The Memorization Trick that Saved My TEDx Talk

Update (May 22, 2018): The video of my talk is now live, so you can watch the talk and follow along with my visuals (found in full at the end of this article) if you'd like to get a somewhat creepy glimpse of the inner workings of my brain. :-) "2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly"

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I hate memorizing speeches. Since the eighth grade, when I blanked during my speech on the "Butterfly Effect" and had to dig my notes out of my backpack, I have avoided memorization at all costs. Somehow I overcame my embarrassment, and since then, I've amassed thousands upon thousands of hours of experience as a presenter.

I don't ever memorize verbatim. I memorize the headings of my main points, the first few lines of the introduction, and the final lines of my conclusion. Then, I trust myself to speak relatively eloquently without having a set script.

But TEDx is different. When you want to explain your life's work simply and clearly within a strict time limit, a script is necessary to keep you on track, and honestly, I wasn't happy about it. I didn't use any slides either, so it was just me, my brain, voice, and body in front of 500 people. I was on my own.

The rehearsal from Hell

The night before the big day, we had a rehearsal in Odense Theater. It was fantastic to stand on that stage under the bright lights and imagine the seats filled with people eager to hear our words. One problem - I couldn't find my words... anywhere.

I think I blanked after every three or four lines. Completely blanked - like "eighth-grader digging for her notes" blanked. How could this be happening? Why wasn't it in my head? Is it nerves? Is it the script? Why isn't it flowing?

For two full weeks I had been forcing my daughters to listen to this script over and over and over again. I thought I had it, but obviously I was wrong. I might have been more embarrassed if I wasn't so busy panicking about what I was going to do next.

Don't panic!

I got back home around 9:30 that night, sat down in front of my computer, took a deep breath, and tried to figure out what to do.

I attacked the structure. I grouped shorter sentences into longer paragraphs to help with flow. I renamed headings so there were three, very clear points, plus added a forecast (a "here's what I am going to talk about" line). I wrote a simple outline and decided I would speak from that like I always do. I went back to the very basics that I teach my clients.

It helped, but it still wasn't there. It just wasn't sticking the way I wanted it to.

We think in pictures

At the rehearsal, one of the other speakers, Irina-Elena Antonescu, had mentioned how she had spent an evening (edit: 3 evenings!) finding images that represented points in her talk. She cut them all out, pasted them on big sheets of paper and then tied them all together in a kind of journey.

I had heard of this before. Many years ago, my very good friend, Nishant Kasibhatla, Grand Master of Memory and Guinness World Record Holder in Memory, taught me this very technique. He told me that we think in pictures, so the quickest way to memorize anything is to attach an image to it.

I had never actually applied all the amazing tricks that Nishant taught me so many years ago, because I was never in a situation where memorization was so important. Now, just after 10pm the night before my talk, I was desperate. I couldn't spend three evenings choosing the perfect pictures like Irina did. I had to think fast and get to bed so my brain could function the next day.

Not all images are created equal

I could remember Nishant telling me that the images you choose need to make sense to you and have a strong association to whatever you are trying to remember. Maybe they are really big or really small, and by making moving pictures that interact with each other, you can remember multiple points at once. Nishant recommends linking every two images together in some way.

Visualization in action

I'll show you how it works. This picture illustrates my third speaking point on listening. In my mind, the rainbow was cascading down on the audience from the first floor balcony while I spoke of the beautiful variety of English accents. Then, the colors turned into speech bubbles floating over everyone's heads with all their different sounds as I talked about how accents work.

The bubbles popped and turned into music notes as I remembered to elaborate on tone and emphasis until a huge donkey showed up and started eating the music notes. That reminded me to tell everyone not to be an "ass" and not to make "ass"umptions about the way people speak (I didn't use those words, of course, but that's actually what I was thinking).

Then, the donkey looked right at me and his eyes popped out of his head! He was wearing accented contact lenses, which reminded me to talk about how we need more contact with different varieties of accented English.

Suddenly, it was incredibly easy to remember my talk! You'll probably remember these main points too, because as you read my story, you created pictures in your mind as well.

By making the pictures a little bit ridiculous, plus making them fill the room and interact and move, they were cemented into my brain.

I trusted my mind

One of the things Nishant writes about in his book, Maximize Your Memory Power, is that not believing in your mind's abilities, along with being stressed about remembering, basically kills your memory. You have to trust your mind to do its job.

Instead of staying up all night worrying and being stressed, I was in bed a little after midnight, slept well and felt prepared. On the morning of the talk, I arrived early at the theater and spent some time on stage visualizing my images and anchoring them to specific locations in the theater. I couldn't believe how easy it was to run through my talk.

I have no idea what I would have done had I not remembered Nishant's memorization system. I'm sure I would have pulled it off somehow, but it would have been a much more stressful experience.

I haven't seen the video yet, but I don't think anyone in the audience could have imagined how horrible my rehearsal was the night before. By sharing my "secret" I hope you can learn from my experience. You can try applying these memory techniques to everything from remembering your shopping list to people's names.

I've since talked to Nishant, and he said that this technique is best for remembering shorter lists or talks with fewer points (like a TEDx). For longer keynote talks, he recommends using the Loci Method which he describes in a really great training video here: https://bit.ly/2JX6CeC

My talk in pictures

Until the video of my talk becomes available, here is my talk in pictures. If you heard it live, you might be able to decode the way my crazy brain works. These are the only "notes" I looked at during those final hours before I stepped on stage. I was in such a rush the night before that I think I closed the file without saving it. This picture is the actual page I printed and had with me all day.

Update (May 22, 2018): The video is now live, so you can watch the talk and follow along with my visuals if you'd like to get a somewhat creepy glimpse of the inner workings of my brain. :-) "2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly"

How do you memorize important information? Do you normally memorize your speeches word-for-word? What techniques do you use? I'd love to hear your ideas and experiences in the comments!

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Heather Hansen is Director of the corporate training firm, Global Speech Academy. As a Communication Specialist, she travels the world helping global leaders at some of the world's largest multinational companies to speak clearly and confidently in English. Through her keynote talks, workshops, and one-on-one coaching, Heather helps companies boost their profits by reducing misunderstandings and building stronger relationships in international workplaces. She is the author/co-author of 4 books on global English, pronunciation and people skills. This was Heather's first appearance on a #TEDx stage. Her talk titled "How to Speak Bad English Perfectly" focuses on global Englishes, accent, identity, and what we can do as speakers and listeners to enhance global understanding.