[Image by Tung Nguyen of Pixabay]
We’re probably all familiar with saying “Everything has its place.” What may be less familiar is the concept of a memory palace. Public speakers have various fears but one of them is the fear of not remembering what you’re going to say.
The good news is that this post will refer to a technique to address this fear. The technique is called memory palace. It’s pretty straight forward so let’s review the steps.
- Choose a location with which you are familiar. For example you may select your home or office if you wish.
- Plan out your route. You may use the front door, kitchen, living room or bedroom. If you want you can go in clockwise order but that isn’t a requirement.
- Create a list of what you wish to memorize. You can choose a list of numbers, food items, or anything you want.
- Take one or two items from your list and place them in certain loci (places) to better retain them.
- As you create the mnemonic images in the prior step try to exaggerate them. Use your humor and creativity. It’s like you’re taking a journey!
That’s it…what you’re doing is making an association between what you want to remember or recall and its specific location. My recommendation is that you try these directions first (possibly a few times) and then shift to your speech or presentation.
Remember that everything has its place, which is why this technique works. Try it and see for yourself. If you have questions or comments, you’re encouraged to contact me and we’ll get results. You may email me [email protected] or call 518-664-6004.
This is an example of a memory palace…good luck!