorize the 1^st ten presidents by linking them together in groups of five to two separate rooms in your home, with the first president, Washington, associated to your 1^st location in your home, as an example I used my downstairs hallway and placed a huge Washing Machine there. If you don’t recall them, please go back and review these ten images.

So to continue memorizing our next five presidents, Polk to Buchanan, we will again link together a crazy sequence of images with the first representing Polk, being associated to your next (3^rd) location or Loci. In my home it would be the Kitchen. This is where we open our third folder containing the next five presidents.

We now need to place an image, which reminds us of Polk, and associate it to my kitchen (in my instance) or to whatever room you are using for your third location.

For Polk I immediately think of Poker and imagine the World Series of Poker taking place smack bang in the middle of my kitchen. I hear the stacking of poker chips running through the fingers of the payers, the shuffling of cards and the banter going on between the players.

Next: Poker to Taylor (Zachary Taylor)

Now we link the Poker game to the image representing the 12^th president, Taylor. This is a no brainer.

Imagine this: The poker game gets a little animated a fight breaks out and in the scuffle for chips, the felt on the table is ripped and they summon a Taylor to come in and stitch it up. See a Taylor lying across the table with needle and thread stitching up the gigantic tear on the table felt.

Next: Taylor, to an image that reminds you of Fillmore. For me I instantly think of the historic San Francisco music venue. There is a TV show named Fillmore, perhaps use a character from that program. If these don’t work for you but you are familiar with the name Fillmore, then you can shorten it to File, and visualize a huge nail File; this will work as long as you are already familiar with the name Fillmore.

Imagine this: If you use a nail File, see the Taylor stand up on the table after completing his needlework and begin filing his nails with a gigantic nail file. He’s proud of his work, after filing his nails he breathes on them and buffs them on his shirt.

Next: The Taylor buffing his nails to Peas (Pierce)

Imagine this: While he is buffing his nails standing on top of the poker table, all the poker players go to the refrigerator and each take out a packet of frozen peas, they open the bags and begin to throw frozen peas at him, shouting at him to get off the table so they can finish their poker game.

Next: Peas to Blue Canon (Buchanan)

Imagine this: The Taylor who is getting pelted by the peas begins to collect them up, jumps off the table and stuffs them down the barrel of a huge Blue Cannon sitting next to the Poker table. He lights the fuse and blasts the kitchen with thousands of frozen peas. Crazy enough for ya?

So, to review. What is sitting in the middle of the kitchen (or your third location)? The Poker table, which gives us our 11^th president, Polk. What happens next? They rip the felt and in comes the Taylor to repair the table, Taylor. Then what does he do? He stands on top of the table and admires his work and buffs his nails with a gigantic File, Fillmore. Next? The poker player’s throw Peas at him, which gives us Pierce and finally, he collects the Peas and shoves them down the barrel of a Blue Cannon and blasts the kitchen with frozen peas, Buchanan.

Just as with the first ten presidents, you need to review these images within the hour then again tomorrow, then review them each time I post another five. By the end you will know all 44 in sequence, a great exercise to show how images need to be formed to take advantage of memory systems. Remember to share with your children.

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 Memorize the US Presidents appeared first on Funny Motivational Speaker, Entertaining Humorist - Bob Gray.

Remember the US Presidents. I mentioned in my previous post how as a keynote presenter I often have the audience remember the US Presidents as a creative exercise for forming images. I thought I would extend it beyond the first 10 and write a series of posts to show how to recall all 44.

We memorize the 1st five presidents by linking them together in a crazy story, with the first president, Washington, associated to your 1st location in your home, I used my downstairs hallway and placed a huge Washing Machine there. If you don’t recall them, please go back and review the 1st five images in the previous post.

The next five presidents, (Quincy Adams to Harrison), will again be linked together in a crazy sequence with the first, Quincy Adams, being associated to your next location or Loci. In my home it would be the Front Living Room. This is where we open our second folder containing the next five presidents.

We now need to place an image, which reminds us of Quincy Adams, and place it smack bang in the middle of the living room. Already being familiar with the name Quincy Adams, all we need is an image with the ‘Q’ sound….a huge Q-tip would do. Go ahead and imagine a gigantic 6′ tall Q-tip standing erect in the middle of your living room (or whatever second location you are using).

Next: Q-tip to the Jackson Five (Andrew Jackson)

Now we link the Q-tip to the image representing the 7th president, Jackson.

Imagine this: Visualize the Jackson Five all hanging onto, and singing into, this gigantic Q-tip as if it were a microphone.

Next: Jackson Five to a Van transporting a huge Bureau (Van Buren)

Imagine this: See the Jackson Five, still holding this gigantic Q-tip, ‘moonwalking’ backwards onto a ramp that leads into the back of a Van. Inside the Van is an old ornate wooden bureau. The Jackson Five sit around the bureau and start opening drawers looking for pens and paper to sign autographs.

Next: The Van containing the Bureau to Harrison Ford and George Harrison (Harrison)

Imagine this: Separating the Jackson Five from the driver is a glass partition; they bang on the partition and yell at the driver to get going, as they are late for a gig. Look who’s in the driver’s seat, it’s Harrison Ford from the Raider’s movie. See him in his Brown leather jacket, bullwhip and revolver in hand, his fedora hat, and look who’s in the passenger seat, it’s George Harrison from the Beatles sitting there strumming his sitar.

Next: The Harrison’s to Steve Tyler (Tyler)

Imagine this: The Harrison’s say, “We can’t go yet until that nut job Steve Tyler gets off the roof of the van.” You hear this loud thumping on the roof, and the roof is starting to buckle in with the weight of Steve Tyler jumping up and down. The inevitable happens and Steve Tyler smashes through the roof and lands on top of the bureau, mic stand in hand with his trademark silk scarf tied to it, he’s singing his heart out.

If you are not familiar with Steve Tyler from Aerosmith, then you can perhaps visualize a Tiler with a work belt and kneepads ’tiling’ over some huge holes in the roof of the van.

So, to review. What is standing erect in the middle of the Living Room? (Our second location). Of course, the Q-tip….Quincy Adams. Who grabs hold of the Q-tip and starts to sing? The Jackson Five….Jackson. Where do they ‘moonwalk’? Into the back of the Van, which contains what? The Bureau….Van Buren. They bang on the glass, who is driving? The Harrison’s….Harrison. They say they can’t go until the nut job is off the roof, Steve Tyler….Tiler.

Just as with the first five presidents, you need to review these images within the hour then again tomorrow, then review them each time I post another five. By the end you will know all 44 in sequence, a great exercise to show how images need to be formed to take advantage of memory systems. Remember to share with your children.

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Left Brain Right Brain thinking. As a motivational keynote speaker I am always looking for interesting exercises to share with the audience. Here’s one for you to try:

Which of the following numbers is least like the others?

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Not enough space in my brain.

So I have to save it for the important stuff!

As a conference keynote speakerwho speaks on memory,  I have had every brain myth thrown at me at one time or another over the years.

One of the most common is, “I only have so much space in my brain, so I have to save the precious amount left for the important stuff.” It’s as if by learning something new they will have to dump or jettison some other more important stored information.

I actually get this most frequently when I challenge people to learn and develop the skill set of having a ‘trained’ memory. I put it up there with “I just don’t have time.” I think more realistically they are saying “I’m in a comfort zone….leave me alone.” Which is fine, but understand, it has nothing to do with any storage capacity your brain has!

No person exists, or has ever existed, who has come close to using the full potential of the brain.

Let me share with you a couple of statistics I learned many years ago, which to this day remain the most incredible statistics I have ever come across. They both address the absurdness that we ‘fill’ our brains up like a tap filling a water bottle.

The first is from Mark Rosenzweig a pioneer in brain plasticity research. He found that if the brain were fed 100 pieces of data, like a word or image, each second for 100 years, it would barely use up one tenth of its storage capacity!

Here’s my favourite:

Understanding that the brain contains a minimum of 1,000,000,000,000 neurons or nerve cells each of which has the potential to connect or interact with anywhere from 1 to 100,000 other neurons, it was for the longest time believed that the total number of permutations or interactions between these cells was the number 1, followed by 800 noughts! Incredible.

Incredible until you read that Professor Petr Anokhin from Moscow University concluded that this figure was totally underestimated. His new number, if written out in regular size script, (and this blows me away every time I mention it), is:

The number 1, followed by 10.5 million KILOMETERS of figures in length. That’s over 250 times the circumference of the Earth!

You’d probably run out of ink.

So the next time you hear someone say, I’ve only got so much room up there, you can throw them those statistics….if you can remember them that is….

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.

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