Chapter 2. How to Get Your First Five Memory Hooks

KEY WORD NUMBER ONE

1. ALARM CLOCK. Now visualize an alarm clock. This alarm clock is very large. Both hands point to the figure 1. I tell you this not only because I want the picture to be clear, but because you are to associate it with the number one. Alarm clock is our first key word. To reinforce the association and make stronger memory hooks, remember, for example, that the alarm clock is the first thing you see in the morning, and it costs you one dollar. It rings once before you reach out and turn it off. ONE is ALARM CLOCK.

Take all the time you need to form these mental images which will serve the purpose of memory hooks. They are the basis of a memory system you will use for the rest of your life and are as vital to it as the alphabet is to your reading. If the picture vanishes or is blurred and indis­tinct, wait until it appears as vivid as a real picture in an advertisement.

KEY WORD NUMBER TWO

2. TROUSERS. Go through the same process in visualizing trousers as you did with alarm clock, this time, of course, associating trousers with the figure 2.   These two-legged trousers cost you two dollars. Two pair of trousers came with your suit. TWO is TROUSERS.

KEY WORD NUMBER THREE

3. CHAIR. See the chair in your mind, and at the same time tie it up with the figure 3. Think of the chair as having three parts—the back, the seat, and the legs. It's a three-legged chair.  There is a big price tag, reading S3, tied to this chair. Close your eyes now and see the chair with its three
parts. THREE is CHAIR.

KEY WORD NUMBER FOUR

4. TABLE. Visualize a four-legged, four-sided table. It is set for four people. Four dollars is what you paid for this table for four. FOUR is TABLE.

KEY WORD NUMBER FIVE

5. NEWSPAPER. This newspaper is a Five-Star Final. It costs five cents, and you read it for five minutes. It is a 5 o'clock edition, which you bought after knocking off work at 5 o'clock. FIVE is NEWSPAPER.

These are the first five key words, and for the time being we will devote our attention to learn them thoroughly. After a few pages of practice and drill in these we will go on to higher numbers. But even before you reach these higher num­bers you will find these first five helping you remember count­less items you used to forget; hence serving as memory hooks where you can hang on your learned experiences.

By this time, you are probably asking a very natural ques­tion: Why do we use just these particular key words, instead of just any five that come to mind? The answer is simply that these key words are the result of long experimentation in mem­ory training. They have proved easy to remember, and more­over they lend themselves to a natural sequence. What is this sequence?

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE

First thing in the morning, your alarm clock goes off. Second, you put on your trousers. Third, you sit down in a chair. Fourth, you draw it up to the table. Fifth, you read your newspaper.

The average man performs these five simple acts day in, day out, throughout his lifetime. Just because these acts are so common and so easy to remember, they form the first five key words of our Mental Filing System.

Knowing these words and seeing these images in their natu­ral sequences is a great help, but you must also be able to shuffle them around. Get your pencil now, and test yourself with the following drill. Keep at it until you get each word correct without hesitating. Remember: always see the image.

Fill in each space with the proper key word:

Did you find, in doing this test, that some one image did not come as quickly as the others? Here is a tip. Try to exaggerate the image. Try to see it bigger, brighter, and more detailed. The noted journalist, Elbert Hubbard, said the first rule of writing was "Paint the picture large." He knew that exaggera­tion helps the imagination and makes details stand out com-mandingly in the reader's mind. You will find this rule of immense value in forming your mental images. So every time you find yourself stumbling over a particular key word, stop, concentrate again on the image, and see it larger and in more brilliant colors. Don't go ahead until these weaker memory hooks grow just as strong as the others. This should take only a minute of concentration. When you are ready, try this exercise:

Write the proper numbers against the key words:

Read this book as a textbook. Try out each test from a practical standpoint, then proceed with your next lesson and test.

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