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              Association of Ideas - Introduction         TOP

How often do you hear the two words 'I forgot ...' used in conversation ?
Probably several times every day, at the very least. But when someone says
'I forgot...', the chances are that they didn't really forget - they just
didn't remember in the first place. Just think about that idea for a
moment - if you initially remember something , how can you subsequently
forget it ?

An important principle of all memory training systems is the idea of
Initial Awareness. If you are Initially Aware of something, you will
not forget it. All the Total Recall systems which you are about to learn
work on this principle - they concentrate the mind on whatever you are
trying to remember for just long enough to force Initial Awareness.

This may sound like hard work at first, but in fact all the Total Recall
systems are childishly simple. Once you have taken the time and effort to
learn them, you will be able to remember any new item of information you
want to, easily and quickly. If you follow the course thoroughly, and work
through all the exercises, you will soon discover that your memory is far
more powerful than you ever imagined !

The Ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called Mnemonics, a
name derived from their Goddess of Memory, Mnemosene. In the ancient
world, a trained memory was an immense asset, particularly in public life. There
were no convenient devices for taking notes, and early Greek orators
delivered long speeches with great accuracy because they learned the
speeches using Mnemonic systems.

The Greeks discovered that human memory is largely an Associative process
- that it works by linking things togethher. For example, think of a
pineapple. The instant your brain registers the word pineapple, it
recalls the shape, colour, taste, texture and smell of that fruit. All
these things are associated in your memory with the word pineapple.

Any thought, action, word, statement, or whatever, can trigger another,
associated memory. When you recall what you had for lunch yesterday, that
may remind you of something someone said during lunch, which may recall the
memory of some background music which was playing, which may evoke
something which occurred ten years ago, and this can go on and on. These
associations do not have to be logical - they can be completely random or
absurd.

The Principle of Association forms the basis of all the memory systems which
you will be taught by Total Recall. The principle is that You Can
Remember Any New Information If You Associate It To Something You
Already Know Or Remember.

You have actually used this principle of association all your life, though
probably subconsciously. Do you recall the five lines of the treble clef
music staff, E,G,B,D,F ? If you were ever taught to think of the phrase
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, then you do remember them. You
remembered some new (and abstract) information, the letters E,G,B,D,F, by
associating them to something you already knew, or at least understood - the
simple phrase Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.

Do you remember the shape of Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany ?
Probably not. What about Italy though ? If you remember the shape of Italy, it is
because you've been told at some time that Italy is shaped like a boot. You
made an association with something already known, the shape of a boot, and
Italy's shape couldn't be forgotten once you had made the association.

There are many other common uses of the Principle of Association. American
students are told to think of HOMES on Great Lake to help remember the five
great lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Music students
think of the word STAB to remind themselves of the four voices in a quartet
- Soprano, Tenor, Alto, Bass.

All these examples of association are limited to the extent that they work
only for one specific thing. The Total Recall systems, however, can be
applied to absolutely anything you wish to remember. When you have
learned how to associate consciously anything you want to remember to
something you already know, then you will have a trained memory. It really
is as simple as that.

Tutorial 1 - Association of Ideas

For your first exercise in Association, let's assume you want to memorise
these ten everyday, unrelated items, in sequence: banana, car, newspaper,
sausage, pen, tree, watch, tie, television, football. In order to do this,
you are going to consciously apply the basic memory rule defined in the
Introduction, but with an an important addition - You Can Remember Any New
Information If You Associate It To Something You Already Know In Some
Ludicrous Way.

First, picture a banana in your mind. You can't apply the rule yet. But
now we come to the next item - car. If we assume that you already know
banana, you can now apply the memory rule. You simply need to create a
ridiculous picture, or image, in your mind's eye - an association between
banana and car.

In order to do this you need a ludicrous, far-fetched, crazy, illogical,
absurd, - picture or image to associate the two items. What you don't
want is a logical or sensible picture. For example, a sensible picture
might be - someone sitting in a car eating a banana. Although this would
not be something you would expect to see every day, it is in not in any way
bizarre or impossible.

An impossible, crazy, picture might be - a gigantic banana is driving a car
along the motorway, or you open a car door and billions of bananas tumble
out and knock you over. These are ludicrous, illogical pictures.

What you need to do is select one of these pictures, or a crazy image you
thought of yourself, and see it your mind for just a fraction of a second.
Be careful not to picture the words banana and car. You need to see the
action you've selected - the huge banana driving the car, or the mountain
of bananas tumbling out of a car, or whichever image you've decided on. See
that picture in your mind's eye for just an instant, right now.

The next item on your list is newspaper. Assuming that you already
remember car, you now need to form a ridiculous association in your mind
between car and newspaper. For example, you open a newspaper and a car
leaps out of the pages and knocks you over. Or you are driving a huge
rolled up newspaper instead of a car. Or you are driving a car when a
massive sheet of newspaper appears in front of you, which the car rips as
you drive through it. Choose one of these images, or one you conjured up
yourself, and picture it clearly for a split second.

Sausage is the next item to remember, so you now need to form a ludicrous
association between newspaper and sausage. You could picture yourself
eating rolled up newspapers and eggs for breakfast instead of sausages and
eggs, or you are reading a gigantic sausage which has lots of news printed
on it, or a paperboy is walking along a street pushing very long sausages
through letterboxes instead of newspapers. See one of those crazy images.

Next on the list is pen. Associate it to sausage. See yourself trying to
write with a sausage instead of a pen, or you cut into a sausage with a
knife and fork and gallons of ink shoot out of the sausage into your face.
Picture one of these scenarios clearly in your mind.

The next item is tree. Picture millions of pens growing on a tree instead
of leaves, or a colossal fountain pen is growing in your garden instead of a
tree. Be sure to see the image clearly.

Watch is the next item on the list. Picture a tree with lots of branches
which are wearing giant wristwatches, or you look at your watch and see that
there is a tree growing out of it, with roots curling up your arm. Select
one of these images, or one of your own, and see it for an instant in your
mind's eye.

Tie comes next. See yourself wearing an elongated wristwatch instead of a
tie, or an enormously long tie is tied around your wrist instead of a watch,
so long that it drags along the floor.

The next item to be remembered is television. You might picture yourself
with a television hanging around your neck instead of a tie, or you switch
on the television and a vast, horribly spotted tie bursts out of the screen,
unrolling itself for yards and yards. Select a crazy association between
tie and television, and see the picture in your mind.

The final item on the list is football. See a football match where the
players are kicking around a television instead of a football. Or you are
watching a football game on television when millions of footballs suddenly
burst throught the screen and hit you in the face. Picture one of those
images.

If you have really tried to see all those pictures, you will now remember
the list of ten items in sequence, both forwards and backwards.

Additional Exercises - Association of Ideas

Now that you've been introduced to the principle of association, spend some
time practicing those mental pictures. Make up a list of items, then
form associations between those items in your mind. Remember that your
mental images should always be as illogical, crazy, and far-fetched as
possible.

The items you associate can be any everyday, ordinary things that you think
of. They don't have to be logically connected in any way. Start with a list
of ten items, then increase the list to twenty, or as many as you feel you
can handle at this stage. If you can associate a list of twenty items and
then recall the list both backwards and forwards, you are doing very well.

You can practice your association skills anywhere - on a train or bus, or
while out walking, or during commercial breaks on television, or during your
lunch break at work or school... any time you have a few spare moments.

Association forms the basic building block around which all the Total
Recall systems are built. The more time you spend practicing the creation
of those ludicrous mental pictures now, the easier you will find the rest
of the systems to learn.

When you feel confident with your new found memory skills, get a friend or
relative to call out twenty items to you, or as many as you feel comfortable
with. Let him write down the items as he calls them, so that he can check
you later. If he doesn't write the items down, he won't remember the items
himself - unless he's followed the Total Recall course !

As he calls out the list, you associate each item in turn to the last one,
using the techniques you have just learned. When he's called out all the
items, you can repeat them straight back to him. If you miss an item, simply
ask him what the item was, strengthen that particular association, and call
the list out in reverse !

To make sure you remember the first item in the list, simply associate it
to your friend's head. If the first item was banana, see billions of
bananas come tumbling out of your friend's mouth.

Each time you try this exercise you will gain confidence in the Principle of
Association, and see that the system really does work !


Introduction - The Link System       TOP

In Tutorial 1 you were introduced to the concept of consciously associating
items together in your mind. In doing this, you were applying a small part
of the 'Link' or 'Chain' Memory System. You were forming the links of a
memory chain, by systematically linking one item to another. If you make
the associations strong enough in your mind, then one item in the chain
must lead you on to the next item.

Once the Link system has been applied to a list, you can retain that list
for as long as you wish. Of course, there's no reason why you should retain
the list of items you Linked during Tutorial 1 - they were just everyday
items with no logical connection.

But when you begin to apply the Link System for practical reasons, you will
be memorising lists because you intend to make use of those lists. The
practical use will provide the motivation to remember it in the first place.

The Link System can be used to memorise any information which has to be
learned in sequence. Speeches, presentations, stories, jokes, recipes, and
formulas are all examples of things which must be learned in sequence.#

The most common problem experienced by people trying to learn the Link
System is how to make their mental pictures sufficiently ludicrous to make
strong associations. It does take a certain amount of imagination to form
ridiculous pictures in your mind. Children have no trouble in forming silly
or ludicrous pictures - they do it naturally.

Unfortunately, as we grow up, most of us tend to use our imagination less
and less, and so it becomes a little rusty. However, that capacity for
imagination we had when we were children is still there - it just needs a
little oiling. Applying the Total Recall systems will automatically
provide the exercise that your imagination needs.

So don't worry if at first you have to apply some effort to create those
ludicrous mental pictures. After a bit of practice, you'll find that you
can do it quickly and easily.

There are five basic principles you can apply in forming your mental
pictures which will help to make your associations strong and long lasting -

(1)  OUT OF PROPORTION - In all your images, try to distort size and
shape. In Tutorial 1, you were told to picture a 'Huge' sausage or a
'Gigantic' tie. Conversely, you can make things microscopically small.

(2) SUBSTITUTION - Tutorial 1 suggested that you visualise footballers
kicking a television around a football pitch instead of a football, or
pens growing on a tree instead of leaves. Substituting an out of place item
in an image increases the probability of recall.

(3) EXAGGERATION - Try to picture vast quantities in your images. For
example, Tutorial 1 used the word 'billions' (of bananas).

(4) MOVEMENT - Any movement or action is always easy to remember. For
example, Tutorial 1 suggested that you see yourself cutting into a sausage
and gallons of ink squirting out and hitting you in the face.

(5) HUMOUR - The funnier, more absurd and zany you can make your images, the more memorable they will be.

Applying any combination of these five principles when forming your images
will help make your mental associations truly outstanding and memorable.

At first you may find that you need to consciously apply one or more of the
five principles in order to make your pictures sufficiently ludicrous.
After a little practice however, you should find that applying the
principles becomes an automatic and natural process.

Tutorial 2 - The Link System

Your second memory training exercise again involves memorising a list of
items in sequence, but this time we'll make the list more practical. Assume
you wish to memorise the following shopping list of fifteen items :

Chicken, Melon, Scouring Pads, Shredded Wheat, Milk, Baked Beans,
Shampoo, Runner Beans, Meat Pies, Car Polish, Evening Newspaper,
French Loaf, Tea Bags, Soap, Eggs.

Of course, it's just as easy to jot down your shopping list on a piece of
paper as it is to try and memorise it. But how many times have you reached
the supermarket or shops only to realise that you've left your list on the
kitchen table, or in the pocket of a coat which you decided not to wear
after all ?

Any way, let's assume for the moment that you wish to memorise the list of
items above. You are going to memorise the list of items in sequence, using
the Link System. Of course, it;s not important to know a shopping list in
sequence - you simply want to remember all the items. But, if you don't
memorise the list in sequence, and particularly if it's a long list , how
else will you be sure you've remembered all the items ?

Actually, there is another method of memorising all the items, using the
Peg System, but we'll come to that later !

O.K., let's make a start on memorising that shopping list. The first item is
Chicken. Before moving on to item two, consider for a moment how you can
be sure that you will remember the first item in any Link. After all,
there is nothing to asssociate it to. The answer is to associate it to the
subject of your Link - in this case the supermarket.

For example, picture yourself opening the supermarket door and millions of
chickens flying out, knocking you over. If you can picture that ridiculous
image, or a similar ludicrous picture, clearly in your mind for just an
instant, then you will remember that first item on your shopping list.

An alternative method of remembering the first item of any Link is to think
of any item in the middle of the Link, and work backwards through your
associations. This must eventually lead you to your first item.

For the moment, let's assume that you know the first item, chicken. The
second item is melon. Now, form a ridiculous association between
chicken and melon. You might picture a chicken trying to lay a huge
melon insead of an egg, with a contorted expression on its face. This is
rather a crude picture, but one that is likely to stay in your mind. See
that image, or a similar zany association between chicken and melon in
your mind's eye, right now.

Remember that the ludicrous associations suggested here are only
suggestions. If you come up with your own images then so much the better -
you are increasing your Original Awareness.

Now, continue with your Link. The next item is scouring pads, so you
might picture yourself trying to clean some dishes with a massive melon
instead of a scouring pad. Next comes Shredded Wheat. To associate that
item to the previous one, you could picture yourself eating a bowl of
scouring pads soaked in milk, instead of Shredded Wheat.

The fifth item is milk. You might picture yourself pouring from a milk
bottle, but instead of milk out come hundreds of Shredded Wheat. See each
one of those Shredded Wheat squeezing itself painfully out of the bottle, so
that it bursts into a thousand pieces when it finally squeezes through the
neck of the bottle.

Next comes baked beans. Imagine yourself piercing a can of beans with a
tin opener, when gallons of milk squirt out, soaking you from head to toe.
The seventh item is shampoo. Picture yourself pouring some shampoo over
your head, but instead of shampoo, tons of baked beans come squirting out of
the bottle, until you are knee deep in them.

The next item is runner beans, so associate that item to shampoo. You
could see yourself lathering your hair with shampoo, when dozens of runner
beans suddenly start sprouting out of your hair. See that association, or
one you thought of yourself, for just a split second. Remember, you don't
have to see the picture for a long period of time - you just need to see
it clearly for a fraction of a second.

You are now just over half way through forming your Link of fifteen items.
Before continuing, just pause and review the associations you have made so
far. Look back over the associations suggested up to this point, and
consider how the five principles of Out of Proportion, Substitution,
Exaggeration, Movement, and Humour have been used in the suggested
images.

O.K., let's continue with the ninth item in the Link, meat pie. To form
a ludicrous association with runner beans, you might see yourself cutting
into a meat pie with a knife and fork. Suddenly a huge runner bean plant
sprouts out of the middle of the pie, so tall that it shoots right through
the ceiling.

Next comes car polish. See yourself trying to clean a car with a meat pie,
instead of a tin of car polish. Picture yourself dipping a cloth into that
meat pie, and covering the car with dripping gravy. See that image clearly.

The eleventh item is evening newspaper. A zany association here might be -
you open the evening newspaper to the middle pages, and an arm holding a
duster covered in car polish zooms out of the newspaper and polishes your
face, causing you to splutter and cough.

Next, associate evening newspaper to french loaf. For example, imagine
yourself trying to make sandwiches out of the evening newspaper, instead of
the french loaf. Then comes tea bags. A ridiculous picture here could be -
you are trying to push a gigantic french loaf into a teapot.

The fourteenth item on your shopping list is soap. See yourself perhaps
washing your face with tea bags, and getting into an awful mess. To complete
your Link, associate soap to eggs. You could picture yourself eating a
bar of soap out of an egg cup for breakfast, instead of a boiled egg. As you
eat the soap out of the egg cup, your mouth fills up with soap suds !

If you have really seen all those crazy pictures in your mind's eye, you
will now know the shoopping list in sequence, both forwards and backwards.
As stated earlier, there's no reason why you would want to know the list
in sequence, but it's an extremely useful exercise in practising the
techniques of Association and Linking.

Additional Exercises - The Link System

Whenever you have a list of items that you need to remember, for any reason,
try applying the Link System to help you remember that list.

It might be your weekly shopping list, or perhaps a list of items you need
to take when you are going out somewhere. Apply the Link System to that
list, and you will be sure to remember it.

In the previous training session - Association of Ideas - you were forming
Links of items which had no logical connection. The system works even
better when you apply it to lists of items for a practical reason.
If you really want to remember a particular list of items, then you will
concentrate on it harder - your Initial Awareness will be increased.

Make an effort to try some practice Links over the next few days. If you
find Linking fifteen items fairly easy, then try Linking thirty, or more.
Once you have mastered the basic technique, there really is no limit to the
number of items than you can Link in this way.

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - Substitute Words and Phrases       TOP

You've now learned two of the basic building blocks of all Memory Training
systems - Association Of Ideas and the Link System. Using these techniques
you should now understand how to memorize any list of items in sequence, and
be able to recall that list both forwards and backwards.

That's fine when you're trying to memorize items which can easily be
pictured in your mind. But what if you want to remember something which
cannot easily be pictured, such as the name of a person, thing or place ?
Most names are intangible, which is why they're so difficult to remember.

This problem is easily overcome by using the Substitute Word system. When
you hear a word or phrase that seems abstract to you, think of something, -
anything - that sounds like, or reminds you of, the abstract material and
can be pictured in your mind.

For example, it would seem impossible to 'picture' (or associate) the place
name Arizona. You might, however, easily picture a 'Arid Zone' - a
dry parched land (arid zone) with the sun beating down.

To take another example, how would you picture the surname Harrington ?
Unless you know someone with that name, in which case it might remind you of
that person, the name is virtually impossible to picture.

Using the Substitute Word system however, you might easily picture Herring
Ton - a ton of herrings. This can easily be visualized, and would be an
easy picture to associate to something else.

Of course, not all names are so easy to conjure up Substitute Words for.
Take the place name Massachusetts. There is no obvious Substitute Word
there. But if you split the name into three parts you could use mass -
chew - sit and picture a mass of people who chew and sit around. It
does take a little time to come up with that mental picture, but the more
practice you get, the easier it becomes. After a surprisingly short time
you will find that you can come up with a Substitute Word or Phrase for most
names almost instantly.

Tutorial 3 - Substitute Words and Phrases

For your first exercise in using the Substitute Word System, you are going
to memorize the ten largest American states, in order of area :

(1) Alaska                 656,425    (sq. mls)
(2) Texas                   268,601
(3) California            163,707
(4) Montana              147,046
(5) New Mexico        121,598
(6) Arizona                114,006
(7) Nevada               110,567
(8) Colorado              104,100
(9) Michigan              98,810
(10) Oregon                98,386

There are two steps involved in memorizing the list. Firstly, form a
Substitute Word or Phrase to remind you of each of the state names.
Secondly, apply the Link System to link those Substitute Words and Phrases
together.

For each of the state names you are going to be given a Substitute Word or
Phrase. If you can though, try and think up some Substitute Words or
Phrases of your own for the names. Although using the suggested Substitute
Words will normally work perfectly well, suggesting them to you does remove
some of your Initial Awareness.

Let's begin with the largest American State, Alaska.    You need a
Substitute Word or Phrase which will remind you of that states name.
For Alaska you might see a giant Baked Alaska. So to remember
Baked Alaska, you could visualize looking north at the Baked Alaska
through the snow and sleet.    (winter-time of course!)

The second largest state is Texas. The word text might
remind you of that name.  Now start forming your link, by associating
that word to your mental picture of Alaska. For example, picture
that huge Baked Alaska in the snow with printing text going
all the way around it.

The next state is California. A convenient Sustitute Word here might be
Cal is Phoning You., which rhymes with California. Continue your link
by associating Cal is Phoning You to your Substitute Word or Phrase for
Texas. Just picture the text spelling out that Cal is Phoning You.

Next comes Montana.    Mountain sounds very similar, so you
might try and associate that phrase to phone (California). Picture a
mountain with a guy on top of it shouting down to you,
screaming "Cal is Phoning You."

Next on the list is New Mexico. For this you might substitute a giant
Mexican Hat. Now, continue your link. Picture, say, a giant
Mexican Hat that turns out to be the mountain where at it's top
the phone was ringing away.

Arizona comes next. A good substitute phrase might be Arid Zone!
Now associate that to New Mexico. Where else would you need
a giant Mexican Hat but in the dry hot arid regions.  Just associate
the hat with desert dryness, heat etc -- The Arid Zone    (Arizona)

The next state is Nevada. For this you could picture the thought
'never evade' . Just picture yourself asying ,"I'll Never Evade that
scorching hot sun whils't I remain in this Arid Zone".    I'ts really
so hot there!

Colorado comes next. You might substitute coloring. Continue your
link - visualise that heat and Never Evade conditions are coloring your skin.
Yes you are getting a deep bronze tan  because you can Never Evade (Nevada)
that scorching sun. Be sure to see that image clearly in your mind.

Next on the list is Michigan. An obvious substitute Word here is
Itch Again. Associate that to your Substitute Word for Colorado.
Perhaps the Coloring and bronzing of your shin is making you itchy.
The itch goes on and on and you Itch Again and Itch Again whilst
you get more coloring. (Colorado).

Tenth on the list is Oregon. For this you might substitute Hurridly Gone.
Choose one of these, or a Substitute Word of your own, and
continue the Link. See yourself, say, I be Hurridly Gone because
I Itch Again with this sun burn!

That completes the Link. If you've made all the suggested Associations (or
used your own Associations), and really seen the images in your mind, then
you know the ten largest American States, just as you knew the ten
unrelated items at the end of Tutorial 1.

One advantage of applying the Substitute Word System is that it forces you
to think about that name, to concentrate on it as you normally would not.

Of course, there are many other Substitute Words or Phrases you could have
used for the above examples.

Remember that Linking and associating are personal and individual -
what you think of is usually best for you. Also, the first Substitute
Word that comes to mind is normally the best to use.

  Additional Exercises - Substitute Words

Try applying the Substitute Word and Link systems to the complete list of 50
American states, in order of size. You have already memorised the first
ten, so start by associating the other 40.

If you find this too large a task to handle in one go, memorise say ten or
twelve at a time. When you have accomplished this task, and can call out
the complete list both forwards and backwards, you will be amazed at
your new 'powers' of memory.

Also, when you have memorised the list, you might like to reflect on how
difficult it would be to memorise a list of 50 abstract names without
using the systems. Most people would find this extremely taxing, if not
completely impossible.

The complete list of American states, in order of area
in square miles..

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - Remembering Names and Faces       TOP

Remembering names and faces is probably the most common reason for people
wanting to improve their memories, because it is the one case where written
notes will really not help. You can jot down a person's name, but how does
that help you when it comes to linking it with his face.

Many people seem happy to carry on forgetting names, thinking they can
always get round it somehow, and who cares anyway ? Of course, the person
who does care is the one whose name has been forgotten.

People like to be called by their names. For example, if you go to a
local shop regularly how do you prefer to be addressed - 'Hello Mr/Mrs/Miss
so - and - so', 'Hello luv/dear/dearie/', or with a vacant stare ? If the
shopkeeper has taken the trouble to remember your name, you will probably
have a higher opinion of him or her and possibly be more likely to frequent
the shop.

Most of us recognise faces - it's the names that cause us trouble.
After all, have you ever heard someone say 'I know your name, but I don't
recognise your face' ?

Since we can usually remember faces, the best system to use for remembering
names and faces is one where the face actually tells us the name. To
do this, you simply need to associate the name to his face.

To do this there are two steps involved :

(1) Forming a mental picture of the name.
(2) Associating that picture to the face.

Tutorial 4 shows you how any surname, however long or complicated, can be
pictured.

Tutorial 5 demonstrates how to associate a mental picture of a person's name
to that person's face, giving you a never - fail system for remembering
names and faces.

Tutorial 4 - Picturing Names

Some names can be easily pictured, because they have meanings. For
example, the surnames Wood, Bell, Fox, Bush and Green immediately create
an image in your mind.

But what about names which have no meaning, such as Forbes, Harrison, or
Pensford ? Using the Substitute Word system which you learned in section C,
any name can be pictured.

For Forbes, you might picture four bees. To visualise the name
Harrison you could picture a hairy sun, and for Pensford - someone
writing with a gigantic pen all over a Ford car.

The Substitute Word System works beautifully for remembering names. Just
applying the system will force you to concentrate on the name - to be
Initially Aware of it. And, no matter how long or strange - sounding a
name is, there is always a Substitute Word or Phrase you can use to help
you picture the name.

For Rubenstein you could picture someone vigorously rubbing a stein
(of beer). For Polanski you could use pole and ski, and picture someone
holding a huge, striped barber's pole in his teeth while trying to ski. For
Poppadopalis you might use poppadum and police and a picture a
policeman wrestling with a gigantic poppadum.

The Substitute words and phrases you create can be anything, as long as
they remind you of the name you want to remember. For MacDonald, you
could picture Donald Duck wearing a kilt. Other people might prefer to
picture Mac don old - an old don (professor) wearing a mac (macintosh).
Remember that the first Substitute Word you think of is usually best for
you to use.

For short names, you can often use a Substitute Word which rhymes, or is
similar - sounding. For the name West, you might use Whist, or Vest,
or Waist, or Waste. Any word (or phrase) which can be pictured will do
the job.

    Tutorial 5 - Associating Names and Faces

Having learned how to picture any person's name using Substitute Words and
Phrases, the next step is to associate that picture with the person's face.

First of all, you need to look at the person's face and select one
outstanding feature, such as a high forehead, large or small nose,
spectacles, moustache, beard, narrow or wide-set eyes, large or small ears,
thin or thick lips, thin or bushy eyebrows, dimples, freckles, warts -
anything which is at all memorable.

First impressions are, more often than not, lasting impressions, and
whatever seems outstanding to you now will usualy still seem outstanding
when you next meet that person. What's more important is that by looking
closely at a face, you are concentrating on it, and etching the details on
your memory.

Having decided on the outstanding feature of a person's face, you then
simply associate the Substitute Word or Phrase you've invented for that
person's name. If you make a strong enough association, it will be almost
like having the person's name written on his or her face !
For example, suppose you've just met Mr Ball, and want to be sure that you
remember his name. The name Ball might suggest to you a football, or a
rugby ball, or perhaps a golf ball. Let's also suppose you have decided
that the outstanding feature of his face is his red, curly hair. Now, you
look at that hair and picture millions of golf balls springing out of it,
and bouncing around everywhere. Or, picture a football with Mr Ball's red
curly hair growing out of it - the football is on his shoulders in place of
his head.

Remember the rules of association, and make your mental picture as
ludicrous and exaggerated as possible. If you really see that image
clearly in your mind's eye, you will know Mr. Ball's name the next time you
meet him.

Imagine next you meet a Mr Carrington, who has large ears. Use the
Substitute Phrase Carry Ton to help you picture the name, and associate
that picture to those unusually large ears. Imagine him carrying a ton
weight on his head. His head is being flattened by the weight, pushing his
ears out at right angles to his head. This image is the sort of picture you
might see in a 'Tom and Jerry' cartoon, and in fact the ridiculous pictures
you see in children's cartoons are exactly the sort of zany images you need
to create to make the pictures memorable.

Although these pictures take a little while to describe in text, they can
actually be pictured in your mind in a fraction of a second. Many 'Memory
Man' stage performers throughout the world use this system to remember the
names of five hundred or more people in an audience, after hearing the names
just once ! This is an extremely impressive stunt when seen on television or
in a theatre, but is actually based solely on the simple system described
above.

Of course, you will need some practice before you can memorise five hundred
names in quick succession, but you can benefit from the system after a very
small amount of practice.

Try it now, with ten example names. For the moment, as you're trying it
without real people or faces, just see the features themselves, and the
(ludicrous) associations.

First on the list is Mrs Lambert, who has a long, pointed nose. You might
use lamb butt to help you picture the name Lambert. Picture a lamb
jumping up and butting that long pointed nose. Not a pleasant picture,
but you're sure to remember it.

Next is Mr Biggs, who has a bushy beard. Picture millions of big letter
'S's dropping out of the bushy beard onto the floor, or see that beard
gradually uncurling into a big 'S' shape. Choose one of those pictures,
or one of your own, and reallly see that image in your mind's eye.

Third on the list is Miss Fortescue, who has silver-white hair tied up in
a bun. You might see a Fort Askew (lopsided) on top of that bun of white
hair. Remember, the crazier the picure the better.

Fourth comes Mr Whitelaw, who has a noticeable gap in his front teeth.
Associate Whitelaw (perhaps white law - a policeman covered from head to
toe in white paint) to that gap in his teeth. You could picture a policeman
covered in white paint trying to crawl out of Mr. Whitelaw's mouth through
the gap in his front teeth. A ridiculous, illogical picture which is sure
to remind you of the outstanding feature of Mr Whitelaw's face.

Next on the list is Mr Pontin, who has a high forehead. Picture that high
forehead and see a hand, with one finger outstretched, shooting out of the
forehead and pointing at you. Make you you see the picture clearly,
just for a split second.
Miss Webb comes next, and she has very long blond hair, right down to her
waist. Picture that hair covered in masses of cobwebs, with spiders
crawling all over it.

Seventh on our list of fictitious people is Mr Cleese, who has very bushy
eyebrows. A good Substitute Word to help you picture Cleese might be
cheese. Picture those bushy eyebrows covered in cheese, which is
melting, and dripping everywhere.

Next we have Mrs Green, who has a mole on her right cheek. Picture that
mole gradually turning green. It gets greener and greener, until it
is really bright and luminous.

Ninth on the list is Mr Hetherington, who has long ginger sideburns. You
might use heather in ton to help you picture this surname. Visualise tons
of heather suddenly sprouting out of those sideburns, until it covers his
face.

Finally comes Mr Price, whose outstanding facial feature is a large dimple
in his chin. Picture that dimple with millions of price tags stuck to it.
If you prefer to use a crazy picture of your own, then you will probably
remember it even more clearly.

Additional Exercises - Remembering Names and Faces

(1) Over the next few weeks, whenever you are introduced to someone you
have not met before, apply the systems you have learned to help you
remember their name. If you do not hear the name clearly as you are
introduced, ask them to repeat it. You will be amazed at how your
memory for names will improve !

(2) Pick up any magazine, and memorise the names of all the people whose
photographs appear in the magazine. Simply associate the name under
each photograph to the outstanding feature of the face in that
photograph. Of course, for some names you will need to come up with
suitable Substitute Words. This is an excellent mental exercise, and
will rapidly improve your skill at using the systems.

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - Remembering Foreign Vocabulary        TOP

In the previous section you learned how to remember names and faces by
associating a person's name to his or her face. In doing this there were
two factors involved - the name and the face.

Most memory tasks can in fact be viewed as associating together two
factors - a name to a face, an author to a book, a composer to a piece of
music, a telephone number to a person or organisation, a capital city to a
country, and so on. Even when forming a long Link, for example when you
memorised the imaginary shopping list, you were still basically working with
just two items at a time.

The same principle can be applied to remembering foreign vocabulary. In
order to memorise any foreign word, you simply associate the word to its
meaning in English. To do this you will first need to form a Substitute
Word or Phrase to help you picture the foreign word.

For example, to remember a simple French word like poulet (chicken), you
could picture a gigantic chicken which is operating a pulley. To make the
picture more vivid you could picture some buckets at the other end of the
pulley, each of which contains another chicken.
For the French word poisson (fish) you might see yourself sitting at a
dining table - someone hands you a huge, monstrous, evil-smelling fish on a
plate which you pass on to the person sitting beside you. Picture that
fish being continuously handed around the table, each person passing it
on to their neighbour. To remember that escargots is French for snails,
you could visualise an enormous snail pulling a trailer down the road. The
trailer contains a cargo of letter S's - it is an 'S' cargo.

If you really try to see those absurd pictures, the system just must work
for you, for the reasons you have already learned. In trying to form these
images you are concentrating hard on the foreign word, and thus forcing
Initial Awareness. It is impossible to apply the Substitute Word system
to a foreign word without using your imagination and really concentrating on
both the word and its English meaning.

The beauty of the Substitute Word system for remembering foreign vocabulary
is that it can be applied to absolutely any language. To remember that
the Esperanto word for 'happy' is felica (pronounced fell-eetch'ah), you
might picture yourself being very happy (laughing) when you begin to feel
itchy. You start to scratch yourself where you are itching, but you are
still very happy, laughing loudly.
To remember the Welsh word for carrot, moron, you could see yourself in a
restaurant, being served carrots. The waiter serves a plateful of carrots,
but then puts more on, and more on, until you are absolutely up to your
neck in carrots.

When you have formed your silly mental picture, just thinking of that
picture must remind you of the two things you need to know - the foreign
word and its English meaning.

Of course, it does take a little time to come up with appropriate Substitute
Words and silly associations. But, if you have ever tried to learn foreign
vocabulary from a text book or phrase book without a system, then you will
appreciate how valuable it can be to have a system, especially one that
really does work ! Also, you will find that after a small amount of practice
at creating Substitute Words and zany associations, you will be able to come
up with them almost instantly.

Tutorial 6 - Memorising Foreign Words

For your first exercise in applying the Substitute Word system to
remembering foreign vocabulary, you are going to memorise the following
Spanish words and their English translations :

Let's begin with marido, pronounced mahreedhoa, which means husband.
Picture a husband - a bridegroom - marrying a door. See the bridegroom
perhaps standing at the aisle next to a front door, which is dressed in a
wedding gown and veil.

Corbata, pronounced korbahtah, is Spanish for tie. A good Substitute
Word might be Core Batter - an apple core batting in a cricket match.
Picture that apple core taking guard at the wicket on a cricket field - it
is wearing a huge, horribly spotted tie.

As with all the Total Recall systems, if you prefer to use your own silly
pictures rather than the ones suggested here, then so much the better.
Remember that suggesting the pictures to you does take away some of your
Initial Awareness.

The next word is barca, pronounced bahrkah, which means boat. Picture a
boat which is barking - see the hull of the boat opening and shutting, like
a dog's mouth, as it cruises down a river.

The Spanish word for lake is lago, pronounced lahgoa. See yourself
swimming in a lake of lager. As you swim, you swallow some of the lake
(lager), and begin hiccoughing comically.
The fifth word to memorise is helado, which means ice cream. It is
pronounced aylahdhoa. For helado you could use the Substitute Phrase
hail-a-door, which you then associate to ice cream. Perhaps you are
standing at a taxi rank eating a monstrous ice cream, when some doors drive
past instead of taxis. You hail a door instead of hailing a taxi.

Next comes pluma (ploomah), the Spanish for pen. Picture yourself
writing with a huge plume (a feather) instead of a pen. To make the image
humorous, you could perhaps see the plume tickling your nose and making you
sneeze as you try to write.

Carpeta (kahrpaytah) is next, which means file. This is an easy one -
see yourself walking on a carpet of files.

The Spanish word for dressing gown is bata (bahtah). See yourself
wearing a dressing gown - the pockets are full of batter, which overflows
disgustingly onto the carpet as you put your hand into the pockets.

Next comes the Spanish for hangover - resaca (rayssahkah). Picture
yourself with a terrible, blinding hangover, after consuming too much
sangria. To make matters worse, you are lying under a car, which is almost
flattening you. In order to escape, you have to raise-a-car.

The final Spanish word to memorise is maleta, pronounced mahlaytah. A
possible Substitute Phrase here would be ma-lay-tar - an elderly woman -
ma - who is laying tar. You then need to associate that phrase to
suitcase. You could perhaps picture ma laying the tar by pouring it out
of your suitcase.

In all the above examples, the Substitute Words and Phrases suggested have
been based on the pronounciations of the Spanish words rather than the
actual spelling. Remember that if you were seriously trying to learn a
specific foreign language you would be aware of the basic sounds and letters
of that language.

If you read through the preceding text without really concentrating on
seeing the suggested pictures,or pictures you thought of yourself, then go
back and do it right now. Once you have really tried to visualise the
ludicrous pictures, you will know all ten Spanish words and their English
equivalents.

Tutorial 7 - Memorising Foreign Phrases

You've now had some practice at memorising foreign words using the
Substitute Word system. The system is equally applicable to foreign phrases
- after all, phrases are simply groups oof words.

The French phrase 'quelle heure est-il' means 'what time is it'. Picture
Associate 'kill hare at heel' to 'what time is it' and you will have
memorised the phrase. You might picture yourself asking a French man the
time - as you ask him the question, he is trying to kill a hare at his heel,
which is biting him.

Not a pleasant picture - but, as mentioned as before, the more vivid the
picture, the more likely it is to stick in your mind.

The French phrase for 'how much' is 'combien'. A possible
Substitute Phrase to use here might be comb bean. Picture yourself
asking a shopkeeper how much a particular item is - as you ask them the
question, you are combing a bean. Make the image as exaggerated and
silly as you can. If you picture that ridiculous image clearly in your
mind's eye for literally just an instant then you will have remembered that
phrase.
Many people, when visiting a foreign country, go armed with a phrase book
which gives dozens of useful phrases in that country's language. This is
fine, but when you arrive in the country you often find yourself frantically
searching through the book for the right phrase whenever you need to make
yourself understood. Unfortunately, the phrase books never give you any
hints on how to remember all those really useful phrases in the book.

However, a few hours spent applying the Substitute Word system to memorising
the most useful phrases in the book could help you enormously in making
yourself understood. Those few hours could even be spent on your journey -
on an aeroplane, or boat, or bus, or whatever.

Of course, it will take a little more time to apply the Substitute Word
system to a phrase than to a single word. But, once you can picture that
ridiculous picture clearly in your mind, you will have memorised the phrase.
And, bear in mind how difficult it is for most people to memorise phrase
from a book without a system - repeating the phrase over and over, hoping
that they will 'stick' in the memory.
Try the Substitute Word system on the following French phrases :

You have already been given Substitute Phrases for the first two examples.
Try and form your own Substitute Words or Phrases for the remaining
phrases - remember that giving you suggestions for the phrases removes
much of your Initial Awareness and concentration. You are much better off
inventing your own Substitute Phrases and crazy mental images.

Additional Exercises - Remembering Foreign Vocabulary

Try applying the systems you have just learned to help you memorise some of
the basic vocabulary of any language you choose. If you are planning a
foreign holiday this year, then the choice of language will be obvious. If
not, perhaps there is a country you would like to visit at some time in the
future. Obtain a simple phrase book from your local library, and set
yourself a task of memorising a minimum number of words or phrases per day.
By applying the Total Recall systems, you will soon build up an impressive
vocabulary in your chosen language.

Many people, when faced with a phrase book containing foreign translations
of English words, give up after trying to memorise just a few of the words
or phrases. They find it such hard work trying to commit the information to
memory that they abandon the task all together. You now have the knowledge
to make that task a creative one.

Remember that the most important words in any foreign language are always
the nouns. Suppose you are visiting a foreign country for the first time,
and are suddenly taken ill. You don't need to know how to say 'Please could
you tell me where the nearest...', or 'Can you direct me to a ...', but you
had better know the word for doctor !

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - How to Remember Numbers       TOP

Of all the areas concerned with memory, the most difficult category to
remember is, without doubt, numbers.

Numbers are completely abstract and intangible - they cannot be pictured
in the mind. They are also some of the most important things that people
have to remember - telephone numbers, PIN numbers, addresses, credit card
numbers, prices, bank account numbers, statistics, dates - the list goes on
and on.

Fortunately, the chore of remembering numbers can be made easy by learning a
simple Phonetic Alphabet, which substitutes letters for numbers. Using
this system, numbers can be transposed to letters and then words, which can
be pictured, and therefore memorised.

Tutorial 8 explains the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, and how digits can
be transposed into letters. Tutorial 9 shows how a string of digits can be
transposed into words. Finally, Tutorial 10 demonstrates how any long -
digit number can easily be memorised, by combining the rules of the Phonetic
Alphabet with two of the memory systems you have already learned - the Link
system and Association of Ideas.

Tutorial 8 - The Phonetic Alphabet

The Phonetic Alphabet is based on the simple concept that there are ten
digits in our numerical system, and also ten basic consonant phonetic
sounds.

For example, think of the letters 'p' and 'b'. When you pronounce the
letter 'p' your lips and tongue are in the same position as when you say the
letter 'b'. For the purposes of the Phonetic Alphabet, these letters can be
classified as one phonetic sound.

Similarly, think of the letter 'm'. When you pronounce 'm' you have
your lips together, as if you are going to hum a tune. No other letter in
the alphabet requires your lips, tongue, and teeth to be in that position
for pronounciation, so the letter 'm' can be classified as a phonetic
sound on its own.

There are ten groups of basic phonetic sounds, and each group is paired
against one of the ten digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. The following table
illustrates the groupings, together with some simple memory aids to help you
remember them.
Phonetic Sound Memory Aid
1 = t or d, the letter t has one downstroke
2 = n, the letter n has two downstroke
3 = m, the letter m has three downstroke
4 = r,  the word 'four' ends in the letter r
5 = l,  the Roman numeral for 50 is l
6 = j,sh,ch, or soft g - j is almost like a 6 the other way round.
7 = k, hard c or hard g - the letter k contains two 7's, back to back
8 = f,v,ph - a handwritten 'f' and 8 both have two loops
9 = p,b the letter p is the mirror image of 9.
0 = s, z, or soft c - the word 'zero' begins with the letter z

Vowels have no value in the phonetic alphabet and are disregarded, as are
all the consonants not listed. They are used simply as 'fillers' when
transposing numbers to words. For example, the number 32 translates to
the letters 'm' and 'n'. Using the filler vowel 'a' gives us the word
'man', which immediately transposes back to the number 32. Study the
above table carefully, right now, and memorise the rules.

Tutorial 9 - Transposing Numbers to Words and Phrases

Having learned how to translate digits into letters, the next step is
learning how to transpose numbers into words and phrases. Once you
have transposed a number into a word or phrase, it can easily be memorised
using the principle of Association of Ideas.

For example, take the number 9520. Let's imagine that it is your P.I.N.
(Personal Identification Number) for a Cash Point card which you have been
issued by your bank or building society. You need to remember the number
but, for obvious security reasons, you don't wish to keep a written record
of it.

In order to transpose 9520 into a word, you simply transpose the digits to
letters one by one, then join those consonant sounds together using any
suitable vowels. The consonant phonetic sounds in the number 9520 translate
as follows :

9 transposes to  p or b
5 transposes to  l
2 transposes to  n
0 transposes to  s, z, or soft c
This gives us several possible words which can be formed from these letters,
using any 'filler' vowels you choose. Some examples are :

balloons (b-a-ll-oo-n-s)        (double letters count as one sound except where
                9---5----2-0                                             they make two sounds)

pylons (p-y-l-o-n-s)
             9---5---2-0

balance (b-a-l-a-n-ce)
               9---5--2-0-

To remember the number 9520, you simply choose one of these words, and
memorise it. Let's say you choose balloons. Once you have memorised it,
the word 'balloons' must lead you back to the number 9520 - simply remove
the vowels and transpose the consonant sounds one at a time.

But how do you connect the word 'balloons' to your PIN number ? Easy -
you simply form a mental association between balloons and your Cash Point
card, or between ballons and the cash dispensing machine. For example,
picture yourself inserting your card into a cash dispensing machine, and
billions of balloons fly out of the machine and hit you in the face.

Once you have made that ludicrous association you will not forget it - and
once you remember 'balloons' it must lead you back to your PIN number -
9520. If you have a Cash Point card, or any type of card with a P.I.N, try
it now, with your own number. Form a word from the number, then associate
it to your card or cash dispensing machine. Remember to make the association
as ridiculous as possible. Do that right now, before reading any further.

Let's take another example, this time a telephone number. Imagine you have
a friend called Fred, and that you are constantly forgetting his telephone
number, which is 941680. This number is a bit too long to easily transpose
into one word, so we need two words, or a phrase.

Some examples of words which can be formed from 941680 are :

parrot jives (p-a-rr-o-t j-i-v-e-s)
                     9      4     16   8    0

bread shoves (b-r-ea-d sh-o-v-e-s)
                        9 4       1 6      8     0

pirate shaves (p-i-r-a-t-e sh-a-v-e-s)
                        9    4     1   6      8      0

To remember Fred's telephone, simply associate one of these to a picture of
Fred using the telephone. For example, Fred is talking on the telephone
while a parrot jives on top of his head. Or Fred is talking on the
telephone and he has a huge pile of bread which he shoves down the
telephone receiver as he speaks into it. Whenever you think of Fred using
the telephone you would then be reminded of, say , 'parrot jives' , which
must lead you back to his telephone number - 941680.

Before proceeding, try the system now, with the telephone numbers of three
or four of your friends.

There are two main pitfalls to avoid when learning how to apply the Phonetic
Alphabet - transposing according to letter rather than sounds, and counting
a double letter as two sounds instead of one. Always remember that it is
the sounds that count, not the actual spelling.

For example, the letter s in the word television transposes to 6, not
zero - the 's' maks a soft 'sh' sound. Similarly, the letter t in the
word audition transposes to 6, not 1.

The double letter 't' in the word 'matter' transposes to 1, not 11.
However, a double letter can sometimes make two sounds, in which case both
sounds count. For example the double 'c' in the word 'accident' would
transpose to 70, because the sound produced is 'ks', as in 'axe'.

Finally, note that silent letters do not count phonetically, because they
make no sound. So the word 'knight' would transpose to 21, not 721 -
the silent 'k' is not counted.

Tutorial 10 - Remembering Very Long Numbers

Having worked through Tutorials 8 and 9, you should now feel confident with
transposing any number into a word or phrase. By combining this knowledge
with the Link System which you have already learned, you can easily
memorise numbers with 15, 20, 50 or even 100 digits.

Of course, it's unlikely that you'll ever need to remember a number with 15
or more digits. But it's an impressive memory feat, and anyone who can
easily remember, say, 174120526400647 is unlikely to forget a telephone
number or a bank account number.

Let's take that number 174120526400647. In order to memorise it there are
three steps involved :

(1) Divide the number up into several smaller groups of digits
(2) Transpose each group of digits into a word or phrase
(3) Apply the Link System to each of those words or phrases

For example, 174120526400647 could conveniently be divided into 5 groups of
3 digits - 174 120 526 400 647. Next we need to transpose each of those
groups into a word or phrase.

Take the first group, 174. There are several words which would fit these
digits - tiger, dagger, digger, ticker, docker are a few examples. When
you are trying to transpose digits into words for yourself, the first one
you think of is usually best for you.

Now move on to the next three digits. What fits 120 phonetically ? tennis,
tons, tens, dons, dennis... - try to think of some yourself.

Having decided on words for the first two groups, you can start forming a
link. Let's say you choose tiger and dennis. Now make a ludicrous
association between the two - for example, picture a tiger playing tennis in
the Wimbledon final. Be sure to see that picture clearly in your mind's
eye.

The next group is 526. Lunch, launch, lunge, lounge would all fit
phonetically. Now continue the Link - visualise yourself trying to eat your
lunch with a tennis racket, or make up a ridiculous picture of your own.

Next comes 400. Roses, raises, rouses or ruses would fit this group.
Associate lunch to roses - picture yourself eating lunch, when doozens of
roses on long green stems suddenly begin growing out of the table.
Finally, think of a word to fit 647. Shark, jerk, or shirk would do the
job. Now complete your link by associating roses to shark - see a shark
trying to swim through a bed of roses instead of in the sea, or any other
bizarre picture which comes to mind.

You now have a short Link of 5 words. Go over that link in your mind right
now. Tiger is associated to ... tennis, which reminds you of ...
lunch, which is associated to ... roses, which reminds you of shark.

If you know that simple Link, then you also know 174120526400647. Just
think of each word in the Link, and transpose it back to digits. The word
'tiger' MUST transpose to 174 - if you apply the rules of the Phonetic
Alphabet, there can be no ambiguity in transposing words back to digits.

Similarly, 'tennis, MUST break down to 120, 'lunch' must give us 526,
'roses' can only be 400, and 'shark' must transpose to 647.

If you have any problems in transposing sounds to numbers then you haven't
learned the Phonetic Alphabet rules properly. Go back to Tutorials 5 and 6
and work through them thoroughly - the Phonetic Alphabet should become
second nature to you.

Of course, if you remember 174120525400647 forwards, then you also know it
backwards. Taking each word in your Link backwards, shark, roses, lunch,
tennis, and tiger must give you 746004625021471.

Easy, isn't it ? By combining the simple rules of the Phonetic Alphabet with
the equally simple Link System, you have the means of memorising any long
digit number, forwards and backwards.

Additional Exercises - Remembering Numbers

Remembering Numbers relies on you mastering the rules of the Phonetic
Alphabet. Playing a simple mental game will help you learn the Phonetic
Alphabet backwards, forwards, and inside out.

Whenever you see a number - a telephone number, car registration number,
price tag, whatever - mentally transpose the digits into phonetic sounds.
Whenever you see a word on a billboard or sign, mentally transpose the
phonetic consonant sounds to digits.

Play this game for a while, and the sounds will be second nature to you.
When you know the phonetic sounds really well, you will be ready to learn
the most powerful of all the Total Recall systems - the Peg System.

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

  Introduction - The Peg System       TOP

Having thoroughly learned the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, you are now
equipped to tackle the most versatile amd powerful of all the Total Recall
systems - the Peg System.

You have already learned how to memorise any list of items in sequence,
using the Link system. But supposing you wanted to recall, say, what the
seventh item of a list was - how would you do it ? You'd probably have to go
over the Link in your mind and count the items one by one, until you reached
the seventh item.

The Peg System enables you to memorise any list of items - in and out of
order. For example, think back to the Tutorial on Substitute Words, where
you memorised a list of the twelve largest English counties, in sequence.
If you were to memorise that list using the Peg System you would
automatically know that, for instance, the fifth largest county is
Norfolk, and that the ninth largest county is Hampshire.

The Peg System uses a series of Peg Words, based on the Phonetic Alphabet.
Every number from 1 to 100 has its own Peg Word, which can be associated to
anything you want to remember. The Peg Word then gives you a reference back
to the number that it represents.

Tutorial 11 introduces the Peg Word concept, and teaches you Peg Words for
the numbers 1 to 20, which you need to learn thoroughly before proceeding
any further.

Tutorial 12 takes you through a detailed example of how to put the Peg Words
to practical use.

Tutorial 13 teaches you Peg Words for the numbers 21 to 100. This tutorial
is different from all the others, in that you do not have to work through it
all. One of the beauties of the Peg System is its flexibility - you only
have to learn as many Peg Words as you will actually need to use. This will
depend on the type of memory chores to which you decide to apply the Peg
System.

  Tutorial 11 - Peg Words 1 to 20

The Peg Word system is based on the sounds of the Phonetic Alphabet. The
Peg Word for each number contains only the consonant sounds which that
number transposes to, plus any vowels needed to form the word, as necessary.
Remember that vowels have no value in the Phonetic Alphabet.

For example, the number '1' is always represented by the phonetic sound
't' or 'd', so the Peg Word for 1 must contain only that consonant
sound. The word tie contains only the consonant sound 't', and can also
be easily pictured, so tie can be the Peg Word for the number '1'.

Of course, there are many other words which could have been chosen to
represent the number '1' using these rules - toe, tea, dye, die, and dew are
just a few examples. But the Peg System revolves around the idea that there
will be one Peg Word for each number, and it will always be the same word.
So, a picture of a man's necktie will always represent the number '1'.

Using the same rules, the Peg Word for '2' must contain only the consonant
'n'. The word that will always represent '2' is Noah. Picture whatever
image this word conjures for you - perhaps an old man with a long, grey
beard standing on his ark.

The Peg Word for '3' will always be ma - picture a little old lady, or
your mother, or whatever that word suggests to you.

The number 4 will always be represented by ray - picture a ray of
sunlight, or a beam from a torch.

The Peg Word for 5 is law - picture a policeman, or perhaps a highh court
judge - anything which suggests 'law' to you.

Shoe is the Peg Word for 6. Picture a shoe.

Key is the Peg Word for 7. Picture a key.

Your Peg Word for 8 is Ivy - picture ivy climbing all over a wall.<

Bee is the Peg Word for 9 - picture a large bumble-bee.

The Peg Word for 10 must contain two consonant sounds, because the number
'10' has two digits. The Peg Word for 10 will always be toes.

Those are the first ten Peg Words in the Peg System. They are simple to
remember, because the phonetic sounds more or less tell you what the words
are. Read through them once more, and you should know them. You will know
them in and out of order, because you know the phonetic sounds out of
order.

When you are confident that you know the ten words, proceed with
learning Peg Words 11 to 20 :

11 : toad - picture a croaking, wart-covered toad.
12 : tin - picture an empty tin can.
13 : dam - picture a dam on a river.
14 : tyre - picture a car tyre.
15 : doll - picture any sort of doll.
16 : dish - picture any sort of dish.
17 : dog - picture any dog that comes to mind.
18 : dove - picture the white, cooing, bird.
19 : tap - picture a tap, perhaps a dripping one.
20 : nose - picture your nose.

Go over the twenty words in your mind several times , right now. Remember
that the phonetic sounds practically tell you what the words are. You
should be able to think of any number from 1 to 20 and know the Peg Word
instantly. Conversely, if you hear any of the Peg Words, you should
immediately know what number it represents.

When you know the first twenty Peg Words thoroughly, you will be ready to
learn how to start applying the Peg System of Memory.

    Tutorial 12 - Applying the Peg System

Having learned the first twenty peg words, you are now ready to start
putting them to practical use.

Assume that you wish to memorise the following twenty items, both in and out
of order :

1. telephone        11. trumpet
2. table                 12. spectacles
3. axe                   13. carrot
4. porridge          14. moon
5. ladder             15. peach
6. sparrow          16. hat
7. piano                 17. boat
8. cigar                  18. daffodil
9. grapefruit,        19. radio
10. camera           20. envelope

As you can see, these items have been chosen completely at random, and have
no logical connection.
To memorise the list of items in order, you could simply apply the Link
System, and associate telephone to table, table to axe, and so on until you
reach the twentieth item.

But, as mentioned in the introduction to this section, applying the Link
method would not allow you to instantly recall, say, the fourteenth item.
To recall that the fourteenth item was moon, you would have to work from
the start of the list and count through the items mentally, until you
reached number 14.

In other words, although the Link System is excellent for remembering lists
of items in sequence, it doesn't provide an easy method for remembering
any item on a list out of sequence.

To memorise the twenty items on the previous page out of sequence, you
simply associate each item to the Peg Word for the corresponding number.

Begin with item 1, telephone. Associate telephone to Peg Word 1, which
is tie. See a ludicrous picture in your mind's eye which will associate
the two items. Perhaps you are wearing a telephone around your neck
instead of a tie. See that zany image, or any crazy image which associates
the two items, right now, in your mind's eye.

Next, associate item 2, table, to the Peg Word for 2, which is Noah.
You might picture Noah calling pairs of tables into his ark, instead of
pairs of animals. Make a ridiculous association between table and Noah
in your mind, right now.

Item 3 on the list is axe, so associate it to Peg Word 3, ma. Perhaps
you can picture yourself chopping off a little old lady's head with an
axe. This is an image which may well make you shudder, but you certainly
won't forget it ! Make the association now.

Item 4 is porridge. Associate it Peg Word 4, which is ray. You might
picture yourself sunbathing in your bathing costume, when the sun's rays
suddenly turn to streams of porridge, and you are covered in a horrible,
sticky mess.

The fifth item is ladder, and you need to associate it to law, the Peg
Word for the number 5. You could perhaps picture yourself being arrested by
a ladder wearing a policeman's helmet, or see yourself trying to climb a
ladder made out of policemen.

Get the idea ? For each of the numbered items on the list, make a ridiculous
association between that item and the Peg Word for that number. Try making
your own associations for the remaining fifteen items, right now. Remember
that creating your own images always increases your Initial Awareness.

Associate item 6 - sparrow to shoe (Peg Word 6)
Associate item 7 - piano to key (Peg Word 7)
Associate item 8 - cigar to ivy (Peg Word 8)
Associate item 9 - grapefruit to bee (Peg Word 9)
Associate item 10 - camera to toes (Peg Word 10)
Associate item 11 - trumpet to toad (Peg Word 11)
Associate item 12 - spectacles to tin (Peg Word 12)
Associate item 13 - carrot to dam (Peg Word 13)
Associate item 14 - moon to tyre (Peg Word 14)
Associate item 15 - peach to doll (Peg Word 15)
Associate item 16 - hat to dish (Peg Word 16)
Associate item 17 - boat to dog (Peg Word 17)
Associate item 18 - daffodil to dove (Peg Word 18)
Associate item 19 - radio to tap (Peg Word 19)
Associate item 20 - envelope to nose (Peg Word 20)#

If you have really made the associations for all twenty items and visualised
them clearly, you will know all the items in and out of order. Think of
the Peg Word for number 1 - tie - what does it remind you of ? A
telephone, which you pictured around your neck instead of a tie.

Think of the Peg Word for 5 - law - it will instantly remind you of
ladder, the fifth item. Think of Peg Word 18 - ddove - it should
immediately make you think of daffodil, the eighteenth item.

Also, if you think of any item on the list, you will immediately know its
numerical position. For example, where was the trumpet ? Well, trumpet
makes you think of toad, which is the Peg Word for 11, so trumpet just
has to be number 11.

If you haven't yet made associations in your mind for all twenty items, go
back and do it, right now. When you are ready, press Page Down to test
yourself on how well you have memorised the items, in and out of sequence.~

Tutorial 13 - Learning Peg Words 21 to 100

As mentioned in the Introduction, this tutorial is a little different from
the other tutorials, in that you can work through as little or as much of it
as you like.

You should now be completely familiar with Peg Words 1 to 20, and you will
find countless applications to which you can put them. This tutorial
introduces you to Peg Words 21 to 100, and you can learn as many of them as
you can find practical uses for. If you can think of any memory chore where
you will want to memorise 100 items by numerical order, then learn all of
them. Otherwise, just learn as many as you think you will use.

Of course, there's no practical reason why the Peg Words should stop at
number 100, and the concept of forming your own Peg Words beyond 100 is
discussed in the Additonal Exercises section.

The Peg Words have been formed using the same rules as before. The Peg Word
for each number contains only the phonetic consonant sounds contained in
that number, with filler vowels used as necessary to form the word.
Here are Peg Words 21 to 100. Decide how many you would like to learn
at the moment, then study those words carefully. Pay particular attention to
the phonetic composition of each word - remember that the phonetic sounds
practically TELL you what the Peg Word for any number is. Press Page Down
when you are ready to test yourself on a section of the Peg Words.

21. Net       22. Nun         23. Gnome      24. Nero        25. Nail
26. Notch   27. Neck     28. Knife           29. Knob        30. Mouse
31. Mat      32. Moon    33. Mummy       34. Mower    35. Mole
36. Match   37. Mug      38. Movie         39. Map         40. Rose
41. Rat       42. Rain         43. Ram            44. Roar         45. Reel
46. Rash     47. Rock     48. Roof            49. Rope        50. Lace
51. Lad      52. Lane      53. Lamb           54. Lair          55. Lolly
56. Leech   57. Leg        58. Loaf            59. Lip           60. Cheese
61. Sheet    62. Chain     63. Jam             64. Jar           65. Jail
66. Judge    67. Shack    68. Chef            69. Ship         70. Goose
71. Cat       72. Coin         73. Comb        74. Car          75. Coal
76. Cage     77. Cake      78. Cave          79. Cab          80. Vase
81. Fat        82. Phone     83. Foam        84. Fire          85. File
86. Fish       87. Fog          88. Fife             89. Fob          90. Bus
91. Bat        92. Bone        93. Bomb         94. Bar          95. Ball
96. Beach    97. Pig         98. Puff           99. Pipe       100. Daisies

Additional Exercises - The Peg System

Try thinking of some practical ways in which you can apply the Peg System to
things that you would like to remember. Anything which you need to
remember in a numerical or 'keyed' sequence can be memorised quickly and
effectively by applying the simple principles of the Peg.

If the items you wish to remember are abstract or intangible, then you
simply form Substitute Words or Phrases for the items, and associate them to
the relevant Peg Numbers.

For example, the list of English counties which you learned by applying the
Link System could easily have been memorised by applying the Peg principles.
To remember that the twelfth largest state is Minnesota , you would simply
associate Minnesota  to Peg Word 12, which is tin,  maybe a 'tin of mince pies'
for example, and so on.

Incidentally, if you are worried about the ludicrous pictures staying with
you forever, running round and round in your mind, don't be. One of the
best things about the Peg System is that it is simply a means to an end.
Once that end has been accomplished, the means simply fade away and
disappear - they are no longer necessary.

When the information you have memorised is used a few times, you will know
that information. What you will not remember are your original ridiculous
pictures. For this simple reason, you can use the same set of Peg Words over
and over again, as many times as you like !

Also, there is no limit to the number of Peg Words that you can use. To
extend your set of Peg Words beyond 100, simply choose words which fit each
number phonetically. For example, the Peg Word for 101 could be Dust; the
Peg Word for 150 perhaps Towels; and the Peg Word for the number 500 could
be Laces. There really is no limit to how far you can extend the Peg Word
idea.

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

  Introduction - Overcoming Absentmindedness        TOP

Absentmindedness is probably the most commonplace of minor
self-annoyances.
We have all had countless instances where we have "forgotten" to pass on a
message, or to post a birthday card, or to make a telephone call, or to put
petrol in the car, or to turn off the oven. And, how many times have you
put something "in a safe place", so that you won't forget where it is, only
to later spend hours searching for it ?

Just think for a moment how often you have seen people searching for their
front door key, or their spectacles, or wallet, or umbrella, or calculator,
or cheque book, or a pen they had "just a moment ago".

These instances can range from being mildly irritating to completely and
utterly devastating. If you put down a newpaper, or a pen, and subsequently
"forget" where you placed them, then you may feel slightly irritated. But,
consider the case of someone who checks his football pools coupon on a
Saturday, and discovers that he has 24 points, with a jackpot dividend
forecast. Imagine his devastation when he finds his entry coupon in his
jacket pocket, and realises that he has forgotten to post it. There have
been several reported cases of this actually happening !

There are many other situations where absentmindedness can be costly or
embarrassing. If you have a credit card, and settle the balance each month
so that you avoid paying interest, it can be very costly if you forget to
pay that balance one month, and the interest is added !

To take another example, consider a hostess who has invited a dozen guests
around for a dinner party. She spends hours preparing a casserole, places
it in the oven, and waits two and a half hours for it to cook. But, she
forgets to turn the oven on, and doesn't realise it until the guests have
arrived. Result - one red-faced hostess dashing round to the nearest
Take-Away Restaurant.

To some people, absentmindedness may seem a trivial problem. They probably
don't realise just how much time and effort they spend hunting for items
they've "just put down for a second", or on retreiving items they have left
in cars, taxis, buses, trains, and friends' houses, or worrying about
whether they have locked the front door, or fed the cat, or switched off
the iron, or set the video recorder to record their favourite television
programme...

Many people have their own methods of trying to deal with absentmindedness.
These include tying a knot in a handkerchief when they want to remember
something, or scrawling messages in ink across the back of their hands. The
trouble with such methods is that they frequently don't work - you spend
ages staring at your knotted handkerchief trying to recall what it was you
needed to remember, or trying to decipher the messages on your hand, which
have now become smudged and illegible.

  Tutorial 14 - Overcoming Absentmindedness

This tutorial suggests some simple systems which can be used to overcome
absentmindedness. They are based on principles which you have already
learned - Initial Awareness and Association of Ideas.

The definition of absentmindedness is staightforward - you are absentminded
when you perform actions unconsciously, without thinking. If your mind is
'absent' while you are performing an action, there can be no Initial
Awareness of that action.

The solution to the problem of absentmindedness is equally straightforward
and obvious - you simply have to think of what you are doing at the time
you are doing it. Of course, this is easier said than done - how can you
be sure to force yourself to concentrate on a simple, everyday action at
the time you are doing it ?

Think right back to Tutorial 1, where you learned that Association can be
used to force Initial Awareness, and you have the answer to the problem.
As Initial Awareness is the same as having something register in your mind
in the first place, then forming an instant association when you perform an
action must solve the problem of absentmindedness.

An example will make this much clearer. Suppose you are one of those people
who freqeuently writes an important letter and then forgets to take it
out and post it. What is the last action you perform before leaving your
home ? Probably pulling the front door shut. So, after writing a letter,
instead of saying to yourself 'I must remember to post this...' and then
forgetting about it completely, do the following - associate letter to the
action of closing your front door.

As ever, the association should be as ludicrous as possible. Visualise
yourself closing the front door, when millions of letters come flooding
through the door, pulling the door off its hinges and knocking you over. If
you make that crazy association, the next time you go to close your front
door you will think of letter, and if you have left one inside then you
will go back and get it.

Of course, this will help you remember to take the letter, but you may still
forget to post it and leave it in your pocket for a few days ! One way to
avoid this is to associate the addressee of the letter to a post box. If it
is addressed to someone you can visualise, picture that person's head
popping out of a post box and rolling down the street.

The next time you notice a post box - which you inevitably will - you'll be
reminded to take that letter out of your pocket and mail it. If the letter
is addressed to a company or organisation, use a Substitute thought and
associate that to a post box. If it's your football pools coupon, picture
billions of footballs flying out of a mailbox.

This simple idea can be applied to any action or item you wish to remember.
Why spoil an evening out because you spend most of it worrying about whether
you unplugged the iron, or switched off the oven ? Form the habit of making
a quick association at the time you do these things. For example, as you
unplug the iron, picture your fingers being sucked into the socket, giving
you a violent electric shock. You might perhaps see your hair standing on
end to make the picture vivid.

Every time you switch off the oven, picture your head inside the oven, being
slowly roasted ! Later, when you think about the oven, you will know that
you have switched it off.

Don't worry about the image you formed yesterday coming to mind when you
think about whether you switched off the oven today. 'True' memory and
Initial Awareness will tell you the truth. If you haven't formed the
silly picture of your head in the oven on any particular day, then you will
know that you haven't switched the oven off.

Perhaps you are one of those people who frequently goes outside the house to
the garage or garden shed, only to stand there wondering what you came out
for ? Simply make an association the moment you decide that you need to get
something from the garage. If it's a hammer, picture yourself opening the
garage door and millions of hammers tumbling out. Try this idea - it
really does work !

If you wear spectacles and are frequently forgetting where you put them
down, try forming an association at the moment you put them down. If you
place them on the dining table, picture them on a serving dish in the middle
of the table, surrounded by a large salad. If you place them on top of the
television set, picture the television wearing a large pair of spectacles.
The next time you think of your spectacles, you are sure to know where they
are.

Always form the association at the moment you are performing the action.
If you put off doing it you'll forget to form the association and you'll
forget where you put your glasses !

You may feel that forming these associations is a waste of time. But, after
trying the idea a few times you will find that the pictures are formed in
next to no time. Even more important is that time and effort that you will
be saving.

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - Speeches and Presentations       TOP

Many speakers, when delivering a speech, rely on one of two methods - they
either try and memorise the speech word for word beforehand, or they read
from notes as they talk.

Both these methods are often disastrous. Memorising the speech word for
word will make it sound exactly like that when you deliver it - memorised.
Also, there's a good chance that you will fumble over one or two words you
can't remember, and so lose the thread of your talk completely.

If you've been asked to give a speech or talk, the assumption is that you
know something about the subject you are going to talk about, so it really
shouldn't be necessary to memorise it word for word.

Reading a speech is not a good idea either, because you are likely to send
your audience to sleep rather than holding their attention. Of course, you
can look up at your audience at regular intervals, but that won't disguise
the fact that you are reading to them, not delivering a real speech. And,
when you look up and then look back down at your notes, there's a good
chance that you will lose your place, leading to lots of 'Er..umming'.

The next section teaches you some simple techniques to help you remember
and deliver any speech confidently and effectively.

Tutorial 15 - Remembering Speeches and Presentations

The most effective way to deliver a speech is to speak it in your own words,
thought for thought. Any speech is basically a sequence of thoughts. If
the thoughts are random, out of sequence, they won't make a lot of sense.

You should by now be completely familiar with using the Link System to
memorise things in sequence. The Link System, with the addition of the Key
Word idea, will enable you to remember any speech you want to deliver,
thought for thought.

This is how you do it. Firstly, write (or type) out your speech, including
all the ideas you want to get across, and everything you want to say about
those ideas. When you are happy with the speech, select a Key Word or
Phrase for each of the thoughts in the speech which will remind you of the
entire thought.

This is not as difficult as it may appear. Almost any thought, whether you
intend to express it in six words or sixty words, can be recalled by just
one Key Word or Phrase. Take as an example the following excerpt from a
speech to a sales conference.
'We have high expectations of our new products, Eclipse, New Woman, and
Femme Fatale. These products should help us stir a lot of new business. It
has been over a year since we introduced any new product lines at all, and
we must push these products as hard as we can...'

This paragraph can be summed up by the Key Phrase new products. Assuming
that you are familiar with the facts about which you are talking - for
example that your company has launched no new products for over a year -
then thinking of new products sums up the entire thought of the above
paragraph.

Having extracted the Key Thoughts from your speech, if you then link them
together, in sequence, you will have memorised your speech, thought for
thought.

Of course, you could simply jot down your Key Words on a piece of paper and
occasionally glance down at your notes to remind yourself of your next Key
Thought. However, you may not instantly see the next point if your list is
fairly long, and you can easily miss points out if your eye runs over them.
It can ruin a point finished on a high note to link to the next point with
an 'Er...um....ah...' as you glance surreptitiously at your notes.

Once you are confident with the idea oflinking Key Words to help you
remember a speech, you can use the method with more aplomb than even the
scantiest notes. You will find that you can move smoothly from one point to
another, recalling the next Key Word as you are reaching the end of the one
before it.

Let's consider an example. Suppose you have to deliver a brief speech to a
meeting of company employees, outlining reasons for changes in policy by the
company. Assume that you have written out your speech and selected the
following ten Key Thoughts which you need to remember :

(1) New Technology      (6) Productivity
(2) Progress                     (7) Costs
(3) Manpower                  (8) Profit Margins
(4) Redistribution            (9) Overseas
(5) Talent                         (10) Morale

Assume also that you know what you want to say about each of these thoughts.
If you new nothing about the subject, why would you be speaking about it ?
Your problem is simply to remember the Key Thought in the correct sequence,
without missing any.

The first Key Thought is New Technology. Think of a Substitute Word or
Phrase to remind you of New Technology. For technology you could picture
your computer. For new you could perhaps visualise your computer being brand,
spanking new - so new that it shines and gleams with newness.

The second Key Thought is Progess, so begin your link by associating that
thought to New Technology. You might picture your new, gleaming computer
sprouting legs and marching (progressing) down the road. Or, to make the
image more vivid, you could picture millions of new computers progressing
down the road. See that zany image, or a ludicrous association you thought
of yourself, in your mind's eye, right now.

The next Key Thought is Manpower, so continue your Link by associating it
to Progress. For Manpower you might visualise an army of identical little
matchstick men. To associate it to Progress, you might picture that army of
little men progressing down a road, or perhaps progressing slowly up a very
steep hill. Make that association now.

Redistribution is the next Key Thought. To help you picture this thought,
you could visualise your army of matchstick men being moved around by a
giant hand, like a chess game. See that crazy picture now.

To help you picture the fifth Key Thought, Talent, you could picture some
entrants in a talent contest - jugglers, singers, clowns, comedians - anyone
you might see on a talent contest. Now associate Talent to redistribution.
Picture those talent contest entrants being redistributed around a stage
by a huge hand or claw, in a zany, comic fashion. See that picture.

Complete the Link yourself, by adding the remaining five Key Thoughts -
Productivity, Costs, Profit Margins, Overseas, and Morale to the five
thoughts you have linked so far. Here are some suggestions for Substitute
Words and Phrase to help you make the associations.

Productivity - someone busily producing huge quantities of something
Costs - huge piles of coins or notes
Profit Margins - ma (a little old lady) selling gin and making a profit
Overseas - a ship sailing on the ocean, or just an expanse of water
Morale - more ale (lots of beer)

Forming a Link accomplishes two things. It forces you to concentrate, and be
Initially Aware of, the thoughts of the speech, and it will give you the
sequence of thoughts. When you know that you definitely have that
sequence fixed in your mind, it gives you a confidence you wouldn't have if
you were relying on notes.

If you haven't yet seriously tried to form a mental Link between the ten Key
Thoughts listed on the previous pages, go back and do it right now.

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - Remembering Jokes and Stories       TOP

The ability to recall jokes, anecdotes, and stories is a great social asset.
People like to be amused by funny stories, even if they are really 'corny'
ones, and telling jokes is a great ice-breaker at social gatherings.

Many people can never remember a single joke or story, even though they have
probably heard hundreds. Other people remember parts of stories, and end up
telling the story out of sequence, or giving away the punchline in the
middle of the story.

Tutorial 16 demonstrates how can you easily memorise any joke or story
acccurately, without forgetting any of the main points.

These systems are not limited to helping you remember the 'I say, I say,
I say' type of quick gag. They can be applied to any amusing incident that
happens to you or someone you know, which you would like to remember. For
example, perhaps you have young children in your family, and would like to
remember some of the hilarious things they (inevitably) say.

   Tutorial 16 - Remembering Jokes and Stories

You have already learned the systems which will enable you to remember any
joke or story. The Key Thought idea, the Link System, and the Peg
System can all help you to remember Jokes and Stories.

Have you ever wondered how professional comedians can tell jokes for an hour
or more, and repeat the same act night after night, telling the same jokes
in the same order ? Well, many professional comedians Link a Key
Thought of one joke to the Key Thought of the next, and so on. The
comedian knows each of the jokes - he simply needs reminders of the jokes and
their sequence.

So, a Link of Englshman to hamster to doctor to figs would be
sufficient to remind a comedian to first tell the joke about the Englishman,
then tell the one about the hamster, then the one about the doctor, and so
on.

If you would like to remember a number of jokes, simply form a Link of Key
Thoughts which will remind you of the jokes. To start your Link, you can
picture any simple joke or gag, and associate that to a mental image of
yourself dressed as a circus clown, telling jokes.

Suppose you pick a very old gag such as 'What's black and white and red all
over..... a newspaper'. The Key Thought from this joke is newspaper, so
you would associate newspaper to that picture of yourself telling jokes
as a clown.

When you hear or read a joke that you would like to remember, you simply
decide on a Key Thought to remind you of the joke, and associate it to the
last item in your mental 'Joke Chain'. So the second joke you want to
remember would be associated to newspaper, the third joke to the second,
and so on.

Selecting a single Key Thought or Key Word to remind you of a joke is
easier than you might think. After all, when you hear people talking about
jokes, they usually say things like 'Tell us the one about the elephant', or
'Did you hear the one about the nun'. Each joke is summarised by one, Key Word. Also, concentrating on the joke to come up with a Key Thought will
make you concentrate on that joke, and be Initially Aware of it.

When you are forming your 'Joke Chain', use the principles you have already
learned to make your visual associations strong ones. Be sure that your
mental pictures are ludicrous and humorous. See them clearly in your
mind's eye for just a fraction of a second, and you will not forget them.

To recall the jokes you have memorised, you simply run through your Link
mentally, and stop at the Key Thought for any joke that you wish to tell
or recall.

For short gags, you can extend the Link idea by associating the punchline to
your Key Thought for the joke. Take the following short joke :

"Two eggs were in a saucepan. The first egg said 'I'm fed up with this -
it's boiling in here'. 'Just wait till you get out' said the second egg,
'They smash your head in !' "

The Key Thought of this joke is eggs, so you would include eggs in
your 'Joke Chain'. If you then associated eggs to smashed head, you
would also remember the punchline of the joke.

For longer jokes, anecdotes, and stories, you simply associate your Key
Thought for the story to a series of 'minor' Key Words that will remind you
of the sequence of the story.

Consider the following story :

"A duck walked into a Public Library. It went over to the counter and said
to the librarian 'Book Book...Book Book...Book Book'. The librarian
grabbed a broom and shooed the duck out of the library. Five minutes later
the duck waddled in again, went over to the counter and said 'Book Book...
Book...Book'.

This time the librarian became angry and threw a book at the duck, which
picked up the book in its beak and rushed out. It carried walking until
it reached a big pond. In the middle of the pond was a frog, sitting on a
big water lily. The duck splashed into the water, swam over to the water
lily, and dropped the book in front of the frog.
The frog picked up the book, tossed it impatiently aside, and croaked
'Reddit Reddit...Reddit Reddit'.   "

Now, your Key Thought for this story could be duck. To remember the
sequence of the story, simply Link each of the main points of the story,
starting with duck. For example, you could Link duck to library to
broom to angry librarian to book to pond to frog to reddit.
This would remind you of all the points in the story, in sequence.

An alternative method to Linking the jokes you want to remember is to use
the Peg System. If you know Peg Words 1 to 100, then you have the means to
remember a hundred jokes, in and out of sequence.

Simply associate the Key Thought of each joke you want to remember to a Peg
Word. You then have an easy method of recalling jokes at random. Simply
think of a Peg Word between 1 and 100, and the Peg Word for that number will
remind you of the Key Thought for the joke you associated to it.

For example, suppose you associated a joke about a donkey to net, which
(as you know) is the Peg Word for 21. If you subsequently think of 21, you
know that the Peg Word for that number is net, which will remind you of
donkey.

Before leaving this tutorial, go over the ideas discussed and think how
you might apply them to the sort of jokes, gags, anecdotes. stories, etc.,
that you would like to be able to tell.

As an exercise, try the following over the next week or so. Every time you
see, hear or read any type of joke, wisecrack, funny story, etc., decide on
a Key Thought for that joke and associate it to a Peg Word. Start at Peg
Word 1, and continue until you have exhausted all the Peg Words you know.
The joke could be heard or seen anywhere - television, radio, at work or
school, in a newspaper or book - absolutely anywhere. Make sure that the
associations you form are strong and clear, and you will not forget those
jokes.

When you have completed the exercise, go over each of the Peg Words you
know, and you will be amazed to find that you have memorised that number of
jokes within a week. You will be particularly impressed if you know 100 Peg
Words, and so a hundred jokes !

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

  Introduction - Reading, Studying, and Learning       TOP

The process of learning involves the following steps :

(1) The Search for Information

(2) Remembering the Information

(3) Applying the Information

The search for information relies on teachers, sources of knowledge, and
your thirst for knowledge.

The application of that knowledge is up to you, with guidance from
teachers, text books, etc.

Remembering the information is where the Total Recall systems come in.
Simplistically, it can be said that virtually all learning is based on
memory. Many teachers, who like to put down 'memorisation', don't like to
admit this, but it is nevertheless true.

If you are sitting in a history examination, and have remembered few of the
dates, names, places, and events you were taught in your history classes,
the fact that may have have an exceptionally high I.Q. will not help you a
lot in passing that examination.

A large percentage of all written examinations are basically examining
two things :

(1) Your knowledge of the subject.
(2) How well you can express that knowledge in written replies to the
questions asked.

The second point depends on a variety of factors, such as intelligence,
flair for the subject, how well you have been taught to express yourself in
writing, and so on.

The first point depends largely on memory - how many facts, figures,
events, dates, names, quotations, etc., you have learned or remembered
about the subject.

Very few schools or teachers offer advice to students on how to remember the
vast amount of new information that they present you with. This is despite
the undisputable fact that memorising information plays a large part in
passing many examinations.

Many students rely largely on 'rote' memory when revising for examinations -
reading information over and over again in the hope that some of it will
'stick' in the memory. Other students write out the information several
times, or repeat it to themselves 'parrot fashion'.

Some students are more organised, and extract from their notes the key
points they wish to remember, in a similar manner to the 'Key Thoughts' idea
discussed in the section on Remembering Speeches. However, having extracted
those key points, they probably still apply 'rote' memory to remember those
key points.

There is really only one way to read and study more effectively - and that
is to remember as you read.

   Tutorial 17 - Reading, Studying, and Learning

Having worked through Total Recall tutorials 1 to 16, you now have the
necessary knowledge to remember any reading material as you read it.

The facts in reading material are normally sequential, so you can apply,
basically, the Link System. Within most reading material you may come
across names, unfamiliar words, numbers, technical data, and so on. None of
this need present a problem, because you already know how to memorise them.

You are familiar with the Substitute Word system, which will help you
remember names, unfamiliar words, and concepts. You know the Key Word or
Key Thought idea, which, together with the Link System, will help you
remember those things in sequence. You also know how to picture numbers,
which will enable you to remember them as you read.

All you have to do is simply apply the Total Recall systems to the reading
material you wish to remember.

Let's see how that actually works in practice. Assume you want to remember
the facts in the following 'mini geography lesson' about the island of
Jamaica.

'The island of Jamaica lies in the Caribbean Sea, and is one of the group
of islands known collectively as the West Indies. Jamaica covers an area of
some 4,411 square miles, and has a population of 2,388,000. The island's
capital is Kingston, which is situated in the South.

Jamaica was first reached by Europeans when Columbus landed there in 1494.
The island became British in 1655, and independent within the Commonwealth
in 1962.

The island's chief exports are sugar, bananas, bauxite, and coffee. Jamaica
also has a rapidly expanding tourist industry.'


Now, start applying the Link System to the facts in this text about Jamaica.
You should begin your Link with a 'Heading' picture, a Substitute thought
which will remind you of Jamaica. You might, for example, picture a Jam
Maker, a chef dressed all in white who is frantically making pots and pots
of strawberry jam, and getting covered in it from head to toe.

As always, the picture which you think of yourself is best for you to use,
but let's assume for the moment that you are going to use Jam Maker to
begin your Link.

Before proceeding with the Link, you should realise that although the silly
pictures described on the next few pages take a lot of words to describe,
the actual images are formed in your mind as fast as thought.

O.K, picture a Jam Maker carrying beans to some Vest Indians - a group
of Red Indians wearing string vests. This ludicrous picture will remind you
of the first few facts - you're reading about Jamaica, which lies in the
Caribbean, and forms part of the West Indies. See the crazy picture in
your mind's eye for just an instant, right now.

The next two facts to remember both involve numbers - the area of Jamaica is
4,411 square miles, and has a population of 2,388,000. This is precisely
the type of data which is normally so difficult to remember - it is
completely abstract.

But, you have now learned how to picture numbers, so (as, incidentally they
say in Jamaica) it is 'No Problem !'. The number 4,411 could transpose to
Re-routed, and 2,388,000 to Gnome Viva Success. So you could picture
those Red Indians in string vests running around and being re-routed as
they run, by a giant hand. And, as they are re-routed, they keep tripping
over a garden gnome, which hops about shouting 'Viva Success'.

Now, it may take a little time to come up with that picture, but, in order
to do so, you are really concentrating on the material, and heightening your
Initial Awareness of the facts you wish to remember. Also, how would you set
about memorising a number like 2,388,000 without a system ?

Make sure you see that last picture clearly, then continue your Link.
Associate the gnome saying 'Viva Success' to King's Ton (Kingston). You
might picture a King sitting on a throne, surrounded by a ton of gold
coins. Suddenly, out of the gold pops that gnome, still merrily shouting
'Viva Success !'.

The next fact to remember involves a date - Columbus discovered the island
in 1494. To picture any date, simply split it into two two-digit numbers and
link the Peg Words for those numbers. So, 1494 would be Tyre Bear.

Now, link King's Ton, Column Bus (Columbus) and Tyre Bear. Imagine the
King counting his ton of gold when out of the gold pile drives a bus
shaped like Nelson's column. The column bus drives round and round on
the ton of gold, then screeches to a halt. Out of the bus leaps a bear,
swinging a big tyre around its middle like a hoola-hoop. Try and see that
zany picture right now. It does take a little imagination to come up with
the silly pictures, but once you see them clearly, just for a split second,
you will have memorised the facts you wish to learn.

The next fact to remember is that the island became British in 1655. To
picture this, you could see a dish - shaped lily (16 - 55) waving a
Union Jack flag. Now associate that image to Tyre Bear. Picture that bear,
still swinging the tyre around its middle, leaping into a pond full of
dish-shaped lilies which are vigourously waving Union Jack flags. As
mentioned earlier, this picture takes a lot of written words to describe,
but is actually seen in an instant.

Continue your Link. Jamaica became independent in 1962 (tap - chain).
Picture a tap with arms and legs which swings a heavy chain around in
the air. As it does this, it jumps across that lily pond, stepping on the
dish-shaped lilies as it goes, until it falls in the deep end
(independent) of the pond and sinks slowly, dramatically, to the bottom.

Now, form your own silly pictures to Link to the next facts - Jamaica's
exports include sugar, bananas, bauxite, rum, and coffee. Include each one
of these items in your Link :- associate tap - chain to sugar to bananas to
bauxite to rum to coffee (hint - for bauxite picture box it - the other
items can be easily pictured). Make those associations clearly, right now.

Complete your Link by associating coffee to the final fact - the island's
rapidly expanding tourist industry. Picture lots of tourists who are somehow
expanding very quickly, as if being inflated by a giant pump. They are
drinking coffee, which is so hot it makes them burst, like balloons. Make
that mental image as comical as possible, and you are sure to remember it.

That completes your Link, and also the task of memorising the stated facts
about Jamaica. Go over the complete Link in your mind once more, before
reading any further. If you have really tried to see all the ridiculous
pictures, you will remember all the facts in the 'mini lesson'.

In this example, every fact from the reading material was included in the
Link. Obviously, when you actually start to use the system in practice,
you will be selective and only link the facts you feel you want to remember.

Additional Exercises - Reading, Studying, and Learning

Practice applying the systems you have just learned to any reading material
of your choice. The first few times you apply the systems to technical
reading material, they will slow down your reading speed. However, you
won't have to spend time going over the material again and again, because
you will remember it after that first reading.

As you become more proficient at applying the systems, you'll find that you
are reading closer and closer to your normal reading speed. What's more ,
you will only be reading the material once. The Total Recall systems are
applicable to any type of reading matter, and the more technical the
material, the more useful the systems become.

As you read, you can remember facts, figures and prices in a business
report; names, dates, events and places in a historical novel; names and
applications of new drugs in a medical journal; names and quotations in a
political report; specifications and dimensions in an engineering magazine;
- absolutely anything

If you want to, you can even memorise the page number on which a particular
quote or fact appears. Simply associate a Key Word from the fact or quote to
the Peg Word that represents that page number. If you don't have a Peg Word
for that particular page number, make one up that fits the page number
phonetically - the system will work just as well.

Taking the idea a bit further, you can associate section headings, diagram
numbers and chapter titles to page numbers. You can, to all intents and
purposes, effectively memorise an entire book this way !

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Remembering Playing Cards        TOP

In the majority of popular card games, a player with an efficient memory can
significantly increase his or her chances of success. For the majority of
card games, which are discard games, this involves remembering which cards
have been played during the current hand.

For many people this presents a tricky problem, because playing cards are
like numbers :- they are abstract, and difficult to remember.

The tutorials in this section will teach you a system to enable you to
mentally picture any playing card instantly, and to remember sequences of
playing cards quickly and efficiently.

Even if you do not play cards, you should follow the ideas in this section,
because they provide an excellent mental exercise.

This section assumes that you are already familiar with the Link and
Phonetic Alphabet ideas - if you have not yet worked through those
sections, then go back and do so before continuing with this section.

---

  
Tutorial 18 - Learning The 52 Card Words

As stated in the Introduction, playing cards are difficult to remember
because they are intangible. The system you are about to learn is based
on having each card in the deck represented by a tangible item, which can
easily be pictured.

The system is in fact an extension of the system you have already learned
to help you remember numbers. You will be taught a Card Word for each
of the 52 cards. The Card Words follow a definite phonetic pattern (remember
the Phonetic Alphabet ?), and are easy to learn. Each of the Card Words is an
item which can easily be pictured, and hence associated to other items.

The phonetic pattern used is very simple. The Card Word for each card will
begin with either C,D,H,S, for Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. The next
next consonant sound in the word represents the value of the card.
For example, the word home can only represent the 3H. It begins with a
H for Hearts, and the next consonant sound in the word is m, for 3.

The word (and also picture) cake must represent the 7C. It begins with a
C, for Clubs, and the next phonetic sound is k, for 7. Similarly,
the 9S is soap, and dune can only be the 2D.

Once you understand the pattern, there are no choices or decisions to make.
Before proceeding any further, make sure you understand the examples given
so far.

Now, before presenting you with the full list of 52 Card Words to learn,
here are some further rules about the Phonetic Pattern used.

The s sound will always be used to represent the four 10 cards - i.e.
10C, 10D, 10H, 10S. Since there is no zero of any suit, this fits in nicely
with the pattern. The Aces are simply counted as 1 - e.g. the AD (Ace of
Diamonds) will always be represented by the Card Word date.

The Court Cards Jack, Queen, and King are treated as numbers 11, 12 and 13
respectively. So the QC (Queen of Clubs) will always be represented by the
word cotton - c for clubs, tt for 1 (the first digit of 12), and n
for 2 (the second digit of 12).
Similarly, satan will always represent the QS (Queen of Spades), and
hooded will be the Card Word for the JH (Jack of Hearts).

As with the Peg Words, you will need to form a definite mental picture for
each Card Word, and learn the words so well that every time you see, say,
the Jack of Hearts in a deck of cards, you will instantly see a mental
picture of a hooded man. Once again, the mental pictures you form are
entirely up you - the important thing is that you should be able to see each
picture clearly, and be able to conjure up the picture instantly.

On the next page is a list of the 52 Card Words for you to learn thoroughly.
To obtain a hard copy of the list, print the file 'CARDS.LST' on the Total
Recall disk. Because the words follow a definite pattern, they are much
easier to learn than you think. Take some time now to learn them thoroughly
- you will find them just as effective aan aid for remembering Playing Cards
as the Peg Words are for remembering numbers.

As you learn each Card Word, fix on a definite mental picture for that word
and stick to that same picture every time. We could give you suggestions for
the mental pictures, but you will be aware by now that this removes your
Initial Awareness - it is much better if you form your own, vivid mental
images for the words.


Here is the complete list of 52 Card Words :

Clubs                           Diamonds                  Hearts                      Spades
AC - Cute                AD - Date                AH - Hat                 AS - Suit
2C - Can                  2D - Dune              2H - Hen      p;         2S - Sun
3C - Come             3D - Dame             3H - Home              3S - Sum
4C - Core                 4D - Door              4H - Hair                 4S - Sore
5C - Cool                 5D - Duel                 5H - Hole              5S - Sail
6C - Cash                 6D - Dash              6H - Hash                  6S - Sash
7C - Coke                 7D - Deck              7H - Hog                    7S - Sock
8C - Cuff                  8D - Dive                 8H - Hoof                 8S - Safe
9C - Cap                  9D - Dip                   9H - Hoop                9S - Soap
10C - Case            10D - Daze               10H - Hose              10S - Suds
JC - Cadet                JD - Dotted            JH - Hooded            JS - Steed
QC - Cotton           QD - Detain             QH - Hoe Down      QS - Satan
KC - Cut Me          KD - Dead Ham       KH - Hit Me             KS - Steam

Take some time right now to learn them as thorougly as you learned the Peg
Words. Remember that the phonetic pattern almost tells you what the word
for each card is.

---

Tutorial 19 - Sequences of Playing Cards

Having learned the Card Words thoroughly, you now have the knowledge to
memorise a complete deck of 52 cards - in sequence !.

Difficult ? Not at all, if we combine the Card Word System with our old
friend the Link System.

Of course it will take a little practice, so let's start with say a dozen
cards. Imagine someone is turning over twelve cards off the top of a
shuffled deck, one at a time, and you are trying to remember them in
sequence.

The first two cards are the 4H (Hair) and the KS (Steam), so begin your
Link by picturing steam coming out of your hair. As ever, make your
mental picture as ludicrous and vivid as possible. Imagine that steam
pouring out of your hair really viciously, so that your are enveloped in
steam.

The next card is the QD (Detain), so continue your link by picturing a
policeman detaining you for some crime - he is so mad that steam is
pouring fast and furiously out of his ears.

The fourth card is the 7S (Sock), so link detain to sock. Perhaps the
policeman is now detaining a gigantic sock - make the picture ridiculous,
and see it clearly in your mind's eye for a split second.

The fifth card is the 2H (Hen), so to continue the Link you might picture
yourself wearing a hen on your foot instead of a sock. See that picture.

Now, continue the Link with the following seven cards, in sequence :

6C - Cash               9S - Soap               7H - Hog             5S - Sail

5D - Duel            AH - Hat                 2C - Can

Link Hen to Cash, to Soap, to Hog, to Sail, to Duel, to Hat, to Can. Make
those ridiculous associations right now, and be sure to see each mental
picture very clearly.

When you have completed the Link then you must know the twelve cards in
sequence, because the Card Words tell you what the cards are. Following
the phonetic pattern you learned in the previous tutorial, Hen can only
transpose to the two of hearts, and so on.

The system applies equally well to 52 cards as 12, though it does take a
little longer !

---

Tutorial 20 - Applying the Card Words

You now have the knowledge to picture any playing card instantly, and to
memorise sequences of playing cards quickly and efficiently. The exact way
in which you apply these skills to playing card games will depend on which
games you play. The systems you have learned are flexible - you can adapt
or expand them to help you improve your chances at any card game you choose.

This tutorial aims to demonstrate a few ways in which the systems can be
applied to various card games . Once you understand the basic idea, you can
creatively apply the systems in your own way to your own favourite card
game or games.

Although the Link system when applied to memorising the complete sequence of
a deck of cards is a truly impressive stunt, the Link idea is not actually
the most useful when applied to games such as bridge, solo, gin rummy or
canasta.

In all these games, you need to know which cards have been played so far
during any hand - the order in which they were played is usually not so
important. The easiest method of accomplishing this is to use the
mutilation idea.

To memorise all the cards played, you simply picture the Card Word for each
card as it is played, and mutilate that picture in some way. If the 3H is
played, picture a "burning home". When the 5S is played, see a "ripped
sail" ; the 2H, picture a "headless hen"; the 7D picture a "burning
deck", and so on. Simply mutilate the picture that represents the card in
your mind, in some quick way.

As you get more practice, this will become easier and easier to do. For one
thing, you will get to know the Card Words better and better. Also, once you
see a mutilation of any Card Word, you will use that same picture all the
time.

Try the idea now, with a deck of cards. Take out, say, ten cards, without
looking at them, and put them to one side. Now, turn over the remaining 42
cards one at a time, and as you look at each card, mutilate the Card Word
for that card in your mind. The way in which you mutilate the picture is
entirely up to you, but remember that whatever comes to mind first is the
best picture to use.

When you have turned over the 42 cards, and created 42 mutilated Card Word
pictures in your mind, you will easily remember which ten cards were taken
out of the deck. You simply go over the 52 Card Words in your mind - any
picture which has not been mutilated will stand out like a sore thumb !

Practice this stunt a few times on your own, then try it with a friend
calling out the cards to you as he turns them over. This is a truly
impressive stunt when done quickly. Incidentally, it does not matter how
many cards are removed from the pack - in fact, the more cards removed the
easier, because there are fewer to mutilate. For bridge players, thirteen
cards is a good demonstration. Have someone deal four hands of thirteen
cards, and call out three of the hands, a card at a time. You then tell him
exactly what is in the fourth hand !

To gain speed, you will need to work at making the Card Words second nature.
The better you know them, the quicker you will be able to perform the
missing card stunt. When you are running through the list of Card Words in
your mind to determine which ones have been mutilated, is a good idea to
always use the same order for the suits - say Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts,
Spades. This will save you the time and possible confusion of going over the
same list twice.

The mutilation system works well for any discard game. Bridge players in
particular use the system to great effect. Some memorise only the trump
cards which have been played, so they mutilate only the trump cards. More
experienced players will often memorise all the cards played, so they
mutilate each one as it is played.

In gin rummy, it is important to know whether it is safe to play any
particular card. So, as you play, mutilate each card discarded by yourself
and your opponent. When you want to know if it is safe to discard a
particular card, you just need to think of three or four Card Words. If you
are thinking of discarding the 7D, think of the Card Words for the 6D and
8D. If they haven't been mutilated then your opponent may be waiting for the
7D to complete a diamond run. When your opponent takes a card, associate the
Card Word to his face. If he takes the 2H, see a hen sitting on his head.
Later, you will remember all the cards your opponent has picked up !

In Pontoon or Blackjack, knowing what cards have been played is a great
help in knowing when to double your bet, and when to stop, or twist.

Although poker is not a discard game, a memory of what has been played is
certainly very useful. All good poker players have an idea of poker odds,
and the odds do change according to cards played. So in a stud poker game it
would be bad play to keep betting because you are waiting for an ace when
you know that two aces have already been dealt to other players.

The above ideas are just some of the ways in which you can apply the Card
Words to various card games. The most important thing to remember is that
applying the systems is a creative activity. We have given you the basic
systems - the way in which you apply them to the card games you play is now
up to you. Good Luck !

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved

Introduction - Dates and Appointments       TOP

The ability to remember dates and appointments is often very important. In
both business and social life, forgetting an appointment or turning up late
will always create a bad impression.

This section aims to show you how the day and time of any appointment or
anniversary can easily be remembered, using the memory systems you have
already learned.

In Tutorial 21 you will learn how to picture any day and time of the week -
once again, we make the intangible tangible.

In Tutorial 22 you will learn how to remember the time and day of the week
of any appointment.

The systems in this section depend on you having a thorough knowledge of the
Peg Words - if you have any problems as you work through this section, go
back to section G and brush up on them before continuing.

---

Tutorial 21 - Picturing Days and Times

Any day and time of the week can be pictured using a simple pattern. First,
each day is allocated a number; Sunday will be Day 1, Monday will be Day 2,
and so on to Saturday which will be Day 7.

Friday at 4.00 can now be converted to a two-digit number, which will be 64.
The first digit represents the day which is Day 6 (Friday), and the second
digit represents the hour, which is 4. Using this pattern, the number 64 can
only represent Day 6, 4th hour.

Picturing 64 is no problem - you simply use the Peg Word for that number,
which is Jar. Using the pattern described above, Jar will always
represent 4.00 on Friday. Similarly, Moon can only represent 2.00 on
Tuesday, and Goose must always represent Saturday at 10.00. In the last
example, we have treated 10.00 as if it were 0.00 - this will of course
work, because there is no 0.00 on the clock !

Simple, isn't it ? Of course, there are a few loose ends to be tied up here.
What about minutes ? How are 11.00 and 12.00 represented ? How do you now
whether a time is A.M. or P.M. ?

Let's consider 11.00 and 12.00 first. A simple solution is to treat them as
if they are 1.00 and 2.00, but without using the standard Peg Words you
are already using for 1.00 and 2.00. What you do is to use any other word
that will fit using the Phonetic Alphabet rules.

For example, Monday at 1.00 is represented by the standard Peg Word Net,
but the (Peg) word Nut, Note, or Knot could be used to represent
Monday at 11.00. Similarly, Wednesday at 2.00 is represented by the Peg Word
Rain, but the word Wren could be used to picture Wednesday at 12.00.

Once you have decided on the words you wish to use for 11.00 and 12.00 on
each day, you will find that they work very well. You will know the standard
Peg Words for 1.00 and 2.00, and that any other words that fit 1.00 and 2.00
(for any given day) must represent 11.00 and 12.00.

We will tackle how to handle minutes, and A.M. and P.M., later.

---

Tutorial 22 - Remembering Appointments and Tasks

Now that you have learned how to picture days and times, you can easily
apply that skill to memorising appointments, or tasks you have to do at
specific times during the week.

To illustrate this, we will use an imaginary set of appointments and tasks.
Make sure that you actually make the associations suggested here, because
you will be tested on them at the end of the tutorial. The tasks and
appointments are not presented in chronological order, because they are
unlikely to come up that way in real life.

First, on Friday at 3.00, you have an appointment to see your bank manager.
Convert Friday at 3.00 to 63, which gives you the Peg Word Jam. Now,
associate Jam to bank manager. You might picture the bank manager opening
the drawer of his desk, when tons and tons of sticky red jam come pouring
out. Or perhaps there is a huge jar of jam sitting in the bank manager's
chair when you go into his office for the appointment. Make sure that you
see the crazy picture clearly.

On Sunday at 2.00, you are meeting a friend at a football match. Associate
the Peg Word tin (12) to football match. Perhaps the players are kicking a
gigantic tin around the field, instead of a football. See that picture (or a
silly picture of your own) clearly, right now.

On Wednesday at 9.00, you have booked your car in at a garage for a service.
Associate rope, the Peg Word for 49, to car. You might see yourself
driving along the road on a rope instead of a car, or perhaps you open your
car door and an enormous length of rope comes tumbling out, wrapping itself
around you until you are completely enveloped.

On Saturday at 10.00, you have to visit an optician to have your eyes
tested. Associate Cheese (60) to your eyes. You might visualise great big
lumps of cheddar cheese in your eye sockets, instead of your eyes. See the
picture clearly in your mind.

On Monday at 5.00, you have a piano lesson. Associate Nail to piano.
Perhaps you are playing the piano but the keys are full of sharp nails,
which make your fingers bleed. Not a pretty picture, but remember that the
more vivid you make the mental image, the easier it will be to remember !
On Monday at 2.00, you have a dental appointment, so associate the Peg Word
for 22, Nun, to dentist. Make your own association, right now.

On Thursday at 10.00, you are playing squash with a friend. Associate Lace
to squash, using your own silly mental picture. See that picture clearly.

On Tuesday at 5.00, you have arranged to collect money for your favourite
charity, outside the local shopping centre. Associate mole to collection
box. Make that association clearly.

On Tuesday at 7.00, you are going to the cinema. Associate Mug to cinema.

Finally, on Wednesday at 6.00, you are going for a Keep-Fit session at the
local gymnasium. Associate Rash to gymnasium.

Now, if you have really made all the associations, you should have no
difficulty in remembering all the appointments and tasks. For example, to
recall Tuesday's appointments, you go over your Peg Words for Tuesday - Mat
for 1.00, Moon for 2.00, Mummy for 3.00, and so on. When you come to a
word that has been associated to something else, you will immediately know it.
So Peg Word 35, Mole, will make you think of collection box, telling you that
you are collecting for charity on Tuesday at 5.00.

Before testing yourself on how well the system has helped you to remember
the fictitious appointments, let us consider how the system can be expanded
to help you picture minutes, and whether an appointment is A.M. or P.M.

Consider the A.M. - P.M. problem first. In the vast majority of cases this
is not really a problem at all, because you will automatically know
whether an appointment A.M or P.M. If you have associated Nun to dentist
to remind you of a dental appointment at 2.00 on Monday, you will obviously
not assume that it is at 2.00 in the morning !

However, it is possible to make each picture more definite if you really
want to. Simply get black into your crazy picture for any appointments
which are P.M. - if black is not in the picture, then the appointment must
be a morning appointment.

As far as the minutes problem goes, all you really need are three reminders
for a quarter, a half, and three-quarters past the hour. Appointments are
rarely more precise than that, and even if they are then you can simply
use the preceding quarter of an hour and be a few minutes early !

A quarter past the hour will always be represented by a quart of beer;
half a grapefruit will always represent half past the hour, and a cake
with on large slice missing (three quarters of a cake) will be the
standard to represent three quarters past the hour. As ever, if you prefer
to use your own standards, then fine.

So to remember an appointment an appointment with your dentist at 2.15 on
Monday, you might picture a Nun drilling your teeth, while drinking a
quart of beer !

Copyright © 2000 Roper Cassidy
Memory Master © is a registered trademark of Roper Cassidy. All Rights Reserved