You Can Become a Memory Champion in 5 Steps with the Loci Method

Elif Özçakmak

Elif Özçakmak

İTÜ - İşletme Mühendisliği | Editör @ceotudent

Think you have a poor memory?
Can’t easily remember events, dates, names?
Our brain does not delete any information we perceive, it stores it somewhere. We encode this information in our brain by making some connections, and when we want to remember it, we make these connections and recall the information from where we stored it. However, if we do not make these connections well, it becomes difficult for us to remember the stored information.
So, how do we make these connections?



In ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, we can easily remember much of what we learned, with the loci (space) method used by senators to memorize their speeches. It is said that this method, which is very useful in language learning, is also used by memory champions.
You can apply the Loci Method in 5 steps:

1) Build yourself a mind palace.

Those who know the mind palace used by Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock series know. Build yourself a palace. Your mind palace can also be an imaginary place; It can be a place you have ever seen: the house where you spent your childhood, the house you live in now, the street you pass every day, the library at your school… The important thing is that it is big and detailed. Therefore, the better you know the details of a place, the more useful it will be for you. In addition, visualize the place you have chosen as your mind palace in your memory. Imagine you are inside your palace, visualizing its appearance from every angle in your mind.




2) In your mind palace, set a course.

In your mind palace, the details must be firmly embedded in your mind. Instead of just thinking about everything, you can set a route with certain clues. E.g; you entered your house through the outer door, the flower-patterned key chain at the entrance, the Picasso painting in your living room, the basil in front of your window… If you have a strong visual memory, you can keep them in your mind visually; If your auditory intelligence is strong, you can encode them into your memory by counting them out loud while walking around your mind palace.


3) Start filling your palace.

You have created your palace. Now it’s time to fill it. Specify specific places where you can save information. With these places, with the senses such as seeing or hearing the information you will store; If you can associate it with symbols, your job will be easier. Be creative about it. The weird associations you make will help the information stick in your mind more easily.




4) Avoid filling up your storage spaces with useless information.

Put a controllable amount of information everywhere and don’t forget to follow a route. For example, if you are memorizing a speech, you can place the first few sentences on your mat and the next few sentences in the keyhole. Do not put unrelated information in the same place. This is not a wise idea as it will confuse you.
Your mind palace is now ready for use. Now let’s make a simple example: Let’s try to memorize the 10 words I will write by placing them in the places in our mind palace.
“Treasure, honey, running, bus, song, bird, chill, cardigan, swing, picture ”

You entered your house and saw a treasure chest on the shoe rack. You opened it and there is a big jar of honey inside. As you were passing through the hall, you heard a noise from outside and immediately ran to the window. A bus is passing and there are birds singing in it. Then you realized that you were cold . While you were going to your room to buy a cardigan , you saw a giant swing in the hall. You swayed a little and went to your room. After you put on your cardigan, you saw the picture that your little niece drew for you the other day on your desk and you were happy.


5) Don’t forget to visit your mind palace.

It is useful to check your mind palace once in a while, because over time, your memory stores may become dusty and you may forget the routes. Thus, the links to the information are broken and the technique is useless. So explore your mind palace every now and then. You can travel with different routes and follow your routes in reverse.
As you can see, with the Loci Method, also called the Memory Palace Technique, you can store information in a large, detailed and eye-catching place with a scenario and save it in your memory. With this technique, you can improve your memory and keep the information alive.
Create your own mind palace and dominate it!

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