This can be a temporary room, if you’re using it only for a specific list, or a permanent mental place you can return to any time you need. Having a permanent room will make it easy for you to memorize the space and go into smaller details about its design. You can use an existing room, like your bedroom or kitchen. This will save you time and make it handier for you to return to it anytime you want to. [2] X Research source
Each time you can get into smaller details about where things are located: for example, you can add furniture, objects, paintings on the wall or decorative plants. This will give you more cues to link your memories to.
shoe dog desk the date 12/09/1990 cow your grandpa Billy Bob turkey $20 you owe your landlady computer eggs
For example, you can add an ugly shoe-patterned wallpaper to the walls, have a barking dog on your couch, put an elaborate desk below the window, write the date in pink neon letters on the frame of a famous painting, put a fat cow in the doorway, have Grandpa Billy Bob eating sloppy Joes on your new carpet, picture a Thanksgiving turkey on the dining room table, have your landlady standing in the middle with a $20-bill in her hand, a broken computer on the floor, and eggs smashed into the door.
For example, if you have to memorize a list of modernist writers for your next exam, like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Ezra Pound, you can have: a wolf tearing off your wallpaper, a joystick on the table and a bunch of British pounds scattered on the floor.
For example, writing a date in big pink neon letters on the bottom of the Mona Lisa will give you a better chance of remembering it. Try to have your items engage actively with something in the room, rather than just dropping them somewhere. For example, placing the dog on the couch might not be enough: visualizing it while it gnaws on the couch cushions and smash them into pieces is much more effective.
This doesn’t take a lot of time: just devote a little time each day to this exercise when your mind is clear (like, during a bus journey or a session at the gym).
For example, furniture can have drawers you can open and put more stuff in. There can be appliances and decorative objects all around, patterned curtains and rugs on the floor.
In this case, your landlady can be in the kitchen while the dog is playing in the bathroom. The extension can go on indefinitely and make your room as big as a palace or town. [5] X Research source
If it’s a room you already know well, you can just revisit it mentally. However, going there in person will give you an opportunity to focus on extra details you’d never noticed before.
If there’s a used coffee cup on a desk, don’t bother taking note of it. It will certainly be trashed before your presentation day. It’s better to go clockwise as you link your key points to each item. This will make it quicker for you to find the next cue as you present.
For example, if the room is moved, you can use your mental picture of the previous room as a Roman Room. Picture it in your mind as you present and you’ll find all your items there, instead of in the room where you’ve been moved.
Memorizing a presentation will impress your audience and make your performance more engaging. Remember it’s always safer to still have some notes with you, in case your memory fails you.
