Well this is Ron White the two thousand USA memory champion and I want to talk to you
about how to memorize a poem, a quote or verses you know, a lot of scripture is just you know
certain poetry are a lot of times are proverbs or acacles or something like that or you want
to memorize a poem a twenty, thirty, forty, fifty line poem you can do that.
So a quote a presidential quote by President Teddy Roosevelt, I’m going to show you how
to memorise part of a quote by teddy Roosevelt using this system.
So you know if you're a public speaker you know memorizing poems and quotes is a great
skill to add into speech or just if you're a fan of poetry and you want or know poems
by heart or maybe your faith is important to you, so you want to memorize verses this
system will enable you to do something word for word.
This is different than giving a speech without notes because when you want to give a speech
you’re just using bullet points, main ideas and getting up in front of the room and talking.
This is literally word for word so I’m going toa show you word for word.
In order to do this we need to be understand the basics of memory this is, we always start
all programs off covering this cos we never know at what point you're gonna jump into
the program so if you've seen this part I’ll jump the real quick and if you're not this
can be a good... good lesson for you.
The basics of memory there five keys in our memory system that we teach.
The first one is focus, you focus your mind by good nutrition and exercise you focus it
uh... by food you eat whether it be spinach and blueberries have antioxidants in it or
omega three fish oil pills focus is crucial to your memory.
So just treat your treat your body good and you will be treating your mind good and your
ability to focus, lots of sleep, you know what I always tell people if you would have
a good memory it's good to get twenty to twenty one hours of sleep a day and I mean that seriously,
actually I don’t totally joking, but get a good eight hours' sleep, that's gonna help
your focus.
Files, a place to store that data if you've run through the programs before this is going
to be your house files the journey method and if you have not run through our memory
program before then I’m going to explain that to you.
Pictures, turn numbers into picture, it says numbers here but it's anything you're going
to have to turn the... the words in the speech, the words of the poems and the words in the
verse into a picture.
If you have uh... to be or not to be that is the question, if that the line you want
to memorize that is so abstract to be or not to be that is the question, what does what
does that look like, well it doesn't look like nothing.
It's an abstract so you have to turn into a picture you might see two bee’s and a
question mark to be and then maybe see another bee or two bees and then two more bees and
have the circle with a line drawn through it might not so to be or not to be with a
big question mark above it.
You're turning that verse into a picture that's crucial for memorizing a verse, action makes
the pictures, action active have bees buzzing all around not just sitting still and they
go on back in reviews its really crucial okay.
The journey method, if you have not heard me describe the journey method what I’m
going to recommend right now is you go to one of our other programs on how to how-to
how to give speeches without notes or how to memorize playing cards and in there I’m
going to describe this journey method but you're going to need to get this journey method
mastered and a really great place to master that is one of those programs.
Basically essentially what, what you're doing with this journey method is your going to
number of pieces of furniture in your home, you’re going to number pieces of furniture
in your house.
So you take one room in your house you number pieces of furniture, bed desks, television,
lamp, chair and then after you have these numbered you move in the next room from the
next should be six, seven, eight, nine, ten pieces of furniture that really catch your
eye in that room, big pieces of furniture, not be small pieces of furniture and number
them six to ten.
The next one number some pieces of furniture in the next room eleven through fifteen, the
next one sixteen through twenty, number twenty pieces of furniture your house get to the
point where you can see it forwards and backwards you can say what number eight is without thinking
about it, you can say what number nine is without thinking about it.
Number twenty pieces of furniture in your in your home and get real familiar with these
and these are, these are actually files when you store data.
Now let's take this quote by the twenty-sixth President of the United States Teddy Roosevelt.
The quote says this, it is not the critic who counts nor the man who points out how
the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better but the credit
belongs the man who's actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust sweat and blood
who strives valiantly who errs but comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions and spends some self in a worthy cause who at best knows a triumph
of high achievement and who at worst if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory
nor defeat.
Teddy Roosevelt twenty-sixth President United States, now how do you do it?
How do you memorize this poem?
You break it down by a line or by though, you get to turn these into a picture.
So you take the first segment it is not the critic who counts , I visualise two movie
critics Siskel and Ebert counting on their finger so my first piece of furniture in my
living room I will, my first file in my living room is my television set so sitting on my
television set I see Siskel and Ebert, the movie critics and they're counting.
The quote that I want to remember is that is not the critic who counts.
My next piece of furniture on that one I see Arnold Schwarzenegger tripping and I’m pointing
to him.
The word there is nor the men who points out how the strong man stumbled Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
obviously a very strong man.
The next one where the doer of deeds could have done better.
I put butter, I turn that into a picture and I put butter, deed, I sue a deed to a house
like a property so where the doer of deeds could have done better, I visualise myself
putting butter on a deed for this, to memorise this phrase.
And then I go back after I’ve done this and I review, it’s not to critic who counts
Siskel and Ebert sitting on my files nor the man who points at how the strong man stumbles,
point at Arnold Schwarzenegger tripping, or the doer of deeds could have done better point
putting butter on a deed but the credit belongs to a man is actually in the arena on this
one I’d put a man in an arena handing him a credit card so you're giving credit to the
man in the arena the line is the credit belongs to a man is actually in the arena focus on
that make it vivid and see it really vividly on your file.
And then the next one whose face is marred by dust sweat and blood, on this one I see
a face with dust and sweat and blood and I see it real vividly and clearly.
Now I go back and I review this on my first file, on your first file whatever it is you
saw Siskel and Ebert counting, it’s not the critic who counts, the next one Arnold
Schwarzenegger stumbling nor the man who points at how the strong man stumbles, the next one
butter on a deed the doer of deeds could have done better, the next one credit cards in
an arena, the credit belongs to a man who is actually in the arena.
The next one face with dust, sweat and blood whose face is marred by dust sweat and blood.
Review don’t try to memorize it word for word, just the main points, read through it
once or twice you'll get a feel for the words in your mind will fill in the gaps.
In other words with whenever your your creating these pictures you're not turning every single
word into a picture here I didn't turn marred into a picture, I didn’t turn by into a
picture, I just turned the key words, face, dust, sweat, blood into a picture if you just
use the keywords turn them into a picture and create a little bitty story there then
visualize that story on pieces of furniture in your house your mind will fill in the gaps.
Now here's the deal if your memorizing a poem or your memorizing a verse out of the bible
or your memorising the plane lines your mind will not fill in the gaps if you're not familiar
with the text.
So what you have to do is you have to read the text you have to read the poem, you have
to read the verses, you have to read a quote one or two or three times before you even
start using your files and your pictures with your mind will fill the gaps if you're not
familiar with it after you get familiar with it turn into picture
it in your mind a fill in the gaps with, with was just simple pictures.
This is the effective away to memorize a scripture a poem, a quote, chapters a book or whatever
you want word for word.
It takes a little practise but it’s the same old focus, file, picture, action and
review use pieces of furniture house memorized poems.
I challenge you right now to go with your favourite poem, go get your favourite presidential
quote and then memorize it this way.
Remembered that you’re going to take pieces of furniture at your house, you take the the
the quote and you’re going to do it by file.
See here's where the semicolon is everything before the semicolon goes on one file.
See here's where the comma everything before as comma goes on my number two file.
Here’s the period everything before this period goes in the next file, here's the next
comma so it's by a segment.
It doesn’t have to be commas and semicolons callers where you stop but that's kind of
a you know where that's normal with a thought stop so it's a good idea so that's good way
to do that.
I would encourage you to practice this, you’re gonna need maybe twenty files for a twenty
line poem.
You know twenty-five files for twenty five line poem but uh... this is a great method
practice it practice at practice it memorize your favourite poems or quotes.