Andi Bell explains the `link method` memory technique [2/2]

This is a cut segment from a larger documentary on the brain titled "BBC - Get Smart"; It reveals some of the techniques used by world champion Andi Bell.

Andi holds the current world record for speed cards of 31.16 seconds. You can see more of his results at http://web.aanet.com.au/memorysports/competitor.php?id=11 .

Andi Bell isn't an autistic savant, meerly someone who has trained their brain to be able to memorize and codify information in the brain using advanced mnemonic techniques.

If you're interested in this kind of thing, let me know. I'll be happy to give you more information. You can email me at [e-mail] , and I will happily respond. I love emails :). I will 100% respond.

Hopefully you will enjoy this video as much as I did.

This is the second half of two videos that I've uploaded. The first is located here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xl7_hdWZo , making this 2/2 .]

Enjoy!

equipment as everybody

else so its something anyone

can do.

It sounds intriguing so Im

going to give it a try.

So Andi, what mental torture

have you got for me this

morning?

Well Im going to give you

this list of words and I

want you to try to remember

them. These are the words,

wash, apple jet, mad, actress,

marmalade, jack, van, clock,

tile, polecat, tail, film, pier,

bucket, chain, bottle, sand,

egg, window, salamander,

paper, microphone, cork,

piano, dog, captain, tennis,

kennel, tomato. And youre

going to be able to

remember them.

No Im not.

Well I think you might

because Im going to give

you a technique that will

help. Im going to ask you

to picture 2 words at a

time in a sequence of

locations around your

home. So Ill give these to

you.

But then Ill have three

things to remember, the 2

words plus the location.

You will already know the

locations around your

home so the sense of

location is going to help

you, trust me. Its not

going to add to your

problems.

Ill never do it.

Yes you will Im going

to give you at least until

that egg gets cold to have

a look at that list.

So I start off in the garden,

wash the apple. Then to

the hall where there is

a jet madly flying around.

Into the dining room where

this is an actress.

Whos your favorite

actress?

Judy Dench. But she

wouldnt be smeared in

marmalade.

She would be.

Why?

So you can remember her.

For the next 5 minutes I

frantically try to imagine

all these crazy images and

think where to put them.

The normally quite

unexceptional Winston

household will never feel

quite the same again.

Frankly Im convinced it

wont work.

Okay I think that better

be, time up.

No. Its not long enough.

I know the first two. Ill

never remember that.

No youll do okay

I better get to work.

See you later.

Now all Ive got to do

is go through my normal

working day. The challenge

will be see how many

of the 30 words I can

remember at the end

of it.

So do you think you can

remember any of the

words I gave you earlier

today?

Well Ill give it a go.

We will start outside in

the garden, wash, apple,

jet, mad, actress,

marmalade, jack, van,

polecat, tail, film, pier,

bucket, chain, clock, tile,

bottle, sand.

Okay try to remember

the room you were in

when you thought of those

words.

Salamander, paper,

microphone, cork, piano,

dog, captain, tennis, kennel,

tomato.

How many out of 30 do

you think youve gotten.

I think Ive probably gotten

them all right.

All of them, well done.

So it works?

Of course it does.

When we use simple story

to memorize facts, were

creating several pathways to

where those memories are

formed in the brain. Its as

if instead of setting up one

set of dominos we are

setting up several. The

reason we often have

difficulty retrieving a memory

is because one neuron

pathway can often get

broken. But by having several

different pathways to a memory

it means that if one doesnt

manage to reach it another

one will. Thats the advantage

of the story technique it

creates lots of neural

pathways in our brains,

and all our brains can work

in this way. Which is why

everyone can use this method,

by using a story to memorize

facts we all have the potential

to perform astonishing feats

of memory.