Oddbjørn By - Memory Champion and Author

I learnt about Oddbjørn By from Florian Dellé's Memory Sports web site.  Oddbjørn is from Norway and has been a World Memory champion. He published a book titled Memo which describes his various techniques and how these memory methods can be used in everyday life.

To give you an idea of the scope of the book, here is a condensed table of contents:

• How your memory works
• Numerical systems - single, double and triple digits
• Tips for memorising effectively
• Memo for general knowledge and in school - speed reading, history, dates, languages, geography, first aid, maths
• Memo everyday - appointments, weekly agendas, birthdays, anniversaries, speeches, jokes, job interviews and parking the car
• Names and Face
• Memory tricks and competitions
• Other memory methods - story method, link method, acronyms, mnemonic devices
• Myths about memory
• Profiles and World Records
  

The Memo method of remembering weekly schedules is to use a journey of seven steps, maybe rooms in the house. Convert the time into a key image using the number system of your choice and associate this with the room and the subject of your appointment. 

This book has some practical techniques which can be applied to many aspects of your life. I have already learnt a few number systems so I won't be learning more. However I am going to memorise more journeys for memorising birthdays, my schedule and a general 'to do' journey.

1. Read an interview at Memory Sports
2. Visit the website of Oddbjørn By where you can watch videos, order books and learn more.

How to develop a Super Power Memory (book review)

How to Develop a Super Power Memory is one of many excellent books by the great memory practictioner, Harry Lorayne. I own three books by Lorayne but I borrowed this book from the library.

Lorayne has demonstrated his methods as a memory entertainer especially his skills in remembering names. This book covers a broad range of memory skills with lots of exercises and practical examples.

He starts by highlighting the importance of observation and says:
"There is no such thing as a bad memory. There are only trained or untrained memories."


Lorayne describes the Link method, Peg system using the Major system, Alphabet Peg system, remembering speeches, articles and anecdotes, playing cards, dates, long numbers, foreign vocabulary and names and faces.

This is a good introduction to many memory systems and is particularly helpful in demonstrating systems for remembering names.