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Summary

Dale Carnegie's strategies for improving memory involve the principles of impression, repetition, and association, emphasizing the importance of a good memory for success.

Abstract

The article discusses memory improvement techniques from Dale Carnegie's book "How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking." Carnegie outlines three natural laws of remembering: impression, repetition, and association. He suggests that a vivid and lasting impression is the first step to a great memory, which can be achieved through focused concentration, even in distracting environments. Repetition is also key, with the finding that repeating information 38 times over three days is more effective than 68 times in one sitting. Lastly, association involves linking new information with existing knowledge or cues, facilitating better recall. The article provides practical tips for each principle, such as using multiple senses to remember names or creating nonsense phrases to connect a person's name with their business.

Opinions

  • The author believes that having a good memory is crucial for overall success.
  • The article implies that modern reliance on technology, like Google, has diminished our natural ability to remember.
  • Theodore Roosevelt's memory is highlighted as exemplary, attributed to his power of concentration.
  • The average person's observational skills are considered poor, with Thomas Edison noting that we fail to notice most of what we see.
  • The Chinese proverb "One time seeing is worth a thousand times hearing" is cited to emphasize the importance of visualization in memory retention.
  • The author admits to personal difficulty in remembering names due to not paying attention during introductions.
  • The article suggests that repetition over several days is more effective for memorization than cramming.
  • Professor William James is referenced to illustrate the mind's natural tendency to associate new information with existing knowledge.
  • The author recalls a personal experience of easily remembering the acronym ROYGBIV from science class, which exemplifies the use of association and repetition for long-term retention.

Timeless Tips to Improving Your Memory from Dale Carnegie

You don’t have a bad memory.

Photo by Jesse Martini on Unsplash

We no longer rely on our memories the way we used to.

Everything is easily googleable.

Can’t remember that restaurant you went to last week? Google. Can’t remember the directions to your in-laws’ place? Google. Can’t remember the recipe for mac and cheese? Google.

But, I would say, having a good memory is essential to overall success. Don’t you think?

In this post, I will outline the strategies recommended by Dale Carnegie in his book, How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking, first published in 1957!

I found them timeless and practical! I hope you do, too.

There are three natural laws of remembering that make up the memory system: impression, repetition, and association.

Impression

The first step to a great memory is having a vivid and lasting impression of the thing you want to remember.

You want to train yourself to focus under the most difficult and distracting situations. Theodore Roosevelt was known for his incredible memory, and it was due to his power of concentration.

On one trip “through the Brazilian wilderness, as soon as he reached the camping-ground in the evening, he found a dry spot under some huge tree, got out a camping stool and his copy of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and, at once, he was so immersed in the book that he was oblivious to the rain, to the noise, and activity of the camp, to the sounds of the tropical forest.”

You can’t remember what you didn’t notice, see, hear, touch, taste, or feel in the first place.

Five minutes of vivid, energetic concentration will produce greater results than days of mooning about in a mental haze.

Have you ever passed by the same route every day only to notice something years or months later? It’s because of the mental haze that we’re in.

We are on autopilot nowadays, and it has gotten worse with social media and mobile phones. We’re never present at any moment. We’re oblivious to what goes on around us, and most of the time, we’re scrolling down through social media feeds without concentrating.

“The average person’s brain does not observe a thousandth part of what the eye observes. It is almost incredible how poor our powers of observations — genuine observation — are.” — Thomas Edison.

When you’re at a gathering and introduced to three new people, how many names do you remember the second you’re done introductions? Most people wouldn’t be able to remember a single name because they didn’t pay attention in the first place.

I find that I’m usually just waiting for my turn to speak and smiling and nodding instead of actually listening.

Practical tips:

  • To remember names, listen to what the other person is saying. Ask them to repeat their name. Now you repeat the name or ask how it’s spelled. This will give you a clear and vivid impression of the name. Making it very difficult to forget.
  • Use your senses to remember: Hearing is ok. Seeing and hearing is better. But seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting is ideal. “The nerves that lead from the eye to the brain are twenty-five times as large as those leading from the ear to the brain.”

“One time seeing is worth a thousand times hearing.” — Chinese proverb

  • Visualize your speech or anything you wish to remember. Instead of memorizing a sentence for your talk, visualize what the sentence is saying. For example, when Carnegie delivered a talk on memory, he visualized the points he wanted to highlight. He visualized Roosevelt reading in the camp in the middle of the Brazilian wilderness.

Repetition

You can memorize anything with enough repetition. Some religious people memorize whole books because they repeat them enough times.

But there’s a key to using repetition effectively. Psychologists have found that when memorizing new material, we forget more in the first eight hours than in the next 30 days.

Professor Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, found that if you repeat a thing 38 times over three days, you will remember it.

But if you tried to do it in one sitting, it would require you to repeat it 68 times! That’s almost double the time and effort.

“We learn to swim during the winter and to skate during the summer.” — Professor William James.

Practical Tips:

  • Repeat the thing you’re trying to memorize over several days, especially before taking that test or doing that talk.
  • And remember reading a thing once or twice is not enough. They’re talking about 38 times! I’ve never repeated anything that many times.

Association

Our mind is an associating machine. You cannot recall anything without a cue.

If you ask your brain to remember? Remember what? Oh, your birthday, ok.

“Whatever appears in the mind must be introduced; and, when introduced, it is as the associate of something already there.” — Professor William James

“Of two men with outward experiences, the one who thinks over his experiences most, and weaves them into the most systematic relations with each other, will be the one with the best memory.” — Professor William James

Practical Tips:

  • You associate things by asking different questions such as these: “Why is this so? How is this so? When is it so? Where is it so? Who said it so?”
  • To remember dates, associate them with important dates you already have memorized.
  • Try making up a nonsense sentence out of the points to be remembered, for example: “The cow smoked a cigar and hooked Napoleon, and the house burned won with religion.”

“To remember a stranger’s name, ask questions about it — how it is spelled, and so on? Observe his looks sharply. Try to connect the name with his face. Find out his business and try to invent some nonsense phrase that will connect his name with his business.”

ROYGBIV

This is something I memorized from science class over 20 years ago. It’s the acronym for the light spectrum colors—red, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet.

Have I used this whatsoever since that test? Never.

But I know I memorized it well because it sounded funny. Roy G. Biv. We repeated it several times.

Roy G. Biv. Roy G. Biv. Roy G. Biv.

I can’t unlearn that. And it turns out that I had applied some of the above-mentioned tips!

Memory Improvement
Self Improvement
Dale Carnegie
Timeless Wisdom
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