Memory Improvement Techniques – Chain Method

The Chain Method is a method for connecting images in your imagination. This is one of the basic skills needed to develop a phenomenal memory. There are a few rules for connecting images that should always be followed when using the Chain Method. As always, keep in mind the four criteria for making good images we talked about last time: Images need to be visualized detailed, large, 3-dimensional, and in color.

1 – Both the first image and the second image need to be the same size. Visualize the images as largely as you can, while still seeing both images at the same time.

2 – The second image needs to be to the right of, on top of, or piercing the first image.

Let’s try an exercise. Visualize a block of cheese. Now, visualize a can of soda. Place the can of soda on top of the block of cheese. Hold the connection in your mind for 6 seconds. Now, let the cheese disappear, and picture a jug of milk on the can of soda. Hold this image for 6 seconds. Let the soda disappear, and picture a stalk of celery piercing through the jug of milk. 6 seconds. Now visualize a carrot on top of the celery. A jar of pickles on the carrot. A bottle of mayonnaise on the jar of pickles. A paper plate on the mayonnaise. A plastic fork on the plate. And lastly, a pair of sunglasses on the fork.

Now, go through in your mind, starting with the cheese. Can you see the next image? If so, examine the soda, and see what was on it. Continue through the list. Don’t try to guess what was next, just look at the images in your mind. If something seems to be missing, go back, and view the two images together again for 6 seconds. When you can go through the entire list in order, I want you to try something else. Look at the sunglasses. What are they on? What is the fork on? The plate? You should now be able to recall the list, in perfect order, forward, and backward. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

You might get mixed results trying this. You might be doing something not quite right. I said earlier that both images need to be the same size, large. There’s probably a good chance that the can of soda wasn’t nearly so large as the jug of milk. You might have visualized them about the same size that they are in real life. What you actually want is for the jug of milk to be very large, like a 50-gallon barrel that you are looking at from 6 feet away. The can of soda should be just as big. We’ll talk about the why later, just trust me for now.

Now this is very important, and this is the difference between the techniques offered in the GMS Manual, and the training course offered by the School of Phenomenal Memory. If you made one little mistake in the chain method, that mistake would compound, and by the time you started trying to memorize college-level textbooks, you would have *severe* difficulties. One theoretical mistake can ruin your chances at really developing a phenomenal memory. Because of this, the Phenomenal Memory Course contains guided, step-by-step instructions and exercises, along with personal help from instructors whenever you need it, to ensure that you don’t handicap yourself.

Everybody will have different results with exercises like this, because your success is based off of your understanding of the techniques, your visualization ability, your ability to control where your attention is directed, your physical health, and a few other factors. Everything needed is addressed in the Phenomenal Memory Course. For now, have fun with what you’ve learned, and keep coming back as we explore the memory and your potential together.