The Memory Palace is one of the most powerful memory techniques available. It is easy to learn and fun! The Memory Palace technique is based on the fact that we remember the details of the places we know; our home, palace of work or local street, etc. You can use the memory palace to remember a wide range of subjects.
Memory Palace Technique
1. Choose Your Palace – a place you know well this could be a building or street
Pick a palace you know well, you have to be very familiar with this place as you need to be able to walk around your palace in your minds eye, feeling associated, seeing it from your eyes as if you were there now.
Start from the beginning of your palace and walk around it taking a specific route, recalling everything you can see; a painting on the wall, a chair, etc.
2. List All The Distinctive Features
Start again, noticing all the details of your palace; what is the first thing you can see (a door as an example – what color is the door, where is the letter box? Etc) what can you see next? As you walk into new rooms, it is good to follow a pattern, as an example looking through your room from left to right.
What do you notice first as you enter each room, what stands out? Make a mental note of everything you see.
• It is good to physically walk through your real palace to take in all the detail of each room.
• Once you have finished, go over it one more time as you need to have the palace clearly in your mind
3. Associate
Using a “memory peg” (a feature from your memory palace; example door, picture etc) and combine it with the element you want to memorize; make this as crazy and unusual as possible use all of VAKOG for each item you want to remember.
As an example, if you wanted to remember a list of tasks/chores to complete, using 'your house' as your palace; you may look at your front door as see a giant bra stapled to the door blowing in the wind, as the wind blows the bra, it slaps you in the face and you can feel and hear the wet slap as the bra needs to be dried out (hang the washing out) as you walk into your house you feel something pushing against the door, as you walk in you are met by a giddy wheelie bin panting and jumping up and down like a puppy wanting to go out for a wee (take the bin out), etc.
4. Visit Your Palace
Repeat the journey a couple of times (especially if you're new to this technique), starting from the same point each time, paying attention to your memory pegs. Once you have finished, re-walk the route starting from the end (your last memory peg) and walking all the way through your palace until you end at the beginning.