Jim Kwik teaches the method of loci, an ancient memory technique where you place vivid mental images of your key points in familiar locations around a room. During your talk, mentally walk through these locations in order to recall each point without notes.
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One of the questions I get asked a lot is, Jim, how do you go in front of a group of people and speak in front of hundreds or thousands of people? And how do you remember everything you need to say without using a teleprompter or PowerPoint slides? If you have a fear of public speaking, like, maybe you have to give a speech in front of a group of people, maybe at a meeting, maybe in front of class, maybe a toast at a wedding, this is what you could do. There's an ancient code of memory. It's about 2500 years old, called loci Loci. And it's attributed to Simonides. Simonides was a Greek poet, and thousands of years ago, he was giving a reading. And after he was done, something really tragic happened. When he left the building, the building collapsed, and it killed everybody that was there. And he, as a lone survivor, had the responsibility of helping the family members identify their loved ones. And. And he was able to because he remembered where each of them were sitting. And can't you do the same thing? We realize, understanding human memory, that we remember where things are more naturally back. As hunters and gatherers, we didn't need to know numbers and remembering these words. We needed to remember where the enemy tribe was, where the food was, where the clean water was, where the fertile soil was. That was our survival. So we learned to store information in places. So my quick tip for you is this. If you need to give a speech and you want to remember it faster and have confidence on stage, then just write down the key points. Like, break it down to 5, 10 key points, because you don't want to remember it verbatim. A lot of people know that. I get to work with a lot of Hollywood actors teaching them to speed read scripts, memorize lines, but you don't want to remember it line for line, word for word. What you want to remember are the key points and the key subjects. So what you do is this. Go into your home and notice there are a lot of things there. And what I want you to do is pick 10 things in that room and go clockwise. Like maybe your couch, your fireplace, the tree that your cat sits in, the television, the coffee table and such. 10 different places. And what you want to do is for each of the key points of things that you want to talk about, turn each one into a picture. Because we remember the things that we see. For example, you go to somebody say, I remember your face, but I forgot your name. You never go to someone and say the opposite. You never say, hey, I remember your name. But I forgot your face. Human beings remember what they see. And so what you want to do is take the key points of what you want to remember, turn them into a picture, and put the first thing in the first place, the second thing in the second place, the third thing in the third place. And by the way, have you ever found yourself saying these things? In the first place, this, in the second place, that, and the third place, this. That came from this 2,500-year-old ancient memory technique. Now, the technique has disappeared. We're bringing it back, but the languaging is still there. So then, when you're on stage or giving that presentation, in order to be able to remember your key points, you don't have to work off a teleprompter. Just walk around your home and look what's in the first place. Look what's in the second place. Look what's in the third place. And you have it. So that's today's quick tip. My name is Jim Kwik, your brain coach. And remember, next time you have to be on a stage or. Or in the stage of your life, use this technique and you will be absolutely unforgettable. Hi, my name is Jim Quick. And growing up, I was labeled the boy with a broken brain, with all these learning challenges and disabilities. And I went from that to become the world's leading memory and brain coach for the world's top universities, CEOs and celebrities. Over the past 25 years, I've developed all these strategies and techniques to unleash the power of your super brain. I want to share these techniques and methods with you. I hope you'll join me.
