Chapter 8

Exploring the World of Memory Techniques (Improving Your Memory Part IV)

Remembering a piece of information is more of a technique…

It is a usual thing to hold people with brilliant memory in awe. But what if their brilliant memory is as a result of learning some simple techniques? Many complex concepts have simple techniques that make them easy to follow. Interestingly, memory also has some techniques you can follow to greatly remember more in no time.

Many people don’t even know memory techniques exist. It is even worse when this ignorance is noticed among people who are struggling to have an improved memory!

In this Chapter, we will discuss eleven from among the best and most reliable memory techniques available out there.

Explained in simple language with examples, we are very optimistic you will find a memory technique that will fit your need among the eleven techniques mentioned in this Chapter.

Enjoy them, and learn!

Memory Technique 1: Learning by Teaching

One of the easiest memory techniques ever is learning by teaching. It is also known as the Protégé effect. It is a phenomenon “where teaching, pretending to teach, or preparing to teach information to others helps a person learn that information.” ^[1]

What Do I Need to Know About This Memory Technique?

Since antiquity when this technique has been known, learners have observed that they understand what they have learned more – or even gained additional knowledge on it – when they teach it to others. 

But strictly speaking though, what is known as the “Protégé effect” is not first of all a memory technique. Rather, it is a learning technique. However, the style is so friendly to all shades of learning conditions that it can perfectly be used as a memory technique too!

It is not difficult to understand why this is so.

Since the aim of learning is to know and remember what is learnt, learning-by-teaching presents a unique opportunity for a learner to “regurgitate” what they have learned (sometimes repeatedly) while teaching others, till they (the learner) understand and/or memorize it better.

This simple process is why many veteran professors and career teachers can teach their subjects in class without notes. It is simply because they have been teaching it for such a long time that they have had key points of their notes memorized.

This points to one clear fact: this memory technique is not for those that wants to memorize information in a rush.

It is a slow but durable process, but it is highly rewarding in the end.

Why Learning by Teaching Works as a Memory Technique

The beauty of this memory technique is that it has been tested not only in classroom settings but in non-classroom settings too.

Apprentices, researchers, and programmers are examples of class of learners who have used this method to memorize their knowledge over time.

The simplicity of the technique has made the reasons why it works easy to dissect. Learning by teaching works so well as a memory technique because:

1. It speeds up the assimilation of information by giving the responsibility of teaching to a learner. This makes a learner more attentive to a subject. It also forces someone to make a frantic effort to understand what one wants to teach since it is difficult to explain or teach others something you don’t understand.

2. It encourages the revision of what you have learned. And when you revise a piece of information, it tends to stay longer in our brain.

How to Apply Learning-By-Teaching Memory Technique

1. The first rule in applying this process as a memory technique is to understand the subject matter to some extent.Note that it is not necessary to have an expert understanding of the subject matter.

2. Organize the knowledge into easily digestible parts. You might use a note for this. Make sure you structure it in a way that will make it easy for you to teach.

3. If possible, find the best time your audience will be most receptive to what you want to teach. This will pave the way for a successful teaching session. A successful learning-by-teaching session is as beneficial to the teacher as to the one being taught. Remember that it is more likely to want to use the learning-by-teaching memory technique again if you see that your audience benefits immensely from it. So, try to teach someone only when he or she is ready to take in the information.

4. During the teaching, take note of points you are not able to explain well. Work on those points in your spare time.

Note: Your audience may not understand everything you are teaching them. If you face this situation, do not waste time or bore them by trying to make them understand it by all means. Instead of that, try to rehearse what you were not able to explain in your spare time. It is more likely that you will gain a better understanding if you try working on the information again during a spare time when your brain is at ease.

5. Ask your audience to ask you questions when the teaching is over.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 whenever necessary till you have completely memorized the knowledge.

To gain more exposure to how this fantastic memory technique work, and how it can benefit your memory, read a more comprehensive article we have written about it here.

Tip: Even if there is no one to teach, just reading a piece of information with the intent of teaching it to others can greatly improve your understanding of the information. When next you want to read an article, read it with the intent of teaching others, and see how effective it is.

Memory Technique 2: Repetitions, Spaced Repetitions and Memory Songs

Here are memory techniques that are useful for everyone; from toddlers to the most elderly among us! These memory techniques are one of the oldest ever and they all have one feature in common – Repetition.

Repetition is a style of memorization that involves repeating an information (usually texts) to oneself at regular intervals in order to commit the information to memory.

Repetition (as a memory technique) is as old as history itself. Every one of us have done it at one time or the other without giving it a thought. It is often the go-to method for memorizing short definitions and mathematical formulas in school.

The repetitive feature of this memory technique is also found in its two other “siblings”: spaced repetition and memory songs.

In a spaced repetition, the timing factor is more important. Unlike in ordinary repetition, spaced repetition requires sessions of vigorous repetition punctuated by breaks that may last hours, days, or even weeks before another session of repetition of the information is conducted again.

As for the third in their family: memory songs; it is a song composed to aid the memorization of a piece of information. Usually, a memory song obtained its lyrics partially or completely from the piece of information that is intended for memorization. Memory songs are also sometimes referred to as Memory rhymes.

Memory songs are also repeated to make them stick to the memory.

Uses And Applications

The powers of these memory techniques lie in their application rather than their names. All the three are very old memory techniques, and one of them at least – memory songs – is a natural adaptation common among many human cultures where they have been adapted to preserve common knowledge and culture.

Indeed, it is so natural to human beings that memory songs (memory rhymes) are teachable to very young kids.

Any of these memory techniques (i.e., Repetitions, Spaced Repetitions, and Memory Songs) can come in useful when you want to:

1. Memorize short texts like definitions and lists;
2. A large volume of information over a long period of time;
3. Mathematical formulas;

4. Religious texts.

How to Do a Spaced Repetition

1. Break up the text you want to memorize into small manageable chunks. Each chunk should be of a length you can memorize at each session of repetition.
2. Recite and repeat the chosen chunk 15 times, at least.
3. Take a short break for rest and try step 2 again.
4. Do step 2 until you can now repeat the chosen chunk in an uninterrupted cycle without looking at the information.
5. Take a break according to your need. The break can last minutes, hours, days or even weeks.
6. At the next session, revise your last repetition, and if you can recall everything without looking at the information, choose another chunk, and apply steps 1-5 again.

Note that the length of break in a spaced repetition is to be determined by the brilliance of the individual(s) concerned. While some people can memorize several blocks of texts while having only minutes-long break. Some can only memorize very few lines of texts at a time and would require an hour-long break while doing its revision before they can attempt and memorize another chunk.

How to Make a Memory Song

1. Break up the text/information you want to convert into a memory song into small manageable chunks. Each chunk should be of a length you can sing at each session of repetition.
2. Choose the style of tune you want to use for your song.
3. Sing your text in accordance with your chosen tune.
4. Repeat the tune until you are consistent with it. You may do this for 15 times, at least.
5. Take a short break and then see if you can recall the tune perfectly from memory.
6. If your recall is not yet perfect, repeat step 4 above.
7. Take a break according to your need. The break can last minutes or hours.
8. At the next session, revise your last tune, and if you can recall perfectly, choose another chunk and apply steps 1-6.

Finally, note that repetition, spaced repetition, and memory songs are memory techniques that share a lot of features in common and thus can be mixed, used sequentially, or interchangeably.

Similar to some other memory techniques like Learning by teaching, these memory techniques are not for those that want to memorize information in a rush.

Before the end of this Chapter, you will learn about few memory techniques you can use to memorize a piece of information in a rush. Also, after mastering the memory techniques mentioned above, it is more likely that you may be able to use them to memorize a piece of information in a rush.

Learn more about Repetitions, Spaced Repetitions, and Memory Songs here.

Memory Technique 3: Analogy

As a memory technique, an analogy is a process of relating two or more pieces of information together to ease understanding and memorization. At its basic level, it is comparing two or more things that are alike in some way.

All branches of knowledge (for example, Math, Physics, Law, or even Accounting) have a way they can be understood better by using analogies in communicating them and learning them. This is because their content can sometimes be better explained by comparison with an unrelated field or content.

As an example, we might say the immune system is the soldier of the body, fighting off diseases. The circulatory system is the road network of the body, transporting materials between stations/posts like the brain, liver, and kidneys.

How Analogies Act on Knowledge And Memorization

Analogies can create bonds between pieces of boring or abstract information for the brain to digest. For example, moral texts on their own are often uninteresting for most people to read, but when moral lessons are incorporated with analogies from real-life stories, they get more interesting and are more easily remembered.

Why Analogy Is Effective as a Memory Technique

1. It clarifies information by exposing the brain to a clearer similitude to the information. This makes the information more understandable to the brain and is, therefore, more easily registered in the memory.
2. Analogies can connect new information to old information that is already very well known. This makes learning faster and makes retention easier.

How to Create a Good Analogy for Memorization

1. Find a piece of information you are very familiar with that have some (even the remotest) connection to the one you want to memorize. This familiar information will pave the way for absorbing the new abstract information.

(If needed, you may use more than one familiar known information to connect with the new information).

2. Focus on the similarities between the two pieces of information in your analogy.

3. Ignore small dissimilitude or inaccuracies if you can make out enough convincing similarities between the two pieces of information.

4. If you are using an analogy in teaching, consider using the comparisons your audience will be familiar with.

Analogies are for pros! Learn how to use it like one here.

Memory Technique 4: Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Mnemonics

If you have ever come across such popular terms like WYSIWYG, UNESCO and BMW, then you have come across some good examples of acronyms and abbreviations.

Mnemonics might not be as popular as both, but it’s also a well regarded memory technique, especially when used in memorizing short information.

They all have some elements in common, and they can easily be converted to one another by creative individuals.

However, their power is not in their combination but is rather in the differences that make each one of them unique.

Acronyms

An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letter(s) or syllable(s) of a series of words and pronounced as a word.

Examples of acronyms are RAM, ROM, and UNICEF.

When several acronyms are combined to form a sentence, this is known as an extended acronym.

Abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a written word or phrase. Abbreviations, unlike acronyms, are usually not pronounced as a single word. They are designed more to be called one letter at a time. Examples of abbreviations are the USA (United States of America) and KG (kilogram). Abbreviations are sometimes called “Initialisms.”

Mnemonics

Mnemonics are more holistic – comprising elements of abbreviation and acronyms to memorize a piece of information fast. Mnemonics are usually made up of a string of acronyms, often mixed with numbers, letters, and complete words.

 Mnemonics can be used to memorize longer pieces of information than acronyms and abbreviations can allow.

Applications Of Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Mnemonics In Memorization

These memory techniques can be used to memorize a wide variety of information, among which are:

1. Names of people, places, or things
2. Sequence of historical events
3. Route directions

4. Job specific technical terms etc.

Ways of Forming Acronyms and Mnemonics for Use In Memorization

1. Using the first letters of a sentence to form a pronounceable word e.g., UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund).
2. Using the first two letters of some words in a sentence mixed with the first letters of others (words), e.g., FIST (Fire Support Team).
3. Adding “o” to part of an acronym to make it more pronounceable and thus, more rememberable. This has been called the “Zero-letter method”. An example is MoVE MoJ SUN for memorizing the eight planets, i.e.:

• Mercury = Mo
• Venus = V
• Earth = E
• Mars = Mo
• Jupiter = J
• Saturn = S
• Uranus = U
• Neptune = N

Moj is a small village in India.

To learn other acronym styles and to know more about acronyms, abbreviations, and mnemonics, read our more comprehensive article about it here.

Memory Technique 5: Memory Pegs

It is not unusual to attribute a particular word, shape, number, or object to something for the purpose of remembering. While some people believe this applies to children alone, as teaching kids usually requires that the teacher makes use of common shapes, colors, and words that would make them remember whatever they have been taught, it is, in fact, one of the memory techniques that can be used by everyone. This memory technique is called memory pegs.

Memory pegs are words or groups of words, objects, shapes, colors, etc. that we consciously create in our mind in order to aid us in remembering or retain a piece of information in our brain.

Based on shape, a fairly easy number peg system are:

0 – Tyre

1 – Flagpost or Candle

2 – Duck or fish hook

3 – Handcuff

4 – Sailboat

5 – Snake

6 – Hoe

7 – Sickle

8 – Hourglass

9 – Magnifying glass or balloon on a string

Uses and Applications

Memory pegs can be used to memorize lists, street numbers, digits, among others.

Using the memory peg effectively requires strong visualization skills from users.

As an example, let us make use of the number peg to memorize the following list required to be followed by a group of sales executives in filing their daily report. We are going to make use of the number peg we have created above:

1. Business Visited
2. Business Called
3. Effective Contact
4. Ineffective Contact
5. New Leads

1. For easy memorization, Business Visited can be visualized as a flagpole standing beside a skyscraper.
2. Business Called can be visualized as a duck using a mobile phone.
3. Effective contacts can be visualized as a handcuff placed on a brand new address book.
4. Ineffective contacts can be visualized as a torn address book vandalized with drawings of sailboats.
5. New leads can be visualized as a snake crawling across a brand new road.

Make sure you make the visualization as vivid as possible in your mind. This will make it easier for you to remember the information.

Why the Peg System Works as a Memory Technique

The peg system is considered one of the most effective memory techniques that have been used over time by people in retaining information in their memory.

This is due to the freedom and choices available or presented to anyone using the peg system as a memory technique. There is the freedom to attribute, attach, stamp, or tag any word or group of words and shapes to a piece of information with the aim of retaining such information in one’s memory.

Unlike some other memory techniques like learning by teaching and summary, one does not actually need to follow any particular fixed steps while trying to memorize a piece of information using the memory peg technique. You can easily create your own word peg, shape peg, color peg, and so on based on requirements.

Learn far more about this memory technique here.

Memory Technique 6: Method of Loci (Memory Palace)

Have you ever met a person with a phenomenal memory? What did the person memorize that got you impressed?

The gift of an exceptional memory comes naturally to some people; they are born with them. But such people are extremely rare. They cannot easily be found among our friends or family members.

But out there are also people who have trained their memory to have phenomenal abilities of memorization. They are not born with this gift. They only trained their memory to be exceptionally powerful.

Such people are known as memory athletes, and they have special sets of techniques they use that can allow them to memorize whole dictionaries, thousands of digits, and even volumes of books.

For many of these people, the most powerful technique they use to achieve these great feats of memorization is the Method of Loci (a.k.a. Memory Palace or Journey Method of Memorization).

This technique can allow anyone to build their memorization skills simply with a dedication to practicing it, along with some good imagination skills. And we are not talking about the ability to memorize a shopping list here, but the ability to memorize tomes word-for-word!

Description of the Technique

The Method of Loci can be described thus:

It’s a memory technique where real (or imaginary) places and what they contain can be used for memorization of pieces of information. In the method, an imaginary journey is taken through a chosen location while the features and objects encountered in the imaginary journey are associated with unique pieces of information.

When creating a memory palace, it is best to choose locations one is thoroughly familiar with. The location that can be used in a memory palace can be anywhere as simple as one’s kitchen up to a space as complex as a car manufacturing plant! And even more. The most important thing is that the user should be very familiar with the location and its features.

Once the location is chosen, good association and visualization skills will be employed.

As an example, let’s use a typical bedroom as a memory palace. We’ll have an imaginary journey through a typical bedroom we are familiar with and use its features to create a memory palace for a list of random countries.

The countries are China, India, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Indonesia, USA, Japan, Argentina and Botswana.

Let’s proceed:

1. As we entered through the doorway, we encountered a wardrobe standing by the right wall, a hat rack and a backpack are stationed by the left wall. A bed is roughly in the center of the room, facing us. There’s an electric standing fan at the foot of the bed, a cosmetic and medicine rack at the head of the bed, and a curtained window at the opposite wall of the room.
2. To apply the memory palace in the order of the list of the countries presented to us, we are now going to associate images that can represent each country with the features we already have in our chosen location for the memory palace. To start with, let chopsticks represent China, let a train represent India, let snow represent Kazakhstan, let sweets represent Belarus, let a red hat represent Indonesia, let the statue of liberty represent the USA, let sushi represent Japan, let a lion represent Botswana and let a soccer ball represent Argentina. You may use other things to represent the countries. For example, you can use flag or landmark to represent some of the countries mentioned above.
3. Through a mental visualization, you will now combine the features in our memory palace (the bedroom) with what you have associated with each country! It goes thus:

As you stand on the bedroom doorway, visualize chopsticks inserted into many holes drilled into the doorframe. On the right wall, visualize that a poster showing a train has been pasted on the wardrobe door. Looking in the direction of the left wall, visualize that the hat rack has been sprinkled heavily with snow and the backpack is overflowing with sweets!

Visualize a red hat has been placed on the bed, and a small statue of liberty is now hung around the neck of the electric standing fan at the foot of the bed. Visualize that cosmetic and medicine packages at the head of the bed now have sushi inserted between the packages.

Looking opposite the room, visualize that the curtain is embroidered with the picture of a football and a lion is outside the window staring inside!

4. Our Memory Palace is complete.

5. What is left is just to practice this visualization by taking an imaginary journey through the bedroom a couple of times.

The imaginary journey would start from the doorway riddled with chopsticks (China) and ends at the bedroom window where there is a lion staring at us (Botswana).

6. Using this technique, we will notice it’s a lot easier to quickly remember the names of the countries once we can visualize it well. For example, when we visualize the sweets overflowing in the backpack, we should easily remember Belarus!

Do you enjoy the short description of the memory palace? Check this guide to learn how to use this wonderful memory technique to memorize more things.

Memory Technique 7: Association and Visualization

You will always find that association and visualization/imagination will have a place whenever sound memory techniques are discussed. Indeed, these two interrelated memory tricks are the soul of most memory techniques. Without using them, many memory techniques will simply not work.

To define; association is simply linking whatever piece of information we want to remember with something else. However, in using association, the new information we want to remember (the yet unfamiliar information) must be linked to something else we are already familiar with. Note that.

Furthermore, this linking is always done with our mind’s eye. That is, this linking involves creating images in the mind, and it, therefore, requires having a good imagination.

On the other hand, the skill of using our imaginations in creating mental images is called visualization.

Both of these skills work hand-in-hand, and one cannot be optimally used independently of the other.

However, what the mind is permitted to create during visualizations is not limited to images only. Depending on the user’s power of imagination, smells, sounds, and even taste can be visualized and used in this memory technique.

Association And Visualization at Work

For example, let’s say we just learned that Poland was invaded by Germany in 1939. In this example, “Poland”, “Germany,” and “in 1939” are new pieces of information we are encountering for the first time – these are unfamiliar pieces of information.

To use association to commit these pieces of information to memory, we will need to associate the unfamiliar pieces of information with information that is already familiar to us. To do this, we will need visualization.

For “Poland”, we can visualize a large flat land full of poles. For “Germany,” we can visualize a blob of jam smeared on the knee (jam-a-knee). For “1939,” we can simply visualize the 39. We will assume that 19-part will come to mind naturally since world war only happened in the 20th century. To visualize “39,” visualize a handcuff (for 3) and visualize a balloon on a string (for 9). To know how we come about these images for both numbers, please see the memory technique number 5 above.

We must make sure we can visualize all these clearly.

To use mental images to remember that Germany invaded Poland in 1939, we can combine the visualizations to look like this: visualize a flat land full of poles being overrun by soldiers having blobs of jam on their knees. Then visualize the soldiers handcuffing all the poles on the flat land. Then vividly visualize the soldiers throwing balloon on a string to celebrate this achievement.

Voila!

Is the visualization memorable? Do you think you can remember that information better if you replay this visualization in your mind repeatedly? You should.

That’s how association and visualization works.

To learn more about this memory technique and on how to make even more striking visualizations by applying tips like exaggeration of proportions and exaggeration of numbers, read our comprehensive article on it here.

Memory Technique 8: Paying Attention

Simply paying attention to what we are being taught might be the simplest and cheapest memory technique ever.

Due to life demands and our indiscipline, paying attention for any length of time has become difficult for many of us. This lack of attention is the culprit behind many imaginary memory problems a lot of people are suffering from.

If we want to remember information better, we should start by improving our ability to pay full attention to the information we want to remember. It is probably the easiest of all memory techniques.

How to Start Paying Attention to Information

1. Get Ready to Pay Attention:

Before you go to the conference or the class, be prepared to pay attention. That change of mindset is necessary before any improvement can be made. Be prepared.

2. Be a Good Listener:

Listening is simply focusing on what we hear with the objective of understanding. Practice this well. Discipline yourself to listen with the intent to understand what is being said instead of allowing your mind to wander aimlessly about.

3. Don’t Allow Distractions:

All external distractions like noise and movements should be avoided as much as possible. Find a location that can guarantee these.

4. Kill Your Internal Distractions:

Your excessive daydreaming while learning is an internal distraction. Discipline yourself to always be where you are instead of wandering your mind about.

These are just a few of the tips you can use to start improving your attention-paying abilities. To learn more about the effects that not paying attention can have on your memory and what you can do about them, read our comprehensive article on the matter here.

Memory Technique 9: Mind Maps

A mind map is a diagram that is used to make visual connections/relationships between two pieces of information. At its basic level, it’s a diagram used to organize information visually.

Mind maps can be done on paper or screen.

What makes mind mapping such an excellent memory technique is because it stimulates us to visually represent pieces of information that would have otherwise stayed disorganized and unconnected in our minds.

This visual representation is essential because it helps memorization by quickly enabling visual associations to be established between pieces of information.

Association and visualization – the memory technique 7 above – naturally blends well with mind map and both memory techniques complement each other.

Even more interestingly, just like association and visualization, mind maps further allows the use of our imagination through allowing the application of colors, diagrams, images, icons, doodles and words on the mind map.

With these advantages, mind maps can give an extreme boost to the result of our association and visualization attempt while staying relevant on its own as a visual memory aid.

Enough said, check out the full powers of mind maps by reading a more comprehensive article we have written on it here.

Memory Technique 10: Revision

“Revision” is already a household name to students, scholars, researchers, and infovores in general.

Revision simply means the process of going over a piece of information (usually many times) in order to make it stick to the brain. But unlike the other memory techniques like repetition, revision does not always require reading out the information aloud.

If you want to remember any piece of information for long, it is just too crucial you learn how to do a revision properly. There is no shortcut to this.

In the real sense, revision appears not to be a memory technique in its entirety. However, we have listed it under memory techniques because of its exceptional importance. Forget about whatever you might have heard before, if you want to remember a piece of information for a long time, you just have to revise it. There is no shortcut – None!

Please note that even if you become professional at applying all the other memory techniques in this Chapter, you will still forget what you learned with them if you don’t practice revision. Again, there is no shortcut to remembering a piece of information for long. You just have to revise it.

Why Revision Is So Important

1. Over time, the information stored in our memory tends to fade. This is a natural process and happens to each one of us, and the only thing to do to prevent this from happening is to reintroduce the information to our brain again. There appears to be no other way. The process of reintroducing a piece of information to our brain again for the purpose of strengthening our memory is called revision.
2. There is a tendency to absorb the meaning of a piece of information more during each revision. Revision helps us to understand a concept better. This is possible because each revision session presents us with the opportunity to see the piece of information we are revising in a new light.

How to Apply Revision as a Memory Technique

The steps we are about to outline will teach you basic revision skills, and with practice, you can use these steps to maintain a large amount of information in your memory over a long period of time.

For example, if you memorize the names of all the countries in the world using the memory techniques mentioned in this Chapter, then you can use the revision steps discussed below to maintain your ability to remember all the countries’ names years after you have memorized them.

To perform revision like a pro:

1. Ensure you pay full attention to the information you want to remember. If this is not possible the first time you encounter it, make sure you do this every time you want to revise it.
2. Try out your first revision 24 hours after you first read (or encounter) the information. If you wish, you can do this first revision mentally, without consulting the source.
3. Do another revision after 3 days. If convenient and efficient, you can also choose to do this revision mentally, without consulting the source.
4. Do another revision after a week. Check if there is an improvement in what you can remember and understand from the time of the last revision.
5. Do another one after a month. Check if there is an improvement in what you can remember and understand from the time of the last revision.
6. Do another revision after three months.
7. Now, plan a regular revision schedule from what you have observed from your accomplishment in three months.
8. Continue revision according to your new schedule. Only amend when necessary. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Applying Revision as a Memory Technique

1. Late first revision:

This is doing the first revision for a piece of information after several days or weeks after the first encounter. This is a bad habit that can strongly undermine the potentials in your revision.

2. Failure to relive information during revision:

This can be likened to skimming over information without paying proper attention to it. The information you are revising should always be relived in your mind as you are revising it. Repeated reliving of information in your mind will ensure you pay proper attention every time you revise it, and this will help you to remember the information more easily.

3. Doing revision only once or twice:

This is not a productive revision method. While it may work if you are studying just to pass an examination, it rarely helps in long-term storage of information in our memory.

4. Disjointed/Irregular revision:

This is doing revision in a haphazard manner without a clear regular plan. Disjointed revisions may not ensure successful long-term storage of information in our memory.

Revision is a durable memory technique when used correctly. You can read far more about it in a dedicated article we have written here.

Memory Technique 11: Summary

When a piece of otherwise lengthy information is presented (or reformed) in a concise, brief and condensed manner, we say such information has been summarized.

Summaries are a well-known part of learning culture, pedagogy, and transmission of information among people.

But it is more than this! It is also a memory aid.

The greatness of summaries as a memory aid lies in the simple principle upon which it works. And the principle is pretty simple – it is simply easier to memorize a piece of shorter information than a long one!

This is why summaries have been the go-to memory aid for those preparing for exams, speech delivery, and quizzes.

For this category of people, it is far easier to commit something shorter to memory when studies need to be done in a rush.

Other categories of people that use summaries as a memory technique are memory athletes and people who are interested in improving their memory powers for one reason or the other.

With summaries, the average reader – for example – will be able to reinforce his brain with what is essential in a book, leaving out all else; and in a similar example, the average listener will be more able to reinforce his brain to know what is essential in a podcast. This makes them able to concentrate their attention resources on what is essential alone and therefore have a more efficient and shorter memorization.

The ability to create a good summary can turn the life of an average Joe around. Summaries are an essential part of the arsenal of anybody who wants to have an improved memory capability.

This is How to Make a Good Summary

1. Keep the summary as short as possible:

In every summary, brevity is key. This is even more important if you want to use the summary as a memory aid.

A common doubt when creating summaries is on what to remove and what should remain. A standard guideline about this is to leave out anything that is not essential to your memorization. Leave out everything else other than what is essential, no matter how attractive it might look.

2. Never leave out the core message:

While being brief with your summary, try to retain the core message of the summary, even if the core message is not essential to your memorization (although this appears impossible). The core message of a piece of information is the message around which the whole information revolves. Preserving the core message of a piece of information will allow you to easily get the bearing of your summary.

3. Try to write the summary in your own words:

This is crucial because reading your own words is usually more memorable. Make sure you write your summary based on what you understand.

4. Be mindful of what is required in your summary:

Sometimes, you will be creating summaries as a memory aid not for your own use but for the benefit of your examiners, acquaintances, or employer(s). In this case, make sure you have their requirements at hand before you create your summary.

Summaries are very useful memory techniques. You can read a more extensive article on how to employ them here.

Conclusion

Memory techniques are great tools to transform your memory without much work. Though you need some discipline to master it and use it like a pro, once this is done, it becomes really easy to use them to memorize new information on the go.

If you can sacrifice time to master these tools, you will be surprised at how easy it is to memorize and understand new information. After all, a great memory is a function of skills and techniques. It is always better to be smart with learning rather than spending a great amount of energy using traditional methods.

Reference:

1. “The Protégé Effect: How You Can Learn By Teaching Others – Effectiviology”. Effectiviology.Com, 2020, https://effectiviology.com/protege-effect-learn-by-teaching/. Accessed 19 Oct 2020.