For example, if you’re trying to memorize Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, your first chunk might be the first line of the speech, in which Lincoln talks about the founding of the United States. The second chunk might relate to Lincoln’s description of the civil war, then the third to the battlefield Lincoln was consecrating that day. Despite being separate chunks, the second and third chunks make up the same paragraph. [3] X Research source Look for phrases you already know that you won’t have to work as hard to commit to memory. For example, if you already remember the phrase “four score and seven years ago” from the Gettysburg Address, you don’t need to worry about memorizing that. Sometimes it can also help to reformat the text. You might hand-write or type the text out with plenty of space between the chunks. You might even include separate headings for each of the chunks.
Get a good familiarity with each of the chunks separately before you start to combine them. If there is a particular area of your original chunk that’s giving you trouble, try separating it into even smaller chunks. Then you can combine those smaller chunks together once you’ve got them down.
Practice the first and second chunk together until you can recite them flawlessly. Then you’re ready to add the third chunk.
If you run into rough spots, stop and go back over them until you can recite them smoothly. Then integrate that part into the rest of the chunk. Throughout the process, keep your eye out for transitions that you can use as triggers to combine the chunks together seamlessly. If these transitions aren’t in the text, add them mentally to help you connect the chunks — just remember not to say them out loud.
It’s often easiest to use your home, since you’re intimately familiar with the rooms and the objects inside. Your place can also be a fictitious place that you’re deeply familiar with. For example, if you’re a big fan of Harry Potter and have a familiar map in your head of Hogwarts, you could use that. Your “memory palace” doesn’t have to be a single building or location. It can also be a route from one place to another. For example, you might use your route from home to work or school.
For example, if you’re trying to memorize Hamlet’s soliloquy, you might imagine a letter “B” on the door of a room. When you open the room, there are arrows and slingshots pelting you from a large bag of gold coins. If you close the door and move down the hall, there are arms reaching out that grab you and carry you across a turbulent ocean. [9] X Research source
If you encounter pieces that are difficult to remember, you may want to rethink the object you have associated with that piece or break it up into smaller pieces associated with multiple objects.
This technique may take some practice to master. If you’re up against a deadline, it may not be the best time to create a memory palace. However, once you’ve used it a few times, you may find it enables you to memorize text more quickly. If you used a route rather than a place, you can travel through the text you’re trying to memorize every day as you head to work or school. You could even try it in reverse as you go back home. Then you’d be able to say you know the text “backward and forward. "
For example, if you were trying to memorize Hamlet’s soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, you would write “t b, o n t b? t i t q — w ’t n i t m t s t s a a o o f, o t t a a a s o t, a, b o, e t?"[13] X Research source Then you would see how many words you could get just from those first letters. Circle the letters that correspond to words you couldn’t remember and then go back to the text. Use your favorite memorization technique to better commit those words to your memory in the context of the text, then try the first letters again. This trick is also useful if you’re trying to recall something you memorized a long time ago but haven’t thought about since. You might be surprised how much you’ll recall.
If you’re musically inclined, you could try recording yourself playing the song. You may also be able to find an instrumental version of the song on your favorite streaming service. Educational programs, such as “Schoolhouse Rock,” often create songs for historical documents and speeches. Search the internet or your favorite video streaming service and see what you can find.
Feel free to gesticulate as well to really get into the emotion of the text. The more passion and emotion you attach to it, the better you’ll be able to remember it.
For example, if you were trying to memorize Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, you might think of an image of your father, an image of the United States, an image of the Statue of Liberty, and an equal sign to represent the first line: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. " If you enjoy emoji, you might try “translating” the text into emoji. Since those images are already familiar to you, it might make the text easier to remember. Writing the passage over and over may also help if you’re a visual learner. [18] X Expert Source Alexander Ruiz, M. Ed. Educational Consultant Expert Interview. 18 June 2020.
If you dislike the sound of your own voice, you can always get someone else to read the text for you. However, you’ll get less of a benefit by listening to someone else’s voice than you would if you listened to your own voice. If you’re trying to memorize a relatively famous text, you may also be able to find recordings online of famous actors or other celebrities reading the text.
