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.

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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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Well for most people the fear is real and it comes down to a few basic reasons, the fear of failure, being judged, humiliated and most of all….forgetting what to say….which brings me to Sarah Palin.

You may recall a few months back a post speech Q & A in Nashville where she was asked what top three things a Republican majority in Congress should focus on. Already knowing that she would be asked this question, she was not confident that she could remember these three things: Energy, Tax Cuts and Raise American spirits….so what did she do? You may remember….she wrote them on her hand!

Needless to say it was picked up on camera, it got posted on YouTube, it went viral and she was lambasted by the news media and of course the Democrats and her credibility was brought into question, yet again, she really didn’t need this.

As a memory consultant I couldn’t help but feel for her, for a very basic memory system called The Chain or Link and less than 60 seconds of her time could have avoided this embarrassment.

Simply put, the Chain is a memory system which is used for recalling sequential information, like lists, equations and formulas, and best of all, speeches and presentations, which is no more than a sequence of thoughts and ideas.

The key to the Chain is to link images or thoughts together in a crazy ridiculous nonsensical fashion. The crazier the images, the quicker the recall. Images or pictures are easier to recall than words, (a picture is worth a thousand words). Crazy, odd and strange images are easier still. The images represent what you wish to remember, in Sarah’s case, just three items: Energy, Tax Cuts and Raising American Spirits.

Item 1. Energy.

All Sarah needed to do was think of an image which represents energy, the first image that comes to mind is usually the strongest. It could be an Energy Drink or Energy Bar, a Wind Turbine, or a Solar Panel, anything which engages the right, creative side of the brain, this would be her first image. To this she needed to link in a strange way an image which represented the second item, which was:

Tax Cuts.

Now the beauty with memory systems is that you can literally visualize an image which simply sounds like the item to be remembered, and it will do just fine. (It is a common memory ‘trick’ for recalling people’s names).

So for tax cuts all she needed to do was visualize Thumb Tacks. Tacks sound identical to Tax. Tax is hard to visualize, ‘Tacks’ on the other hand (there’s a joke there somewhere) is easy to visualize. So when the right side of the brain, the creative side, recalls the image of ‘Tacks’, the left side, the logical side, will immediately convert it to Tax.

Now she simply had to link together, let’s say a can of Red Bull for Energy and ‘huge’ Thumb Tacks for Tax Cuts. Regular size thumb tacks are simply not as memorable as say thumb tacks whose heads are the size of your palm, that is memorable! She needed to imagine taking two gigantic thumb tacks, and piercing the can of Red Bull. See this image yourself; see yourself piercing the can with these two gigantic Tacks. Feel the cold can in your hand; hear the sound of the buckling aluminum.

Now she needed to link the third and final item:

Raising American Spirits.

For this she could have used Casper the friendly ghost for spirit. Now we continue the story. After she had pierced the can she needed to imagine taking out one of the Tacks, as she does so Casper (spirit) floats out from the hole she created and slowly rises (raising) to the ceiling. You know it’s not about raising Outer Mongolian spirits, but if you really need to remember raising American spirits, then see Casper waving a US flag. Raising American Spirits!

Red Bull pierced by huge thumb Tacks, remove a tack and Casper squeezes out the hole and rises to the ceiling while waving a US flag.

Three simple images, 60 seconds……..saved credibility!

Ironically in the speech she gave before the Q & A she was criticizing President Obama for using a teleprompter. All speeches can be remembered using the Chain. Obviously presenters must have a handle on the information they wish to present, they need to know their material, they just need to feel confident they can present it in the correct order and not forget any key points; the Chain allows this, whether you have three points or thirty three points.

So, Barack, Sarah, do away with the teleprompter and the ‘handwritten’ notes….and give me a call; just see a large telephone ‘Bob’bing around in a pool with a ‘Gray’ shark!

Bob Gray is an international keynote and memory workshop presenter. A Guinness World Record Holder, Certified Speaking Professional and Canadian Speaker Hall of Fame inductee.

Motivational Keynote Speaker

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