Photographic Memory:

Photographic Memory Training,

Advanced Techniques to Improve Your
Memory
&
Strategies to Learn Faster

Jonathan Wilkens
© Copyright 2017 by Jonathan Wilkens - All rights reserved .

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Table of Content s
Introduction
Chapter 1: Understanding the Basic Tenets of Memory
Chapter 2: Prepping the Body and the Brain for Photographic
Memory Development
Chapter 3: The Benefits of Possessing a Photographic Memory
Chapter 4: Image-Related Memorization Techniques You Can Use
Chapter 5: Word-Association Techniques that Will Improve Your
Memory
Chapter 6: Miscellaneous Photographic Memorization Methods
Chapter 7: The Link Between Creativity and Memory
Conclusion
Introduction

Congratulations on downloading your personal

copy of Photographic Memory: Photographic Memory Training,

Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Memory & Strategies to

Learn Faster . Thank you for doing so.

The following chapters are going to provide you with valuable

information regarding how you can waste less time studying
information and more time using the information that you’ve
acquired. Let’s face it, memorizing anything can be a pain at times,
whether you’re studying for a test or simply trying to retain
information for one reason or another. Memorization can be a
stressful skill to master, especially if this memorization is what stands
between you acing an exam for an important class that you’re taking
or for a job where memorization is important. With this book at your
side, you’ll be able to feel more in control of your memorization
capabilities. You’ll also be able to grow these capabilities to new and
greater heights.

Specifically, this book is going to first get into what memory is, some
benefits that exist when you train yourself to have a photographic
memory, before turning its attention towards how you can develop a
photographic memory through techniques, practices, and memory
training. One of the great aspects of a technique like photographic
memorization is that you can move at your own pace. Obviously,
you want to be practicing your memorization methods frequently, but
this type of skill is not something that requires a rigorous training
schedule. Understanding this will likely bring greater patience while
you’re trying to accomplish your goals. Similar to many other things
in life, patience is a key aspect of memorization training. Without
patience, frustration that will lead you to quitting before you’ve
developed your photographic memory is much more likely.

The last chapter of this book is going to get into the creative aspects
of developing a photographic memory for yourself. Many people do
not know this, but developing a photographic memory entails
creative thinking and visualization abilities. This book is certainly
going to cover these types of skills, especially since they are integral
to fully understanding and using photographic memory on a regular
basis. When you’re finished reading this book, there’s no doubt that
you’ll be able to tangibly implement photographic memory into your
life with ease.

There are plenty of books on the market pertaining to this topic.

Thanks for choosing this one! Should you enjoy, Photographic
Memory: Photographic Memory Training, Advanced Techniques to
Improve Your Memory & Strategies to Learn Faster , a review on
Amazon is always appreciated!

Enjoy the rest of what it has to offer.

Chapter 1: Understanding the Basic Tenets of
Memory

Similar to when you’re attempting to understand

any type of complicated topic, the first step involved is often starting

with the basics. That’s how this book will be structured as well. This

chapter is going to focus on what memory is and how it works, with

the hope being that from here we’ll be able to turn our attention to

how basic memory relates and differs from photographic memory.

After reading this chapter, you’ll be one step closer to completely

understanding how photographic memory works, and why it’s in your

best interest to learn how to capture information through the

photographic lens of the mind.

What is Memory?
Memory can be best defined as our brain’s ability to remember,
accumulate, and recall information from our past experiences. It
might be rather obvious why it’s important that our brains are able to
perform this type of capability, but it also may not be. Starting with
when we’re young, our brains are constantly attempting to adapt to
our current environment, based on experiences that have happened
in the past. In addition to being able to adapt through the vehicle of
our memory, our memory is also used when we wish to have a
particular feeling happen again. One other incredibly important
function of memory is that it allows us to form relationships. We will
get into more detail on how memory can influence our relationships
in a moment .

In addition to memory being a key part of how we process

information as people, it’s also important to note that memories form
when one of our senses recognize it as being significant. If one of
our senses does not recognize the event as being memorable for
one reason or another, then the event is likely to pass us by
unnoticed. From a storage perspective, all of our memories begin as
ones that are short-term in nature. A short-term memory becomes a
long-term memory once the action in question is repeated or through
an association that we’re already made in our minds. For example,
let’s say that you know someone whose last name is Sage. Your
mind may choose to remember this type of detail by associating it
with a sage leaf.

Memories and Our Relationship s

We just discussed the very basic tenets of memory. A somewhat
basic, but perhaps slightly more complex topic is the discussion of
how memory can influence our relationships. You may have never
thought about how memory can affect your relationships, but
memories can be a powerful way that we interpret and interact with
our reality. This primarily has to do with the emotional associations
our memory can trigger. In this way, it can be stated that our
memories can define how our relationships form and why.

For example, let’s say that you were the unfortunate subject of a lot
of bullying in elementary school. The weight that these memories
have on your personality seem to be etched into who you are as a
person. They’ve affected who you are in more ways than one. Even
though the memory itself occurred a long time ago, your reality now
consists of frequently being scared of how people are going to react
to your physical appearance. In this case, we can assume that the
fear associated with the painful memories that you have is one that
triggered an immense sense of discomfort and insecurity. These
types of insecurities are ones that are tied to our biological needs as
people, which is why you would have held onto that specific memory
in the first place.

How Does Memory Work?

Now that we’ve talked very briefly about what memory is and how it
can affect our lives in unforeseen ways, we will now get into how
memory works from a more technical perspective. Firstly, you can
think of the accumulation of memories in your head as being similar
to translating a document in a language class like Spanish or
French. The stronger grasp you have on the language itself, the
more accurate the translation is going to be. Memory works
similarly. The more messages your brain receives that are
consistent that one another, the stronger the memory will form in
your head. To oversimplify it, if the neurons in your brain receive a
feeling consistently, it’s going to prime the brain for a long-term
memory to form.

The Different Types of Memory that Exist

Again, without going into too much detail, it’s also important to
understand that there are many different types of memory that your
brain can create for itself, depending on the type of information it’s
seeking to retain. The various types of memory exist include the
following:

1. Short Term Memory: Also known as “ working” or “recent”

memory, this memory allows the brain to retain information such as
lists, phone numbers, and random bits of information at a rate of
roughly one piece of information per second.

2. Long Term Memory: Unlike short term memory, the memories

contained within the long-term memory can stay with a person for his
or her entire lifetime. Additionally, it’s important to note that the
episodic and semantic memories fall underneath the long-term
memory umbrella.

3. Sensory Memory: This type of memory can be best explained

through an example. If you’ve ever seen an image of something,
and then closed your eyes and seen the impression of the image still
in your head, then you have experience sensory memory. Sensory
memory is a fleeting memory type. In fact, it’s even more fleeting
than your short-term memory is.

4. Explicit Memory: Any information that we actively try to retain for

later use can be defined as explicit memory. For example, when you
make it a note to remember the date of your sibling’s birthday or the
date of your anniversary with a significant other, you’re using your
explicit memory to do so.

5. Implicit Memory: Implicit memory directly contrasts explicit

memory because this type of memory is involved in developing our
memory for procedural tasks. For example, when you learn how to
play a sport such as swimming or lacrosse, you’re using your implicit
memory to do so. Implicit memory is also the memory that’s
responsible for the phenomenon that occurs when you randomly
come to find that you know all the words to a song that’s been on the
radio for a while. Even though you’re not actively trying to memorize
the words to it, the repetition that occurs by simply listening to the
same station where the song is often played is enough to embed
itself into your memory.

6. Episodic Memory: If you’ve ever heard of a court case where two

people have different recollections of the same event taking place,
then you have heard about differences in individual’s episodic
memory. Episodic memory refers to memories that are associated
with a specific event that has taken place. Often, these types of
memories have a lot of emotional baggage to them, which is why two
people can experience the exact same event differently.

7: Semantic Memory: Semantic memories are those memories that

allow us to retain simple facts about the world and beyond. For
example, knowing that red is a color is one simple example of
semantic memory. Another example is being able to remember the
capital of a state.

Wait...Isn’t this Book About Photographic Memory?

Yes, this book is ultimately about developing your photographic
memory, but in understanding the major memory types that exist, the
hope is that you’ll be able to see where photographic memory fits
into the mix more easily. One common misconception about
photographic memory is that people who possess photographic
memory are able to literally take a picture of a piece of paper or
document and store this image away in their minds. If this were truly
something that a person could do, then it would mean that he or she
would be able to refer to this image and take small bits of information
from it whenever they wanted to. This is simply not a reality.

Instead of thinking about photographic memory as a photo that a

person can take with their mind, it would be better to describe
photographic memory as memory that is exceptionally accurate and
precise. In other words, people with a “photographic” memory are
those who can recall events and documents with almost complete
accuracy; however, most studies point out that if an individual’s
memory were truly photographic in nature, there would be absolutely
no error when it comes to recalling facts or data from the past.

Even though the ability for a person to have a truly photographic

memory in the ideal sense has been largely debunked, this shouldn’t
take the wind out of your sails. The good news about memory is that
even if you currently don’t have great memorization skills, these
skills can be taught and learned quite easily. In this way, a
photographic memory is entirely possible, but it might be a slightly
altered version of the popular notion of what people think of when
they consider what a photographic memory is. One last important
thing to note about photographic memory is that it’s also sometimes
referred to as “eidetic” memory. Eidetic can be defined as having the
ability to recall images with incredible detail and vibrancy. It should
come as no surprise that this word is associated with photographic
memory.

Basically, it can be incredibly difficult for a person to recall literally

everything that occurred within a memory. The brain is automatically
going to try and grasp the general gist of a situation that’s occurring,
and is going to pay far less attention to the sounds, colors, and
specific details of the situation in question. The rest of this book is
going to focus on developing techniques that will allow you to
remember almost all of a situation, a memory that is “photographic”
or nearly perfect in nature.
Chapter 2: Prepping the Body and Brain for
Photographic Memory Development

Now that you have a much clearer grasp on what

memory is, the different types of memory, and how photographic

memory fits into the mix of the various types of memory that your

brain practices, we are now going to get into how you can develop a

photographic memory in a step-by-step way. By this point, you also

have an understanding of the fact that no one’s brain is going to be

able to legitimately take a photo of something and save it for later

use. Rather, some people simply have a more accurate memory

than others. Let’s take a look at the steps you’ll need to take prior to

practicing photographic memory techniques, as these steps will prep

the body and the mind for success.

Step 1: Take a Photographic Memory Test

Before you immediately start trying to develop your photographic
memory, it’s important to figure out how strong your memory is.
Figuring this out is fairly simple, and merely involves taking a
photographic memory test on the internet. Once you find a
photographic memory test, go through all of it to find out how strong
your memory is. A score of at least 85% indicates that your memory
is incredibly strong, while a score less than 85% is going to indicate
that you have significant memorization work to do. A great test that
exists can be found on Psychology Today’s website. Simply type,
“memorization test Psychology Today” into your preferred search
engine and you should find this test. It is quick to take, and will
provide you with sound results on how strong your memory is.

Step 2: Turn Facts into Pictures

Even if you know that you’re a great student who can retain
informational facts easily, the brain has a much easier time recalling
information through pictures than it does recalling information via
facts. One of the first tangible steps a person can take towards
developing a more photographic memory is to begin thinking of the
world through pictures, rather than through words or sounds. You
can easily practice this by beginning to think about how you can
associate facts that you learn throughout the day with pictures that
you develop in your mind. Be as creative as possible when you do
this. The more creative the picture, the greater likelihood that you
will be able to commit this image to memory over the long-term.

Step 3: Practice
Another important aspect of developing a photographic memory that
cannot be overlooked is the notion of practice. If you do not practice
committing facts to memory with the help of pictures, how do you
ever expect to become skilled at it? As with many other things in life,
if you want to get good at something, you’re going to have to commit
yourself to it. Sure, you can skip a day or two every once in a while,
but consistency is key. On average, it takes about two weeks for a
habit to form. Keep this in mind as you work towards developing
your photographic memory, as the awareness of this fact may come
in handy, especially when you’re feeling lazy .

Step 4: Check Your Depression

Whether you’re aware of it or not, our emotions are strongly
connected to our ability to retain information over a long period of
time. If you know that you suffer from depression, then it’s also likely
that these sad and pessimistic feelings are preventing your memory
from reaching its full potential. In addition to depression, stress in
general often stops people from being able to retain large swaths of
information, because most of their mental energy is focused on
lessening anxiety. If you are stressed on a consistent basis, you can
start attempting to fix this by altering your lifestyle. Actively seek out
relaxing activities, and do your best to eliminate stressful
circumstances as much as you can.

Step 5: Keep Your Brain Lively

It’s recently been discovered that Alzheimer’s disease is one
problem that older people experience that can be prevented if certain
habits are practiced when the person is younger. Keeping the brain
active is essential to being able to memorize information, because
the brain needs to practice being active in order to remain sharp.
Some activities that are great for the brain include the following:

1. Using Rosetta Stone or another type of language software as a

way to learn a new language

2. Playing board games with friends or loved ones

3. Reading a non-fiction book. Fiction books are helpful as well, but

reading a non-fiction book often requires greater concentratio n

4. Doing crossword puzzles

5. Reading the newspaper or listening to news publications

Step 6: Keep the Body Active

It may seem like a chore to some, but exercising on a regular basis
is extremely important for the body as a whole in more ways than
one. Sure, working out consistency can lead to greater
cardiovascular health and stronger muscles, but exercising also
allows oxygen to flow to the brain more efficiently. When oxygen
travels to the brain, it’s able to provide nutrients and other minerals
to it. If you currently do not exercise, then transitioning to a more
active lifestyle may seem like an impossibility; however, you can
make small changes to achieve greater oxygen flow. For example,
simply taking the stairs instead of an elevator on a regular basis is
one simple way to kickstart your way towards a more active lifestyle.

Step 7: Avoid Substance Abuse

Drinking alcohol in excess can certainly lead to an inability to retain
information; however, this are also studies that exist suggesting that
drinking a glass of wine per day can actually aid in keeping the
memory spry. As marijuana becomes legalized in more states
across the US, it also needs to be mentioned that marijuana
consumption is a fabulous way to aid in the deterioration of your
short-term memory. Yes, you can gain your short-term memory
capacities back after you stop consuming marijuana, but if you’re
looking to strengthen your memory, using marijuana is going to
completely nullify any potential progress you could otherwise make .

Step 8: Avoid the Distractions

These days, distractions seem to be everywhere. As our cellphones
become increasingly similar to tiny robots that we can’t live without,
simple distractions are becoming increasingly common. When
you’re practicing the techniques that are going to be presented in the
rest of this book, it’s important that you try to avoid distractions
whenever possible. Some great ways to do this include turning off
your cellphone and finding a quiet place where little distractions are
going to be able to take place. You can even reward yourself with
distractions, only after you’ve successfully completed a task of some
kind.

Step 9: Take It One Task at a Time

Along the same lines of being easily distracted, it’s also becoming
more prevalent for people to multi-task whenever possible. Multi-
tasking is a great way to spread your memory thin, to the point
where developing a photographic memory is going to be nearly
impossible. When you move through the photographic memory
techniques, make sure you do so one at a time. Master one
technique before moving onto the next technique. This way, you’ll
know that each technique has been fully retained and covered.

Step 10: Ensure Your Environment is Healthy

Lastly, it’s important to make sure that the environment in which you
live and interact with is also clear of distractions that are going to use
more of your brain’s energy than is truly necessary. For example, if
you’re going through an emotional divorce, then perhaps you should
wait until the divorce proceedings are over before you dive into
developing a photographic memory. Emotional strain and
environmental strains as well can distract us from being able to
memorize information. Events in life can often require more mental
energy than we may think. By making sure that you’re living within a
healthy environment, you’ll waste less time and see greater results.

This chapter has gone over the various factors that should be in
place prior to starting the journey towards photographic memory
development. There are plenty of memorization techniques out
there, but the key in learning these techniques to the fullest extent
involves prepping your body, your mind and your environment for
success first. In fact, by making healthy choices for yourself, you
should be able to see great improvements in your memory without
actually having to do much in terms of practicing; however, this does
not mean that you should avoid practicing altogether! It’s important
to understand that practicing is one of the (if not the most important)
aspect of developing a photographic memory for yourself. Without
practice, nothing is going to change in your brain, and you’ll always
be the same forgetful guy or gal that you currently are.
Chapter 3: The Benefits of Possessing a
Photographic Memory

The previous chapter should have been able to

make you realize that developing a strong memory is something that

enhance your life in more ways than one. At its core, developing a

good memory starts with having a healthy body, because without a

healthy body your brain is not going to be able to retain information

as efficiently as possible. Once your body is prepped and ready to

hold larger amounts of information, you will then be ready to start

working towards your photographic memory capabilities. Before we

get into the specific techniques that you can use to develop your

photographic memory, we’re first going to discuss the many benefits

that exist when you have a photographic memory. The hope is that

after reading this chapter, you’ll be even more excited than you

already are to start supercharging your memory for long-term.

Benefit 1: You Can Impress People

If you’re not in school, then perhaps another reason why you’re
interested in developing your photographic is because you’ve come
across someone with a great memory in the past and you felt
incredibly impressed by this person. People are often jealous and or
awe-struck when another person can seemingly remember
everything about them. In fact, your memory could even be one way
that you could strike up a conversation at parties or social gatherings
that will keep others interested for hours.

Benefit 2: You Can Judge a Person’s Character More Easily

When you’re able to visually remember a person’s face and keep
this image in your mind for a long period of time, a major benefit is
that you’re able to look at this person’s face as many times as you’d
like. Once you have the person’s image in your head, you can then
analyze to some degree. What do the creases in this person’s face,
their eyes, and even their posture give away? These can all be
clues that will make getting to know a person all the easier. What’s
even better is that you don’t need to tell anyone that you have this
ability. If you were to tell them, then there’s a chance that they will
become uneasy or self-conscious about what you’re going to see .

Benefit 3: Your Confidence Will Likely Grow

When you’re able to recall information, especially when others are
unable to do so, you’re likely going to feel more confident in many
aspects of your life. Increasing your memory brings with it a
certainty that you otherwise wouldn’t have if your memory wasn’t
getting better. This is an incredibly powerful benefit of strengthening
your money, for more reasons than one. For example, we’ve already
discussed how you should prep the body before you begin your
memory training. When you’re actively trying to make your brain as
healthy as possible, your entire body is going to be engaged in the
process. When you’re exercising both your brain and your body, the
experience is going to give you a great sense of self-worth and
positive self-image .

Benefit 4: A Heightened Awareness to Your Surroundings

Another benefit that comes with a photographic memory is that if you
train correctly, you’re going to realize that you’re able to take in all of
your surroundings with much more efficiency. Specifically, it’s been
proven that people with better memories use their eyes and their
ears to a greater capacity than do people with poor memories. Think
about how this enhanced capability can change your reality for the
better.

Benefit 5: You’ll Strengthen the Capabilities of Your Noggin

When your brain is working to improve its memory, it’s strength is
growing constantly. Not only that, but when you’re using your
memory to its greatest capacity, you’re going to free up room in it
where even more information can exist and be of use. While it’s true
that humans only use a small portion of their brain throughout their
lifetime, it’s also true that your brain learns to operate in a certain
way, depending on your lifestyle and with how much intensity your
brain has to work on a daily basis. When you teach yourself
memory-enhancing techniques, your brain has to do less work, yet
it’s still strengthening itself quite often.

Benefit 6: You’ll Feel More Focused

Again, your ability to take in more of your surroundings is going to
grow astronomically once you start your memory training. Another
benefit that goes along with this one is that you’re going to feel more
focused in general. Your brain is going to have a firm goal in mind,
and this goal is going to require a great level of focus from the jump.
Once your brain learns how to focus correctly, this is going to
kickstart its ability to focus and put it into high gear. If you have
problems focusing, it could merely be because you don’t know how
to memorize information properly. Too often do people immediately
assume that they have ADD or ADHD when they are unable to
focus, either in school or in a work setting. Before you start taking
medication, why not take some time to figure out whether it’s merely
your memory that needs to be slightly tweaked.
After reading about all of the benefits as to how possessing a
photographic memory can better your life, you should be exciting
about all the possibilities that this can bring for you. Sure, the path
to developing a photographic memory for yourself is certainly going
to require dedication and hard work, but as with many other things in
life, the benefits that you will see after putting in this work is
extremely hard to ignore. Why would you want to do yourself a
disservice by not learning how to cultivate a photographic memory?
Once you understand these techniques, your path to success is
going to open up like never before.
Chapter 4: Image-Related Memorization
Techniques You Can Use

Now that you have a good understanding of the

benefits that exist when you commit yourself to improving your

memory over the long-term, we are now going to finally look at some

concrete techniques that you can use to achieve these means. This

chapter is going to specifically discuss image associated techniques

that you can use, because this is arguably the most important type of

improvement you can make when you’re seeking to make your

memory photographic. After reading this chapter, you will be one

step closer to being able to identify yourself within the small minority

of people who claim that they truly have a photographic memory.

Developing Your Photographic Memory with a Deck of Cards

The first technique that we’re going to start with is extremely basic in
nature, but rest assured that we will be getting into more advanced
visualization techniques by the end of this chapter. For this
technique, a regular deck of cards or even a deck of Uno cards will
do the trick. Once you have your deck of cards, the next step is to
choose three cards from the deck and take some time to memorize
them. Take as much time as you need, until you truly feel as if you
know the three cards like the back of your hand .
Once you’re absolutely sure that you’ve memorized the cards, the
next step is to go back to the rest of the deck of cards and place
these three cards into the deck, making sure that they go into the
deck in the exact same order that you’ve memorized them. Next,
without shuffling the deck, pull out your three cards, before placing
them back into the deck again the exact same way that you just did.
You’re going to want to repeat this exercise until you’re absolutely
positive you can remember the same three cards with ease.

Once you’ve got these three down, choose the next three cards that
are either to the right or to the left of the ones that you’ve already
memorized. You’re going to want to take some time to memorize
these three, while still keeping in mind the previous three that you’ve
already committed to memory. The idea here is that as you work
through the entire deck of cards three at a time, eventually you will
be able to memorize the entire deck. Uno cards or a traditional deck
of cards are both great to use to achieve complete memorization of
the deck, because both require developing your photographic
memory to do so.

A Photographic Memory Technique that the Military Uses

Now that you’ve been given one of the most basic techniques that
you can use, let’s move onto something a bit more complex. In
order for this technique to work, you are going to need the following
materials and setting condition at your disposal:

1. A dark room, with no windows in it

2. A piece of paper with a large rectangle cut out of it
3. A book, with a paragraph in it that is fairly easy to read
4. A comfortable seat

A great tip to consider while using this method is to find a bathroom

in your home that doesn’t have any windows in it, like a powder
room. This type of room is perfect for this experiment.

Once you’ve found the room that you’re going to use, the next step is
to make sure that you’re going to be able to access the light easily
within the room. This means that you might want to bring a chair into
the room with you, but this is optional. Find a comfortable seat near
the light switch before turning to a page in the book that you chose.
Find a paragraph within the book that can be read with ease. Next,
use your paper with the rectangle cut out of it to block out the rest of
the words on the page, only leaving the paragraph that you’ve
chosen exposed. It might be a good idea to choose your paragraph
prior to cutting out a hole in your paper, because this way you will
know how large your rectangle should be.

Next, stare at the paragraph on the page until it feels like the image
of the paragraph is burning your brain. Without taking your eyes off
of the paragraph in question, reach for the light switch and turn off
the light. You can also close your eyes as soon as the lights are off.
If you’ve done this correctly, you’re going to see that the imprint of
the page even when your eyes are closed. If you recall from the first
chapter, this is your sensory memory at work. Once your eyes are
shut and it’s dark, do your best to read the words within the
paragraph, from the image of your mind alone. Once the image
fades from your mind, you can turn on the light once more and start
this process over again .

What you’re likely going to find when you’re attempting this

technique is that it’s going to get easier to read the words on the
paragraph the more that you practice. Again, this technique is often
associated with the military. It’s also important to note that people in
the military typically do not learn this technique in a fast amount of
time. In fact, on average, it will take a person over a month to learn
these techniques perfectly. As you can see, the notion of practice is
particularly important for this technique. Without practice,
consistency, and patience, mastering this technique is unlikely.

Visualization and the Image-Association Technique

The last technique that we’re going to look at involves being able to
bring information to mind, based on mental image associations that
we’ve made for ourselves. The first step when you’re using this
technique is to recognize the importance of sounding out a word that
you’re trying to memorize in the first place. For example, let’s say
that we’re taking an art history class and want to memorize the word
“Vitruvian”, as in the Vitruvian man. The first thing you’re going to
want to do is sound out the word and extract the syllables. In this
case, we’re left with the syllables, “Vi”, “tru”, “vi”, “an”.

Once you have the syllables, it’s time to get a bit creative. If you’ve
never seen an image of the Vitruvian man, you should look up a
picture of him now. If I were trying to use image association to
memorize something, my next step would be to look at my syllables
and see if I could generate any similarities between them. As I can
already see, there are two “Vi” syllables in this example. Again, if I
were the one completing this exercise, it would mean that in my
head, the Vitruvian man’s name would be Victor. I would associate
the man in the photo with the name Victor, and from this would at
least be able to discern that the first letters in the word Vitruvian are
V and I.

Next up are the letters that make up “tru”. If you know anything
about the history of the Vitruvian man, then you already know that
this man is supposed to represent truth in humanity and masculinity,
but even if you did not know that, you could still think about “tru” as
representing honesty and truthfulness. In other words, in your mind
Victor would be an honest member of society.

Finally, we have the “an”. Again, if I were the one who was
attempting to associate syllables with an image, I would probably
think of the following sentence in my head to accomplish this :

A truthful man named Victor

Of course, this would require that I’d have to remember that the word
“A” was actually “An”, but doing this at least provides me with the
ability to form an actual sentence in my head about the Vitruvian
man. When you’re able to memorize an actual sentence about
something, it’s easier to conjure an image from the sentence itself.
That’s really all there is to this technique.

Remember, this last method could be considered the most difficult, if

only because it requires a significant amount of creativity on your
end. The more creative you are when you’re developing this
technique, the greater likelihood that you will be able to memorize
things with greater ease, because your image associations are going
to be out of the ordinary and a bit eccentric.

Memorization through a Person’s Physical Features

The last technique that we’re going to discuss in this chapter has to
do with strengthening your ability to associate names with people’s
features. You can use this technique beyond memorizing people’s
names, but it typically works best when you’re using it in this way.
Start by thinking about someone you know well. Close your eyes,
and picture this person’s face in your mind.

Next, choose a feature that is distinct about this person. For

example, if your uncle Bob has a giant beard, then maybe you
imagine Bob while thinking to yourself, “Bob with the beard”. The
features and the names do not necessarily need to have the same
first letters, but this may help you to better remember a person’s
name .

Once you become good at linking features with the names of people
whom you personally know, you can then branch out and practice on
people who are complete strangers. This can be a bit nerve racking,
especially if you’re currently terrible at remembering names. People
are typically bad at remembering the names of others when they’re
meeting them for the first time because they’re too worried about
their own appearance and demeanor. This is normal, but you should
work towards kicking this bad habit if you can. Be patient with
yourself.

Again, this technique can best be practiced by associating a

person’s features with their name, but you can also expand this
tactic to include using it for other visual things that require
memorization. For example, you can use it in reverse. Begin by
thinking about something that you need to memorize. Next, imagine
a person who reminds you of the thing that requires memorization.
This is going to need more creativity than will using the face
technique in its traditional sense, but it will force your brain to
broaden the limits of its thought process. It will also train your brain
to associate words with images, as this is the secret for any beginner
who hopes to possess a photographic memory.

This chapter has outlined four key image memory techniques that
you can use that will definitely help to improve your photographic
memory. Even though this chapter has outlined these techniques in
terms of difficulty, you should still analyze these techniques yourself
and choose the one that you find the easiest to tackle first. You don’t
want to become discouraged as you’re moving through these
techniques, which is what can happen is you decide to attempt one
that you’re not quite ready for.

Remember, everyone learns best in their own way. Being able to

recognize how you best learn new things can help you to figure out
how you can go about developing your photographic memory in the
most efficient way possible.
Chapter 5: Word Association Techniques that Will
Improve Your Memory

A s you can see after reading the previous chapter,

being able to use your mind to relate images to what you’re seeking

to memorize is important for developing your photographic memory.

Once you’ve come to realize this fact, you can then expand your

techniques to include ones that do not directly relate to images in

general. This chapter is going to go over techniques that you can

use when you’re looking to memorize words, but the important thing

to note here is that you’re still going to conjure images in your head

in order to memorize the words in question. After reading this

chapter, you’re going to see how you can practice memorizing things

like lists (and more), in order to grow your photographic memory

capabilities.

The Linking Method

The linking method enables the brain to link together words that
would otherwise seem nonrelated or arbitrary. We will explain the
linking method through an example. Let’s say that for some reason,
you need to memorize the list of words that can be seen below:

Desk
Pencil
Necklace
Umbrella
Pepper

When you seek to memorize these words via the linking method, the
first step is to try and make sense of all the words through an
association of your choice. To do this, your best bet is to simply go
down the list and try to link all of the words with one another. For
example, your first step is to associate desk with pencil. You could
start by thinking about a pencil lying on a desk. That’s a fairly easy
thing to do, especially because you have probably seen plenty of
pencils on desks, especially when you were in grade school.

The next words may prove to be a bit more difficult to associate. For
example, once you have thought about the pencil lying on the desk,
you might consider imagining the pencil having a necklace wrapped
around it. From here, you could associate the necklace with the
umbrella by imagining a small umbrella pendant hanging from the
end of the necklace that’s wrapped around the pencil and on the
desk. Finally, you could imagine a pepper shaker above the pencil
on the desk, raining down pepper onto the umbrella below it. This is
the linking method at work. Basically, you’re looking to truly link
each word to the word below it, via an image that you’ve concocted
in your mind.

The linking method is most likely going to be the most beneficial to

you if you frequently find that you have to memorize lists for one
reason or another. Additionally, if you practice the linking method
and ultimately find that this memorization technique works best for
you, then you can also make lists out of information that you need to
memorize, and then memorize the list via linking. This will allow you
to memorize information in a useful manner, without having to worry
about finding a different method to use. Of course, making this list
might take some time, if you’re trying to extract information from a
book for a test or for work. In the end, the best advice is to diversify
your memory techniques to the best of your ability.

Acrostic Poetry Method

If you were to visualize an acrostic, you would image something
that’s similar to a crossword puzzle. An acrostic can be a convenient
way to associate terms or information with a simple and easy-to-
remember word. In fact, an acrostic is technically considered to be a
poem. The first step involved when developing an acrostic is to write
down all of the words that you want to remember. If you have a poor
memory, you’ll want to start with a shorter list, and then work your
way towards a longer one.

For example, let’s say that you’re trying to memorize names of

obscure cheese. You’d first write out the list of each cheese name,
as follows:

1. Roquefort
2. Camembert
3. Asiago
4. Manchego
5. Ellington

Once you have your list, you will then try to organize these words in
such a way that the first letter of each word forms another, larger
word. For example, the word that I’m going to choose to make,
based on the cheese list above, is CREAM. My acrostic would
resemble the chart below:

C amembert
R oquefort
E llington
A siago
M ancheg o

An acrostic is going to be more difficult to create if you need to

memorize information in a particular order, but overall this is a great
way to strengthen your memory. Be creative when you’re making
you’re acrostic. Who knows, doing so may even eventually turn you
into an amateur poet.

Tell Yourself Stories

In addition to linking, another technique that you can resort to is
known as the story-telling method. This can be done when you’re
trying to memorize lists, but it can also be done when you’re trying to
memorize information that does not seem to make any sense at all.
For example, let’s say that your car gets hit by another car while
you’re driving. Instead of being a standup citizen and taking
responsibility for the accident, the driver decides, in the heat of the
moment, to drive away as fast as possible without looking back. As
the car drives off, you can see the license plate. You want to
memorize the plate and report this accident to the police.

You could use story-telling as a way to achieve this end. Let’s say
that the license plate has the following numbers and letters on it.

NJ056C

Now, this certainly does not make any sense to the untrained eye,
but for someone who is training their memory to be photographic, the
key is to make sense of this information even when it doesn’t seem
to make sense initially. Because there’s not much to memorize, the
story that we’re going to tell is going to be rather short in length. If I
were the one trying to memorize this license plate, my story would
be as follows:
In New Jersey, it’s 056 degrees Celsiu s
Once I’ve conjured this story in my head, it would make it much
easier to travel to the police station and report the accident, because
I can easily refer to this sentence whenever I need to tell an officer
the license plate attached to the car that committed a hit-and-run. It
also does not matter in the least that this story actually makes no
sense when you think about it. In fact, the less sense it makes, the
easier it will be to remember, because the nonsensical wording of
the sentence allows it to stand out in the mind.

When you think about it, 56 degrees Celsius translates to roughly

133 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, it does not reach these types of
temperatures in New Jersey, but again your story does not have to
make sense in order to be useful and good.
In addition to using the story-telling method as we just did in the
example above, you can also use the story-telling method when
you’re seeking to memorize a list. Let’s use the same list from the
previous example for this example as well. To reiterate, the items on
the list above included the following:

Desk
Pencil
Necklace
Umbrella
Pepper

If you were to make a story based on this list, it might sound

something like this:

A woman (or a man) was usually very organized; however, when she
woke up today she found that many of her things seemed out of
place. She didn’t remember doing this, but she found a pencil on her
desk with her favorite umbrella necklace wrapped around it. She
also found that the pepper shaker had been knocked over, causing
small pepper flakes to sprinkle out of it. Needless to say, she was
quite confused. She wondered if there had been a break-in.

In this example, we’ve simply added a bit onto the linking method
that we used in the previous section. By making sense of
information via a story, memorization is likely to be easier and much
less mundane. To be clear, you should feel free to make up any
store you’d like as you work towards memorizing something via
storytelling. The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to your
own creativity.

Additionally, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to

how they tell stories. Don’t be afraid to get as creative as you’d like,
and add your own spin to your stories that will truly make them your
own. Keep in mind, however, that keeping a story brief is also
important when you’re looking to memorize information. Brevity is
going to help to consolidate information and keep it accessible when
you’re ready to use it.
The Connection Method
Moving away from story-telling and linking methods, another way
that you can make random information easier to carry around in your
head is to associate this information with stuff that you already
know. For example, let’s take a look at the random number
sequence below:

678147

For me, it’s easy to remember the numbers 67 because my mother

just recently celebrated her 6 7th birthday. The number 8 is easy to
remember because I park in a parking garage on 8th street every day
when I go to work. This leaves the numbers 1, 4, and 7. I am able
to remember 14 by the fact that my sister was born on June 14.
Lastly, the number 7 can be remembered because my dog is 7 years
old. Of course, you will need to make your own associations based
on your own life in order for this technique to work for you, but as
you can see it’s pretty simple to find associations based on relevant
life events. Additionally, this technique allows you to associate new
information with information that’s already engrained into your mind,
and allows your mind to work from images that it’s already
memorized. Who can forget an image of their mother blowing out 67
birthday candles ?

Bustin’ a Rhyme
The last technique at which we’ll look is one that you may have
considered in the past. It’s fairly straightforward in nature. This
method involves rhyming information with one another as a way to
make sense of it all. Similar to many of the other techniques that
we’ve already discussed, this technique is going to require that your
creative juices flow, but this technique is also great when you’re
developing a photographic memory because rhyming can bring to
mind unique images that your brain would otherwise not think of.
Again, let’s use our previous list in this example:

Desk
Pencil
Necklace
 Umbrella
Peppe r

A rhyme that could incorporate all of these elements would resemble

the following:

My pesky desk I do despise

But I use it and with my pencil I comprise

A letter to my friend about the necklace she borrowed

She took my pepper-colored umbrella too, oh the horror

This poem obviously needs a lot of work, but something silly like this
poem can easily provide you with the basis for a great way to
remember the words on any list. Along these same lines, a
potentially even easier way to memorize information is to create a
song that you can sing in your head when you’re seeking to
memorize new information. We all know how catchy songs can be,
which is why many advertising companies will use songs in their
commercials to entice people to purchase their products. For
example, the Kit-Kat candy song commercial that starts with, “Give
me a break” was probably made over a decade ago at this point;
however, it was so catchy that many people still remember it lovingly
to this day. The songs that you make up in your head should do the
same, if possible.

After reading this chapter, you should now feel as if you have
countless memory techniques at your disposal that you can use to
grow your photographic memory.

While many of these techniques do not directly use images as a way

to memorize information, many of the techniques that we discussed
in this chapter do look to create images for the brain via word
associations. Creativity is a large part of the photographic memory-
development process, which can be difficult to master, especially if
you’re someone who does not often use creativity in your daily life. If
you fall into this category, then it would be best to think about these
techniques as allowing you to overcome a mental obstacle. By
looking at this type of challenge positively, success is all the more
likely.
Chapter 6: Miscellaneous Photographic
Memorization Methods

This book wouldn’t be complete if it wasn’t able to

provide you with a ton of memorization techniques. This chapter is

going to be able to cover any memory-building methods that were

not directly covered in the previous chapters. After all, you probably

want to know as many photographic memory techniques that you

can, in order to grow this type of memory to exponential heights.

The Pegging Method

The pegging method basically consists of associating things in your
immediate environment with a sequential number sequence in your
head; however, there is a bit more to it than that. The key to this
method also involves memorizing words that first rhyme with the
numbers themselves as well. For example, you might comprise the
following list if you were looking to memorize five things:

1. Run or Gun
2. Boo or Loo
3. Bee or Knee
4. Floor or Door
5. Jive or Alive

Feel free to rhyme whichever words you see fit with the number of
things you’re trying to memorize. The rest of this exercise is pretty
similar to the story-telling technique that we’ve already discussed.
You’ll want to embed whatever you’re trying to memorize into the list,
based on the rhyming words that you’ve already memorized and
created in your head. It’s that simple.
Mind Mapping
If you’ve ever heard of mind-mapping before, it may have been while
you were in grade school or middle school.

As you may have guessed, mind mapping is a fairly easy way to

memorize information, yet it should still be considered a powerful
tool that you can use when you’re looking to visually make sense of
information. To make a mind map, all you need is a piece of paper.
From here, start in the middle of the paper. Draw a circle in the
middle of the paper, and within the circle spell out the central idea
that you have. Next, create spider-like appendages out from the
center, and create smaller circles. Within these smaller circles,
identify the subtopics that relate to the central idea that you’re trying
to remember. Do this until there are no subtopics left, and you’ve
covered the topic in full.

Once your mind map has been completed, what you’re likely going
to find is that you don’t need to spend much time memorizing the
finished product. Instead, the mind map is going to stay in your head
easily, because you’ve been both writing down the information while
also visually stimulating your brain at the same time. This brings up
a good point about memorization in general. While the way in which
people learn is beyond the scope of this beginner’s guide to
developing a photographic memory, it’s important to understand the
people learn in many different ways. You should assess what your
brain’s preferred learning style is, and then seek out memorization
methods that highlight this preference .

The Roman Room Method

Also known as the Memory Palace, this photographic memory
technique is arguably one of the more difficult ones to master. You
should begin practicing this technique by picking out a room that you
know very well. This can be any room that you’re extremely familiar
with. If you’ve recently moved or are not familiar with your
immediate surroundings for some reason, it’s best to choose a room
that was in your childhood home. Next, close your eyes and imagine
this room. Where is the dresser? Was there a desk? What about a
nightstand? Think about all the elements of the room, and also
pinpoint their exact location within the room in your mind. You may
want to practice simply doing this for a while, so that you’re
absolutely sure you have the location of each item secure in your
head .

Once you’re confident in the abstract room that you’re creating in

your mind, the next step is to visualize yourself in the doorway of this
room. You’re not going to be imagining yourself walking through the
room; instead, you’re going to imagine yourself simply standing near
the door. From here, imagine that the corner of the room that’s
nearest your left shoulder is labeled number one. You should label
the other corners of the room in a clockwise fashion as 3, 5 and 7
accordingly. Next, come back to number 1. Label the walls in a
clockwise fashion, until numbers 2 through 8 have also been
defined.
Finally, label the floor number 9 and the ceiling number 10. Be sure
to memorize the locations of each number, so that you can easily
identify them later on.

From here, you should be able to start placing information that you
want to remember into the room itself. By associating information
with numbers 1 through 10, you can also create stories within the
room that will evoke emotions, scents, and even actions into what
you’re trying to ultimately commit to memory.

Remember, memories are formed through our senses primarily. This

is a key aspect of the Roman Palace memorization technique,
because its goal is to link emotions and actions from the past
through a room that you know very well with new information that
you’d like to store in your brain over the long-term.
Chapter 7: The Link Between Creativity and
Memory

A t this point in the book, it should be fairly obvious

that these memorization methods are less-than conventional. One

of the reasons why it might feel like this is because the link between

memorization and creativity is strong. In other words, both are vital

to one another. Without creativity, memory would not be able to

thrive, and without memory, creative people would lack their

visionary capabilities. After reading this chapter, you may find that

you have greater insight into the reasons why creative people are

capable of producing great masterpieces and world-renowned works

of art. Here’s a big hint: all of these creative people also possess

great memories as well.

Creativity is Crucial to Memory

If you take away anything from this book, it should be that creativity
is inextricably linked to your ability to successfully memorize
information. Without being able to open up your creative mind and
be receptive to thinking about information in an unconventional
manner, your brain is not going to think that the information is unique
or noteworthy is any way shape or form. To your brain, these
memories will pass by unnoticed, even though you’re logically (and
sometimes desperately) trying to memorize information quickly. If
you’re not someone who considers themselves to be a creative
person, you should start here on your photographic memory
journey. Seek out creativity, and take note of how your memory is
improved throughout this process.

Memory and Solving Problems

Most of us have experienced having to solve a riddle or a critical
thinking problem at some point in our lives. Often, critical thinking
problems present themselves in our math classes throughout grades
school and high school. If you can recall these types of problems,
almost all of them required you to “think outside the box”. Whether
you knew it or not at this time, these questions were asking you to
think creatively in order to successfully solve the problem, and a key
element of this problem solving required that you use your memory
in order to do so.

In other words, when you’re solving a problem, your brain is

immediately going to be racking itself to try and find an example of
how you solved this problem in the past. When it is unable to come
up with anything, it’s still going to use its past memories as a way to
try and figure out the current problem. As you can see, without a
good working memory, creativity problem solving would be much
more difficult and nearly impossible for the brain to accomplish. If
you’ve always gotten good grades in math, you can partly thank your
brain for this ability.

Divergent Thinking
One way that you can actually test how well your brain does at
figuring out problems creatively is through what’s known as the
Alternative Uses Test. This test measures your ability to divergently
think, which is a fancy term used to describe your brain’s ability to
consider as many different avenues and options within a given
scenario as possible. During this type of test, you will be asked how
many different ways you can come up with to use everyday objects.
The more appropriate answers that you give, the more divergently
thinking you are. You can easily find a test like this on the internet,
by simply typing, “Alternative Uses Test” into your search engine.
Your Favorite Author Probably Has a Great Memory
The information above has made it clear that creativity and memory
are inextricably linked with one another, but what this also makes
apparent is that many of the creative thinkers of our time also
possess great memory skills. The findings for this fact that have
been found are similar to the ones that have been found for creative
thinking and memory. Without the ability to tap into an extremely
detailed-memory, an individual simply cannot create. An individual
needs a detailed and creative memory in order to be able to tap into
their own creative outlet and produce works of art. This is an
incredible finding, that truly brings more meaning to the phrase, “it’s
all in the details”.

The more details that a visionary is able to recall through simply their
memory, the more creative energy they’re able to conjure and
produce with. This means that if you’ve ever dreamed of being a
creative genius yourself, the first place to start is by dedicating
yourself to cultivating a healthy and bountiful memory that will be
able to bring to mind great details in an instant. A photographic
memory can certainly help to achieve this end, because the more
quickly your brain is able to flip through the various memories that its
collected for itself, the more inspiration your brain will have when it’s
seeking to creatively produce something .

After reading this chapter, you should have absolutely no doubt that
you need a strong memory in order to be creative, and vice versa.
Almost all of the techniques that were presented in this book
required at least a small capacity for creativity, which also makes it
obvious that your brain craves creativity when it’s seeking to make
new memories.

Remember, the more creative you can make your memorization

devices as you work towards developing your photographic memory,
the more successful you’re going to be. Lastly, don’t be afraid to
develop your techniques around images in your head that are
nonconventional or require “thinking outside the lines”. Even though
you may logically think that these images are silly or obscure, your
brain is no doubt thanking you for the creative and memorable
images that are forcing it to easily remember information. The more
you practice these techniques, the better off your brain will be.
Conclusion

Congratulations on making it to the end of

this book, Photographic Memory: Photographic Memory Training,

Advanced Techniques to Improve Your Memory & Strategies to

Learn Faster. Hopefully, this book has been able to provide you with

extremely valuable information on how to develop a photographic

memory for yourself. Remember, having this knowledge at your

disposal is just as important as being able to use the techniques

themselves. Without practice, it’s much less likely that you’ll be able

to cultivate the skills that are necessary in order to possess a

photogenic memory.

The next step is to go through the techniques that were presented in

this book. Choose techniques that will allow you to initiate yourself
with learning how to develop a photographic memory. After you feel
comfortable with one of the techniques, move onto the next one.
The more often you integrate new ways of teaching yourself how to
possess a photographic memory, the more comfortable you will
become with the skill in general. Have patience, allow yourself to
make mistakes, and be open to any and all possibilities that you may
not have previously considered. This is how growth becomes truly
possible.
Lastly, if you enjoyed reading this book, a review on Amazon is
always appreciated! Thanks again for downloading this book,
Photographic Memory: Photographic Memory Training, Advanced
Techniques to Improve Your Memory & Strategies to Learn Faster .