Dean Vaughn is the president of Dean Vaughn Learning Systems, Inc., of Hershey, Pennsylvania. His more than 20 books, video courses and computer programs have been applied to a wide range of subjects, from elementary reading and mathematics to the field of medicine. He is the author of How to Remember Anything. The Proven Total Memory Retention SystemBy Dean Vaughn St. Martin's GriffinCopyright © 2007Dean Vaughn I suggest that you put this book down and look around the room. Look at all the locations, starting with 0 at the ceiling, then 1, 2, 3, and so on. Then look at them in reverse order. Last, look at each location randomly and think of the number assigned to it.You now have a memory bank for the numbers 0 through 9.Before continuing, please be certain you know the ten numbered room locations. For example, when you think of number 7, you should immediately think of the back right corner of the room. If you think of number 2, you should immediately think of the left wall.You should be able to close your eyes and see each of the ten locations forward, backward, or randomly. You should also be able to think of any number between 0 and 9 and quickly see its room location in your mind.I call this numbered room system a Cube, even though you will seldom be in a room that is actually a cube. This numbered Cube methodology has been used in thousands of academic and corporate applications with unprecedented success.Let's suggest that you want to learn and remember information in which a numbered sequence is important. For example, let's use the first nine presidents of the United States. The information you want to remember could be any numbered sequence. Please follow the steps very carefully, even if you are not interested in the content. The content is not what is important. What's important is to know how the system works so you can use it in almost limitless practical applications.I mentioned earlier that all of my memory techniques include only two objects at a time. One object represents what you already know and the other represents what you want to remember. Both must be objects or locations you can see. In this case, you already know the nine numbered locations in the Cube. We will not use the 0 location (ceiling) for this exercise. You can actually see or visualize each of the nine locations, so these are your knowns or what you already know.What you want to remember is the name of the president for each of the nine numbered locations. That means the name of each president must be converted to something you can see. To do this,I'll change the name of each president to a soundalike picture, as follows:Be certain that you know the soundalike picture for each of the presidents before continuing.The next step is to associate each soundalike picture with its numbered Cube location. This will automatically give you the numerical sequence of each president.Look at location 1 (the back left corner). As you look at location 1, see a gigantic washing machine filling the entire corner! Imagine that the washing machine is running, the lid is open, and water and wet clothing is pouring out all over you!Later, when you think of number 1--the first president--think of location 1, the back left corner. See the Excerpted from How to Remember Anything by Dean Vaughn Copyright © 2007 by Dean Vaughn. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. |