From playing cards, using body parts and imagining dancing monkeys, the book offers simple and fun techniques to increase recall, with useful exercises to help people practice the different methods.
Instant Memory Training For Success is structured around real-world scenarios where better memory makes a big difference. In particular, the book demonstrates how a better memory might be a person’s most valuable asset at work, allowing them to increase their concentration, imagination and creativity.
Great memory can also help readers:
- Demonstrate good knowledge and expertise to win client confidence and new business
- Keep up to speed with new technology and industry trends
- Remember information about colleagues to foster good relationships and better morale
- Recall information at job interviews to appear convincing and intelligent
- Remember names for effective networking
Building on the latter point, Santos writes: “One of the most important business skills you can develop is the ability to remember the names of people you meet. It is an age-old truth that people love hearing the sound of their own name. The most popular people at work, at school, at sports and social clubs, and other organisations you may be involved with, tend to know everyone’s name. And it’s a fact of life that remembering people’s names helps to build better business and personal relationships.”
According to Santos, in order to remember someone’s name, you must focus on it for at least one or two seconds. The author offers four simple steps to help you do this:
Step 1: Immediately repeat the name and shake the person’s hand.
Step 2: Early on in your interaction with the person, use their name while asking them any simple question.
Step 3: Think of a connection between the person’s name and anything at all that you already know. For example, “the name John might make you think of John Lennon, The Gospel of John in the Bible, John. F. Kennedy, or it could even simply be that you have a friend or family member that is also named John.”
Step 4: Say goodbye to the person using their name.
The four steps outlined above should be fairly easy for you to put into practice right away. “Being sure to implement these steps as much as possible, will help you take control of the social interaction when being introduced to people.” Indeed, if someone is trying to introduce you to a group of people in rapid succession: John, Nancy, Oscar, Liz, Tim and so on, the author believes that “it’s perfectly acceptable to ask for a person’s name again or verify it while starting with the first step: “You were John, correct?” or “I’m sorry, I missed your name given the rapid introductions, you were…?” Then, continue with the remaining steps as you can.”
Known as ‘The International Man of Memory,’ Santos has demonstrated his skills in feats such as recalling a random 100-plus digit sequence in five minutes and naming every U.S. congress person’s state and district number. With a lifetime researching memory improvement, he offers practical insights that will show readers how to exercise their brain for life-long mental fitness.
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