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130 Power Up Your Mind

difficult meetings, when I rehearse different answers to possible
reactions
speeches or presentations, when I concentrate on the first few min-
utes of my talk and picture the audience in front of me, imagining
different possible reactions
any written assignment, when I imagine the story of my argument
and then often scribble it down as a flowchart or mind map.

The second approach involves taking the idea of talking yourself
through the experience one stage further. You put your memory to
the test by teaching what you have learned to someone else.
Anyone who has tried to do this knows that it is a very effective
measure of how much you have retained yourself. Not only is this
a good method of reinforcing your memory, it also sends out very
positive signals about you as a manager and coach, taking time to
value and share what you have learned. Obviously, this idea extends
way beyond learning new computer skills.

MAKING REGULAR DEPOSITS IN YOUR MEMORY BANK

Whether you remember something depends not only on the power
of the initial experience, but also on how you review what you have
learned. A good rule of thumb is to try to remind yourself of impor-
tant things that you want to remember:

an hour later
a day later
a week later
a month later
three months later.

It may be that you only spend five or ten minutes reviewing what
you learned, perhaps using your notes or some kind of visual aid to
help you. But, if you do this you will be able to improve your recall
by at least a factor of four.
It is helpful to think of your memory as a bank that has lent
you money for a significant purchase like a house or a car and