588b1c58c8a68278cfc285551
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Brett and Kate McKay<br />
3. A more interesting personality. I’ve always been impressed by that<br />
very rare man who can weave a snippet of a great speech or poem into a<br />
conversation. Being able to throw some inspiration from Wordsworth<br />
or a bit of wit from Twain into your conversations can definitely distinguish<br />
you as a gentleman of letters. The trick is to be discriminating<br />
when you start reciting stuff. If you do it too much or at the wrong<br />
times, you’ll just make yourself look like a pompous ass.<br />
4. A strengthened backbone. The most important benefit of memorizing<br />
passages from great works is that you’ll be storing up a treasure trove<br />
of wisdom and knowledge that you can immediately access when you<br />
need extra motivation to man up. Feeling a little nervous while you’re<br />
waiting in the lobby for a job interview? Recite Theodore Roosevelt’s<br />
“Man in the Arena” to yourself. Perhaps you’ve been put in a leadership<br />
position and need to get psyched up to lead your group to success.<br />
Mull over the words to the “St. Crispen’s Day” speech. There’s<br />
probably a poem or a great speech that can be used to motivate you<br />
for any facet of your life.<br />
Tips on Memorizing<br />
When I was in law school, I often had to memorize 40 pages of a class<br />
outline. So I was always looking for new ways to improve my ability<br />
to memorize.<br />
I’m a big fan of the peg system, the link system, and mindmaps.<br />
Unfortunately, I found these techniques useless for memorizing 40 page<br />
law school outlines filled with abstract legal doctrine. So I came up with<br />
my own system, which I call “brute force memorization.” It ain’t pretty or<br />
efficient, but it gets the job done.<br />
The Brute Force Memorization Process<br />
While reading the sentence I want to memorize aloud, I’ll type it into my<br />
computer. I repeat this process five times with each line of data I want to<br />
65