Dominic OBrien - How To Develop A Perfect Memory

HOWTO DEVELOP A

PERFECT

MEMORY

DOMINICO'BRIEN

Tomy dear mother Pamela who is forever saying, 'How does hedo it!'

Theauthor would like to thank Jon Stock for his invaluable assistance inpreparing this book.

Firstpublished in Great Britain in 1993 by Pavilion Books Limited, 26Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD.

Copyright Dominic O'Brien 1993

Themoral right of the author has been asserted. Designed by PeterBridgcwater

Allrights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

The Fatherof the Bride speechby Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson is reproduced by kind permissionof The Peters, Fraser & Dunlop Group Ltd and PJB Management.

ACIP catalogue record for this book is available from the BritishLibrary.

ISBN1 85793 1068

Printedand bound in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd, Fromc andLondon.

246810 97531

Thisbook may be ordered by post direct from the publisher. Please contactthe Marketing Department. But try your bookshop first.

DominicO'Brien's Management Company: Bob England, Hurricane, 17 Bull Plain,Hertford, Herts SGI4 1DX. Telephone number: 0992 500818.

HOW TO DEVELOP A PERFECT MEMORY

CONTENTS

1: Introduction

2: How to remember lists

3: What's in a name?

4: How to remember numbers

5: The mental diary

6: The mental in-tray

7: Memory and job interviews

8: How to remember speeches

9: How to remember directions

10:Learning the twentieth century calendar

11:How to recall 'lost' chapters of your life

12:How to learn languages

13:How to remember geographical facts

14:How to remember history

15:Popular mnemonics

16:How to memorize a pack of playing cards

17:How to win (always) at TrivialPursuit

18:Memory and sport

19:How memory can improve your golf swing

20:How memory can improve your chess game

21:More on cards - how to memorize thirty-five decks

22:Number crunching

23:Remembering binary numbers

24:How to win at blackjack

25:How to beat quiz machines

26:Memory and the Greeks

27:Famous memory men

28:Conclusion

AppendixA: Name and face exercises

SelectedBibliography

APR 1995

O'BRIEN,Dominic ^

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INTRODUCTION

I knowwhat it is like to forget someone's name. In my time, I haveforgotten appointments, telephone numbers, speeches, punch linesof jokes, directions, even whole chapters of my life. Up untilrecently, I was the most absent-minded, forgetful person you couldimagine. I once saw a cartoon of two people dancing rather awkwardlyat the Amnesiacs' Annual Ball. The man was saying to the woman, 'Do Icome here often?' I knew how he felt.

Withinthe last four years, I have become the World Memory Champion. Iregularly appear on television and tour the country as a celebrity'Memory Man', rather like Leslie Welch did in the 1950s. There's notrickery in what I do - no special effects or electronic aids. I justsat down one day and decided enough was enough: I was going to trainmy memory.

LEARNINO HOW TO USE YOUR BRAIN

Imaginegoing out and buying the most powerful computer in the world. Youstagger home with it, hoping that it will do everything for you, evenwrite your letters. Unfortunately, there's no instruction manual andyou don't know the first thing about computers. So it just sits thereon the kitchen table, staring back at you. You plug it in, fiddlearound with the keyboard, walk around it, kick it, remember how muchmoney it cost. Try as you might, you can't get the stupid thing towork. It's much the same with your brain.

Thebrain is more powerful than any computer, far better than anythingmoney can buy. Scientists barely understand how a mere ten per centof it works. They know, however, that it is capable of storing andrecalling enormous amounts of information. If, as is now widelyaccepted, it contains an estimated lO ^neurons, the number of possible combinations between them (which isthe way scientists think information is stored) is greater than thenumber of particles in the universe. For most of us, however, thememory sits up there unused, like the computer on the kitchen table.

Thereare various ways of getting it to work, some based on theory, some onpractice. What you are about to read is a method I have developedindependently over the last five years.

Throughoutthis book, you will be asked to create images for everything you wantto remember. These images will come from your imagination; oftenbizarre, they are based on the principles of association (we arereminded of one thing by its relation to another). Don't worry thatyour head may become too cluttered by images. They are solely a meansof making information more palatable for your memory and will fadeonce the data has been stored.

Itis essential, however, that you form your own images. I have givenexamples throughout the book, but they are not meant to becopied verbatim. Your own inventions will work much better for youthan mine.

BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE

Ihave a stubborn streak, which kept me going through the long hours oftrial and error, and I am pleased to say that my method is allgrounded in personal experience. Those techniques that didn't workwere altered until they did, or thrown out. In other words, themethod works, producing some remarkable results in a short space oftime.

Themost dramatic change has been the improvement in the overall qualityof my life. And it's not just the little things, like never needingto write down phone numbers or shopping lists. I can now beintroduced to a hundred new people at a party and remember all theirnames perfecdy. Imagine what that does for your social confidence.

Mymemory has also helped me to lead a more organized life. I don't needto use a diary anymore: appointments are all stored in my head. I cangive speeches and talks without referring to any notes. I can absorband recall huge amounts of information (particularly useful if youare revising for exams or learning a new language). And I have usedmy memory to earn considerable amounts of money at the blackjacktable.

WHAT I HAVE PONE, YOU CAM DO

Somepeople have asked me whether they need to be highly intelligent tohave a good memory, sensing that my achievements might be based on anexceptional IQ_. It'sa flattering idea, but not true. Everything I have done could beequally achieved by anyone who is prepared to train their memory.