Techniques To Improve Your Memory

Bring as many of your senses as possible to bear on what you want to remember. Suppose you were exhibiting an apple to a person who had never seen one before. If he looked at the apple he would carry away a certain impression of it. But if he lifted it, smelled it, tasted it, he would carry away a clearer and more lasting memory. The scientific reason for this is that the impression you receive through the sense of sight is recorded on an entirely different cell from that transmitted through touch or any other sense. All cells of the nervous system are connected, however, so that the more impressions you get of a thing, the more strings you have with which to pull it out of the subconscious mind at will.

This principle is very important in remembering names and faces. People who do not remember names are usually those who do not hear the name distinctly in the first place or who pay little attention to it. Perhaps they are more concerned with the stranger's appearance, or with what kind of impression they are going to make on him. Or with what they will say to him. An employment manager with a poor memory set out to improve this faculty. When any person came to him, he made sure at the start that he knew the name exactly. If necessary, he would ask for the spelling of it. Then he would write the name down and look carefully at it. Thus a definite impression was made on his visual and muscular senses. In his conversation he would repeat the name again and again. Meanwhile he was studying the man's face and expression and mannerisms. Today that manger can meet and call by name ten thousand persons.