The Technique
When you’re talking with a friend, how often do you stop and say, “Oh! That reminds me about…?” When we talk or think about one idea it frequently reminds us of a related thought. Using this feature of our minds makes it easy to memorize long lists.
Linking Items in a List
The best way to link together two items on a list is to form a vivid mental picture with both things interacting. It’s hard for us to forget something that we see or even imagine, especially if it is unusual or graphic.
When you want to memorize a list, associate each item in the list with the next using the most vivid mental picture possible. Then, without thinking about the first thing in the list, link together the second and third items in the list. When you want to recall the list, think of the first item and the second will almost instantly come into your head. The second item will remind you of the third, and so on.
Example
Let’s use the list from the last page as our first example. The following are possible ways to link each pair of items in the list using a mental image.
Purse → TV
Imagine swinging a purse hard enough to break through a TV screen. Or maybe the purse is like the magical bag that Mary Poppins has and you can pull a big-screen TV out of it.
TV → Light Bulb
Think of using big fluorescent lights as antennas on a TV. Or you could imagine that there is always a picture of a light bulb on the screen, no matter what channel the TV is on.
Light Bulb → Hammer
This one is easy, isn’t it? The obvious thing to do is to pound the light bulb with a hammer. But don't just stop there; make sure you imagine what it would sound like and how the glass would fly apart. Or you can imagine Yzma breaking it and saying “Ha! I’ll smash it with a hammer!” Use whatever will stand out in your mind.
Hammer → Barbecue
Instead of steaks on the grill there are a bunch of tender, juicy,…hammers. Imagine flipping them over and seasoning them as they slowly cook above the flames.
Barbecue → Waterfall
One possibility is to have the barbecue go down a waterfall. But to make it even more vivid, imagine a person going over a waterfall inside of a barbecue, instead using a barrel.
As you were reading these examples you might have thought of different pictures that you would rather use. Don’t worry if your ideas are completely different than these—you should use whatever is helpful to you. When you come up with your own mental pictures you will remember them much more easily.
Now you should practice your new skill! Finish making up links for the list on the previous page. When you finish, just start with the first item. What happened with the purse? Right, it smashed the TV. And the TV had light bulb antennas, and the hammer smashed the light bulbs…. Before you know it, you will have recalled the whole list.