Creating stories is another way to better implant certain types of information into your memory, such as lists of items and names of people, especially when you want to remember something in a particular order. Incorporating the information into a story helps to make it more interesting and memorable, so you better encode this information in the first place. Then to retrieve it, think of the story and use the triggers within the story to retrieve the items you’ve planted in it. Besides helping you remember, this technique can be an enjoyable party game. It also helps to develop your imagination and can contribute to workplace bonding and motivation.
The technique is excellent to use in combination with many other techniques. For example, using visualization to create images helps you see the images as you tell the story. Or bring in other sensory modalities or anchor the story in past experiences to further reinforce and intensify the original encoding process.
The basic process is exactly what it says—you create a story that incorporates each item on a list or each name you want to remember. If the items are already in a particular order, such as a series of steps to do something, use that in organizing the story. Or to prioritize certain items, put those first in your story. Otherwise, put the list in any order. You might let the flow of the story help decide the order for you, by looking at the list and letting items pop out to come next in the story. Should more than one item come to mind as you do this, simply choose one of them to use first.
After you create the story, take a minute to focus on remembering it. Afterwards, as you remember it, write down the items or names the story refers to on your list. Notice how many names you were able to remember and compare your results to your earlier efforts to remember lists. Then, do something else for about five minutes and then use the story to recall as many words as you can. Write down those you remember and compare them to the original list. Generally, you should not only be able to remember the story but you should remember more items as you retell the story in your mind and retrieve the items in it.
When you first use this technique, start with fairly short item lists—say 7 to 12 items, since otherwise your story itself will become too long and hard to remember, defeating the whole purpose of using this method. But gradually, as your memory improves, you can increase the number of items to remember, say up to between 20 and 25 items.
You can use this technique for remembering the names of people at a party or at a business meeting, for example, or products you want to include in a presentation, or even items on a shopping list.
Creating stories can be a fun exercise and game to stimulate your imagination or enjoy yourself at a party, too. You can also use this method to make your waiting time more productive, such as looking at some objects around you and creating a story about them. (Practicing memory aids this way when the occasion arises is like exercising your brain.)
Here are some examples of how you might create a story, followed by some words you can use to create your own story. Then, try coming up with your own words by yourself or with someone else to create your stories. Finally, I’ve included some rules for a story-telling game that is fun for all ages; the main difference is in the particular words and the number of words you use.
Here are some examples of how you might create a story from some items on a list or from some names. Then, use this as a model to create your own stories.
CREATING STORIES FROM LISTS OF ITEMS OR NAMES | |
|---|---|
Items or Names on List | Story Using Items or Names on List |
Shopping List:
| I woke up to the alarm clock ringing, so I got dressed quickly. I threw on a pair of jeans. As I ran out the door, I noticed the house needed some new paint, so I wrote this down on a card, which I hammered to the wallpaper. Then, tired from all the effort, I got some ice cream, and as it melted, I saw a paper clip on the bottom of the cup. So I put it in an envelope with the rest of my collection. |
List of Names (using some image associations with selected names):
| When I went outside, I saw a dinosaur (Barney) chasing a cat (Tom), when suddenly Alice in her old-fashioned frock appeared holding a flower (Susan) and a big dish of ice cream (Jerry). Surprised, I dropped my dollar (Bill), and a big hairy ape (Harry) picked it up and ran away. But he slipped on a piece of cheese (Jack) on the road to the beach (Sandy) and was gobbled up by a huge spider (Charlotte). |
List of Random Objects:
| One day an elephant wanted to cross the river, so he took a train. Inside, he found a big closet. As he looked out the window, he saw a turkey running by with a fish in his mouth and a comb on the top of his head. Unfortunately, he ran smack into a tree and fell down on a pile of coffee grounds. That’s where a motorist in a car saw him and took him home for a good dinner. |
Now that you have the idea, here are some lists for you to create your own story. See how fast you can do this. Try to use the words in the order they are presented, though you can change the order if it’s easier for you to create a story that way.
CREATING STORIES FROM LISTS OF ITEMS OR NAMES | |
|---|---|
Items or Names on List | Story Using Items or Names on List |
Shopping List: | |
| |
List of Names (using some image associations with selected names; you add the associations): | |
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List of Random Objects: | |
After you create the story, do something else for a few minutes. Then, recall the story, and write down all the words you remember.
Now try coming up with some words and stories yourself. Build a story around the items on your real grocery list, on Saturday’s chores, on the key words in your next history assignment. Start with a shorter list, say between 8 and 10 words; then as you get faster at doing this, use a longer list, say 11 to 16 words; and for an even greater challenge, come up with a list of 17 to 20 words. As you practice using this technique, your ability to both come up with stories and recall the words you are trying to remember should improve.
CREATING STORIES FROM LISTS OF ITEMS OR NAMES | |
|---|---|
Items or Names on List | Story Using Items or Names on List |
Shopping List: | |
List of Names (using some image associations with selected names): | |
You can use this tell-me-a-story technique to create an entertaining party game, which is a fun way to improve your memory even more.
To create the game, cut up some outline cards or heavy paper to make some small cards of about 2½ by 1½ inches. On one side of the card write down an object or name. Make about 100 of these cards. Shuffle the cards to create a deck.
Play the game with a group of three or more. In turn, a player turns up 10 cards. You can make the game harder with more cards (i.e., 11–16 cards). After receiving the cards, each player creates a story using those cards. If you want, you can turn this game into a race, where the first person to think he or she can tell a story with those words calls out “story” and tells a story. Once a player tells a story, cover up or turn over the cards.
Now everyone tries to write down as many words as they can remember in 60 seconds. If a player thinks he/she has all the words before then, he/she should call out, “Got it.” When the time is up or someone calls out “Got it,” everyone stops.
Turn up the words. Everyone now compares his/her words to the words on the cards. Score 1 point for correct words, minus 1 point for incorrect words, and if a person has called “Got it” and has a perfect score, he/she scores 3 extra points. Or if the person called “Got it” and made any mistakes, he/she subtracts 3 points.
While you can play multiple games with the same set of cards, create a new set with different objects and names for more variety and to avoid becoming overly familiar with the items in the deck. You’ll find that not only will your memory improve as you continue to play the game, but you’ll have fun.