How to Remember Anything: The Proven Total Memory Retention System (24 page)

The most often used technique for remembering names is to pick out some characteristic in the person’s face. The problem with that approach is that so many faces have similar characteristics: high foreheads, large noses, small eyes, and on and on. Plus, beards and mustaches can be grown—or shaved off—between one meeting and the next. My approach to remembering names is to use the total person in my image-making. Each person—just like every fingerprint—is different. There are no two people who present exactly the same image. There will be something distinctive about everyone you meet. The important thing is to associate the audionym illogically with the total person. Use only those things that are immediately apparent: the total face or his or her relative build—tall, short, large or small frame, and so on.

There is one exception to the claim that no two people have the same characteristics: twins. It is not actually an exception to the rule, it’s an addition to the rule. The principle still applies. Even in the case of identical twins, there are differences that can be detected. My brother Dale and I are identical twins. People who don’t know us well often say they can’t tell us apart.

I do not depend completely on the total person technique in the case of identical twins. I look for anything I can find to distinguish them and then make that a major part of my audionym association.

HOW TO DEVELOP AUDIONYMS FOR NAMES

The secret to developing audionyms for names is to establish rules and then to always follow them. Again, consistency is important. An audionym must always be a soundalike that you can see. Some names give us a head start:

Your first thought in developing an audionym should be to ask yourself, “Does the name sound like something I can see?” If so, you have an audionym. All of the names in the list above immediately call to mind a mental image. There are hundreds of names such as these for which you will have no difficulty in forming a visual image. You will be amazed at the many hundreds of names that immediately suggest an audionym that’s a common object.

If the name does not immediately give you a picture, your second step should be to ask yourself, “Can the name be broken apart to immediately give me pictures of all the parts?” Here are some examples:

There are thousands of names in these two categories alone.

Your third step should be to ask yourself, “Does any part of the name sound like something that I can see?” Here are some examples of such names:

None of the above names immediately bring a visual image to mind. But all of them have a part that is an object you can see. You must develop the ability to create an audionym for the rest of the name in cases like this. My book,
How to Master the Art of Remembering Names,
provides you with a head start of thousands of audionyms already developed.

The fourth type of names simply does not suggest anything to us. The names are not—totally or in part—descriptive of any object. There are common endings, however, that can be visualized and standardized to make them easy to remember. Examples:

If your learn audionyms for the word parts, you will be amazed at how easy it will be to have a clear visual image for even the most unusual names. By learning audionyms for standard parts of names, you will rarely be in a position where you cannot immediately come up with a visual image for names you have never even heard before. You should—as part of your memory training—learn to dissect words. Break them down into parts and construct audionyms for each part for later use.

One more suggestion: the next time you are going to a social or business gathering, try to get a list of the names of all the people who will be there. Study that list. Create an audionym for every name on the list. All that remains is to link your soundalike objects with the proper people. I often leave for a meeting thinking, “One of the guys at this meeting will be carrying a huge can, because there is a Ken on the list of guests, and one of the gals will be carrying a gigantic salad because there is a Sally on the list.”

It is a tremendous experience to attend a business or social function and be able to remember the names of everybody at the gathering. It certainly is satisfying.

Step 10

HOW TO SPEAK WITHOUT NOTES

Speaking in public is one thing. Speaking confidently without notes is
something indeed! Imagine being able to appear before an audience so well prepared that you could speak for a minute to an hour without any notes and never have any concern that you would forget what you want to say or how you want to say it!

The numbered Cube system has made it possible for thousands of individuals to conquer the fear of public speaking and to become very skilled at it. If you ever need to speak in public, give a report or an introduction, or make a sales presentation, the numbered Cube system is likely to become your very best friend. It’s like having your own personal prompter with you all the time.

Prepare your speech or presentation just as you normally would. When you have it written, break it apart into individual thoughts of one or two sentences each. Look at the individual thought or sentence and select the one or two words that will trigger the complete sentence for you. After you have selected the main words, convert them to audionyms. Use the Cube system to place the audionym in each of the numbered room locations. You can then
see
your entire speech.

You may have a fear of speaking in public. Most people do. In fact, it is listed as the number one fear, ranking even above the fear of death. I’ll share with you the fact that there was a time, many years ago, when I had a fear of speaking in front of anyone—even to give a report to a small group. It was so bad that I would nearly “choke up” on a silent prayer!—just kidding, of course, but it was almost that bad!

Today I am fortunate to have what some believe to be a rare and coveted gift—to be able to deliver a powerful, persuasive, and motivational presentation with absolute confidence and ease. Even better, I always do it without notes, and you can too!

Having delivered many hundreds of keynote speeches for state, national, and international conventions of academic and business leaders (to as many as eight thousand in one audience), I am certain most people think I was born with a natural ability to be a dynamic speaker. The truth is just the opposite! Until my early twenties—when I was beginning to develop my learning system—I always dreaded when it was my turn to give a report or say anything in front of anyone other than my family or friends. The memory system changed that very dramatically. The most dramatic change, however, came when I developed the numbered Cube system.

I don’t think it is possible to become a great speaker if you have to read to your audience. No truly great speaker has ever “moved the masses” by simply reading their speech. The numbered Cube system can give you the tools and the confidence you need to deliver your speech or presentation without notes.

Let’s look at an outline of a speech I once presented. I have selected this example because the speech included just ten key thoughts. I wrote the middle of the speech first. That is, I developed the ten key thoughts before I wrote the opening and closing remarks.

I titled the speech, “Ten Qualities for Success.” This, of course, was a natural for the Cube system. Did you ever notice how many times there are ten of something?

Top ten songs
Top ten movies
Ten best-dressed men or women
Ten most populated countries of the world
Ten most populated U.S. cities
Ten Commandments
Ten dos of public speaking
Ten don’ts of public speaking
Ten qualities for success

Here are the ten qualities for success that I used in my speech:

1.
Attitude

2.
Memory

3.
Organization

4.
Motivation

5.
Purpose

6.
Knowledge

7.
Plan

8.
Confidence

9.
Honesty

10.
Goal

When I have just ten things to learn, I use the ceiling as the number ten location (even though it is actually the zero location) because then I can keep all ten items in one room.

In preparing the speech, the first step was to convert what I wanted to remember into something I could see. Here is how I did it:

The second step was to visualize one audionym in each of the ten room locations of the room I was using for the ten qualities for success. For example, I saw:

1.
An
attic
bursting through the back left corner

2.
A
mummy
bursting through the left wall

3.
An
organ
bursting out of the front left corner

4.
A gigantic
motor
bursting out of the front wall

5.
A huge
porpoise
leaping out of the front right corner

6.
A
knoll
bursting through the right wall

7.
A gigantic
plant
bursting out of the back right corner

8.
Confetti
pouring out of the entire back wall