WORDSMITHING
The way I did it.
I improved my memory.
For one week, I set out to try a different method each day that would help me improve my memory.
Not one to waste any time, I went straight to my assistant, Tess, also known as Chat GPT. As you know by now, I like to name things—automobiles, robot vacuums, plants, and virtual assistants. I wanted to find the best strategies to improve my memory, so I turned to Tess.
When researching, Tess often gives me way more information than I really want, and although the details are interesting, they may or may not be helpful. For example, Tess told me that there are actually memory competitions in which the winners are anointed with titles such as “Grand Master of Memory.” Did you know that? I sure didn’t. One grand master, Dominic O’Brian, won the World Championship eight times! That sounded pretty cool. He obviously has a great memory, but I found his methodology a little trying.
Dominic made the method of loci, which dates back to ancient Greece and the Romans, all the rage. In a nutshell, the method of loci suggests putting the items you want to remember in a familiar place. Take your grocery list—eggs, bread, bananas—and put them along a path as you walk through your bedroom. Cracked eggs on the door, bread stacked up on the bed, bananas hanging from the ceiling fan create a mental picture. According to Tess, creating mental pictures is the backbone of Dominic’s memory tricks, and the more ridiculous the picture, the better.
And it works! But I don’t really care whether I remember my grocery list or not. The thing I want to remember the most are people’s names, and pausing to create a ridiculous mental picture when first introduced to someone makes me feel and probably look like a lunatic. Sorry, Dominic. You may be a world champion, but isn’t there another method?
I’ve dreamed of having an assistant like Ann Hathaway’s character Andrea, who worked for Meryl Streep’s character Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Andrea was responsible for standing next to Miranda and feeding her the names and back stories for each person as they approached. Wouldn’t that be an amazing assistant to have?! I haven’t figured out how to get one, but I need to work on it.
Another suggestion that I’m sure you’ve heard of is repeating the person’s name back to them when you’re first introduced. “Hello, Frank. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Frank.” It works, but it’s such a popular technique that everyone “sees” you doing it.
No, I want a memory technique that’s much cleverer.
Trying to come up with my own method reminded me of my high school AP English teacher, Mr. M. I’m not calling him “Mr. M” to protect his identity. I’m calling him Mr. M because I can’t remember his name! What I remember about Senior AP English was that it was common for students to flee his class in tears when the bell rang. Mr. M was tough! He was also a very clever wordsmith. He wanted us to broaden our vocabularies and tasked his students with learning new words … a word a day … and he loved pop quizzes—hence, all the crying.
Armed with The New York Times Crossword page-a-day calendar and a pair of turtle shell reading glasses, I vow to increase my vocabulary. And I’ll use it to associate words with clever mental pictures when I’m meeting someone new. I’m now ready for Loquacious Larry with a running faucet for a mouth … or Tenacious Terry, with a hammer and a box full of nails.
The way I did it. Wordsmithing.
This is part of what I’m calling Expeditionvision—trying things on purpose and paying attention to what happens. I’m not offering advice or giving instructions. I’m just sharing the way I did it. If there’s something that you’ve been wanting to do—but haven’t—I’d love to hear about it. I’m open to reader suggestions for future experiments.
Field Notes: For Paid Subscribers
Paid subscribers, I’ve added a short field notes section below with what surprised me the most, what I didn’t expect, and what I’m still working on.