Memorizing the names of all the Olympic cities 10 times faster is super easy when you know
how your memory works.
Most people use their verbal memory, but memory experts use their visual memory.
In this video I’m going to hack your brain and make you do what the experts do.
I’ll tell you exactly what to picture in your mind, and I’ll draw it for you as well.
Then, your visual memory will do something astonishing and you’ll be amazed how easily
you can recall the names of all the Olympic cities.
Let’s do it.
We’ll begin by picturing the Olympic rings, the five interlocking circles that are blue,
yellow, black, green and red.
They’re painted on the ground, and walking over and playing among the Olympic rings are
eight hens.
‘Eight hens’ sounds a bit like Athens, the traditional home of the Olympic movement
and the first city to host the modern Olympics.
The eight hens are all different colours.
Now, when you think of the Olympics you’ll first picture the Olympic rings, then you’ll
see in your mind those eight hens, and you’ll know the first Olympic city was Athens.
The 2nd city to host the Olympics was Paris.
Paris sounds a bit like pears.
Imagine that some of the hens pick up some large green pairs and begin juggling them
backwards and forwards.
They’re talented hens.
Clearly picture in your mind those pears flying through the air between the hens.
When you visualize those pears, you’ll realize pears sounds similar to Paris and you’ll
recall the host city after Athens was Paris.
Saint Louis was the next city to host the Olympics, and that sounds a bit like saint
lose.
Imagine that a saint joins the hens and they have a pear catching competition.
The saint has a halo over his head and white wings on his back.
The saint loses the pear catching game by dropping a pear.
Picture the saint losing the game as the smashed pear lies on the ground at his feet.
When you visualize the saint lose you’ll be reminded of Saint Louis.
The 4th Olympic city was London, which sounds close to lung don.
A don is a university teacher, like a traditional professor from Oxford or Cambridge, and they
wear the formal academic mortarboard hat and long black gown.
This don has bright pink lungs on the outside of his chest – he’s a lung don.
Picture the lung don consoling the losing saint, giving him a pat on his back.
Now when you think of the lung don, you’ll think of London.
Stockholm was the next city to have the Olympics, and Stockholm sounds like stuck home.
Imagine the don is taking a home for a walk.
After consoling the saint, the don starts to walk off again, but his home is stuck.
One of its feet is stuck in a big pile of green glue.
It’s a stuck home.
Create a clear mental image of that stuck home and you’ll reminded of Stockholm, the
5th Olympic city.
Antwerp is a great name and it makes me think of ant warp.
A few large ants walk out of the home, but they’re warped and twisted, legs and bodies
pointing in different directions.
The home was like a weird ant warp, because it’s warped the ants.
When you visualize that ant warp you’ll remember the next Olympic city, Antwerp.
Paris hosted the Olympics a second time, so we’re back to pears again.
The warped ants are feeling hungry and they discover a couple of delicious pears which
they start devouring.
As the pears are eaten away, the ants’ bellies get larger.
Create a clear mental image of those pears being eaten up, and you’ll link that in
your mind to Paris.
The 8th Olympic city was Amsterdam, and that sounds like hamster dam, a dam of hamsters.
Imagine the pears suddenly get washed away by a flash flood.
They bob along the surface of the water until they come up against a dam wall, made of hamsters.
It’s a hamster dam, so when you visualize that you’ll immediately remember Amsterdam.
Los Angeles hosted the Olympics next, and Los Angeles sounds like lost angels.
Two lost angels stop to ask one of the hamsters in the wall for directions.
Both of the angels have large white wings.
One angel is holding a map and the other angel is scratching her head.
They’re definitely confused and lost angels.
When you picture those lost angels you’ll recall Los Angeles.
After Los Angeles came Berlin, which sounds and looks like burr line.
The angels walk off in a new direction, but keep stepping on large burrs, covered in spikes.
There’s a long line of burrs stretched out in front of the angels.
When you visualize that long line of burrs – a burr line – you’ll remember Berlin.
Alright, that’s the first 10 Olympic cities, so let’s do a quick recap.
Picture each image in your mind and you’ll recall them really easily.
When you want to remember the Olympic cities you’ll think of the Olympic rings.
Walking all over the Olympic rings are eight hens, reminding you of Athens.
The hens begin juggling pears, giving you Paris.
A saint plays catch with the pears, but loses.
Saint lose – St Louis.
The saint is consoled by a lung don, reminding you of London.
The lung don is walking a home that gets stuck – Stockholm.
Some warped ants crawl out of the home.
It must be an ant warp, giving you Antwerp.
The ants are hungry and begin munching on some pears.
Paris.
The pears are washed away and into a hamster dam, reminding you of Amsterdam.
Some lost angels ask the hamsters for directions.
Lost angels – Los Angeles.
The angels head off, walking on a long burr line, prompting you to recall Berlin.
And that’s the first ten Olympic cities, super easy, right?
Let me know in the comments below how many you can recall, and if you thought this was
cool, please give it a thumbs-up too.
I’ll see you again in the next video and we’ll go through 11 to 20.