A more powerful memory
Having a good memory is an undeniable advantage; it helps reinforce influence, and attract credibility and respect. Luckily, memory is not an innate capability: with some technique, you can train it. How can you develop your memory?
Memory is rarely mentioned among the key professional assets. Probably because its role is so obvious that, paradoxically, we tend to forget about it. Memory determines numerous competences that are more often valued—starting with expertise and experience. We could even argue that all our physical, social and intellectual competences stem, in fact, from the aptitude of our brain to continuously register information. In this respect, an excellent memory is indeed an advantage in our professional life.
But how come some of us seem better equipped than others? We have to admit that we are not equal in terms of speed, capability and reliability of our memory. Some remember the names of the people they meet from the first instant, while others still get mixed up those of staff members who joined the team months before. Some are capable of precisely remembering the details of an incident, while the majority of their colleagues have completely forgotten it, or only have a vague recollection. Is this a fatal flaw?
Neurologists specializing in memory dispute this. They explain that the characteristics of memory are not innate: its capabilities depend on the manner in which we train and mobilize it. Many memory problems are in fact attention issues: we do not focus sufficiently on the initial information to signal to our brain that it must be retained. We don’t place ourselves in the right conditions to sort out the important information in the middle of a permanent flux of solicitations. Additionally, most of us do not sufficiently master memorization techniques. Conditioned by our school years, we think that learning “by heart” is the panacea to memorize a speech or a series of key digits. This is however an under-optimal method when we know the deep mechanics of our memory. Creative mnemonic methods are much more powerful to express the full potential of our memory!
In this synopsis:
- Increasing your memory: a few effective techniques
- Memorizing more effectively
- Memory lapses: how to thwart them?
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