Earlier, we talked about the Link
and Story systems for remembering lists of items. Our example list was pretty silly (clown, banana, giraffe, and moon) so you may be asking yourself what practical uses you can apply these techniques to in your daily life. Good question!

These systems can be used in nearly any situation where you need to remember a list. Two popular examples are shopping lists or errands. Waiters can use it to remember the orders for their tables. Students can use it to learn vocabulary words or facts for a quiz. You could remember the state capitals or names of the presidents.

Sometimes the items you want to remember may be difficult to visualize or work into a story. In these situations, you can use a substitute word that sounds similar or has a relationship to the item that you are trying to remember. The idea is to pick a word that is easy to visualize. For example, if you are trying to memorize the U.S. state capitals, you might use "Tapioca" as a replacement word for Topeka, the capital of Kansas. Or if you are trying to remember the errand of picking up your laundry, you might visualize a shirt with a stain on it.

You can even use these systems to remember a speech or lecture. Just pick a concrete word for each section of the speech and link them all together. Now you'll be able to recall the entire speech without notes.