I heard about this Remember song on the radio this morning.

It is hilarious and if you think you have a memory problem then watch this.

If it rings more than a little true with you, then perhaps you need a copy of my memory book.

Enjoy.

Last year my latest book on Memory Improvement Techniques was published by Duncan Baird Publishers in the both the UK and US.

I was very pleased with it because I felt it was not only extremely informative but also very practical.

Many memory improvement books can alienate the reader quite easily because some strategies for improving the ability to remember and recall are quite complex to describe in the written form.

They are very easy to describe verbally but to put the description into words is quite a challenge.

So even if I do say so myself, this is a good book on how to improve your memory.

But don't take my word for it.

Just recently a very satisfied reader who purchased the book from a bookstore (i.e. not from me) took the time and trouble to let me know what they thought of the book.

Here is what they had to say:

Dear Mr. Tipper

I just want to compliment you on your exceptional book "Memory Power-Up".

I took a memory course years ago, and it was promising, but I lost the training due to disuse.  Now I am in the process of trying to attain a trained memory.  I have several very good books in addition to yours. All the information necessary is already available in other books. 

However, yours is the only one that is like having a personal coach between two paperback covers.  "Memory Power- Up" stands out enormously in the way it deals with all the mental blocks and other obstacles a learner is likely to run into.

Congratulations, and thanks again.

Jay Maupin

So if you would like your very own copy of this book Click here to get your copy for just £4.99 +P&P

In a previous post I mentioned the key points to remembering names when I rang up a call centre and I gave you a quick process to show you how to remember names so you don't forget them during your call.

Well quite recently the issue pf learning names came up again when I was working with a group of Dental Trainers and so I made this short video to explain a very simple process anyone one can use.

I call it my "How To Remember People's Names Video" for some strange reason…just click the screen to play this short video

Remembering people's names is probably the biggest complaint I hear not only when I am working with people in a professional capacity, but also in day to day conversation with people who have no idea what I do for a living.

I am sure you can probably remember a time when you have met someone for the very first time and then literally seconds later you have absolutely no idea what their name is.

This is such a common problem and the reason is quite straightforward (and it is not because we have a poor memory).

You will also be pleased to know that the solution is quite simple too.

The #1 Reason Why You Forget People's Names Is…

When people are faced with an introduction to someone they have never met before, much of the inner self talk and focus of attention is on making a good impression, giving the right sort of handshake, remembering to smile, making good eye contact and eventually saying our name.

So we are thinking about these things:

• Making a good impression
• Giving a good handshake
• Smiling
• Eye contact
• Saying our name clearly

With so much going on we have little time to think of anything else and it is during that flurry of internal activity that the person we are meeting says their own name.

Whilst we might register that something has been said, we probably even recognise it as a name, it pretty much goes in one ear and comes right out the other.

This is because our own attention is elsewhere and we never really latch onto the name as it is spoken.

So the #1 reason for not being able to recall someone's name immediately after we have met them is that we never got the name in the first place.

This is the main reason why people have such difficulty remembering names.

The Solution Is Very Simple - Here is How to Remember People's Names

Step 1 - Get Ready

The first thing you should do is make sure you are ready for the introduction.

Have your ears open ready to listen and your eyes open ready to see.

Make sure you also mentally prepare yourself for the introduction and get in that "Meeting People and Remembering Their Names" state

Step 2 - Set the Pace

When it comes to the actual introduction, set the pace by saying your name slowly and clearly.

Saying it twice will give your new acquaintance time to register it and saying it slowly and clearly will give them something to follow in the way they say your name.

So not only are you giving this person a better opportunity to get your name (and therefore are more likely to remember it), but you are also setting yourself up for similar success when they follow your example.

To say it twice without sounding like a moron, I always introduce myself as "Michael…..Michael Tipper" with a good pause so they clearly register it.

I can't tell you the number of times I have been complimented on my introduction style.

Step 3 - Listen Intently For Their Name

Then once you have said your name, LISTEN out for theirs.

It is crucial you do this and make a conscious effort to do so because it is at this point that the battle to get people's names (and remember them) is either won or lost.

Step 4 - Repeat The Name Back to Them

As soon as you have heard the name, repeat it back to them out loud "Joseph, it is very nice to meet you" or something similar that you feel comfortable with.

By doing this, you now have a conscious connection with the name, you have used it and it is now part of you (instead of having flown off with the fairies never to be heard, or remembered, again).

Just doing this will dramatically increase the probability of you being able to remember someones name.

Step 5 - Talk About the Name in Some Way

Something you might want to do to reinforce the name even deeper into your working memory is to perhaps discuss it in some way.

Checking the pronunciation is a great thing to do if it is an unusual name to you for example from a different culture or country.

By doing this you are showing interest in the person via their name and adding another layer of exposure to it that will help you remember it.

Sometimes I ask about the spelling as that helps me if I can see it written down (albeit in my mind).

Step 6 - Use The Name Frequently

Then as soon as you can and as often as you can (without sounding like a stalker!) use their name in the conversation:

"I am sure you know what I mean David"

"Angela - how do you feel about that"

"Chris - can you pass me the peanuts please"

and so on…

Not only will this reinforce their name even further into your memory, but by using it you are showing you have taken an interest in them.

People also endow you with almost superhuman qualities if they see you confindently meet several people at once and then use their names.

When I run courses with smaller groups (25 or less) I like to do the same thing and many are impressed by a feat they could do themselves if they knew how.

Step 7 - Review the Names

This last step is something you can do in quieter moments during the encounter to remind yourself of who is who and give yourself yet another opportunity to reinforce it for later recall.

I have used this process many times to great effect and find that it works perfectly with groups of about 5-7 people met at once.

For larger groups you just need to control the introductions so you only ever meet 5 or so people at once and then give yourself a bit of breathing space between groups to reinforce and remind yourself of their names.

It requires a little more effort but the results are worth it and I strongly recommend it if you want to remember names for longer.

Try it out and leave me a comment below to let me know how you got on.

I have lost count how many times I have been interviewed about memory improvement techniques but it is always a pleasure to share what I have learned and taught thousands of others about how to improve memory.

This week I was again interviewed by the BBC about topics relating to our ability to remember and recall information (or not as the case may be).

This short video gives you some pointers on why our memory appears to get worse and what we can do about it.

Below the video you will also find a link to listen to the full interview with Lee Sloane on BBC Radio Wiltshire.

To hear the full interview with Lee Sloane that covered a variety of memory related topics, just click this link - Memory Improvement Techniques  

Here's Why Many People Think They Have Memory Problems

There are many factors that contribute to an apparent decline in the performance of our memory and most of them are within our control.

Here are just some of the more common ones:

• Concentration - this is the most common cause of supposed memory "failure" - we come home, absentmindedly put our keys down (whilst thinking of our hectic day) and then blame our memory when we fail to consciously recall where they are.  It isn't that we have forgotten, it is that we don't have conscious access to that memory because our conscious mind was not involved in the process.

• We don't use our memory as much as we once used to (for example when we were at school when it was tested and stimulated pretty much every day).  So just like a muscle, if you don't use it and exercise it, your memory will get "flabby"

• Our physical fitness affects our brain's performance (including memory) because the fitter we are, the more aerobically fit we are and therefore the more oxygen gets to our brain.  Starve the brain of oxygen and you die, reduce the amount it gets and it does not work as well as it could. 

• Certain lifestyle choices we make about our diet, alcohol consumption, whether we smoke or not and any exposure to recreational drugs will all impact our memory and in fact all mental performance. 

• Stress is another factor that will have a significant impact on the clarity of mental thought and the performance of your memory - if you have ever been stressed, then you know what it is like to try and wade through "mental treacle" if you think too much in that state.

 Now all of the above factors are to a greater or lesser degree under our control by the choices we make.

Stress might be more of a challenge than the others because of the psychological impact it has but if you get the others right (diet, exercise etc) then you are less likely to suffer from stress or at least you will be more resistant (if you are suffering from any form of stress then it is always good advice to seek qualified medical advice)

The 3 Fundamental Levels of Memory Improvement

If you take control of the factors listed above you are more likely to see a reduction in any decline and over time may actually see an improvement but quicker and more significant gains in memory improvement can be made if you take action on these three levels.

1.  Psychological

The biggest challenge I see when it comes to people moaning about how bad their memory is working is that they have developed a belief it is poor and often are quick to tell you just how bad it is.

The constant repetition of statements like "I have a poor memory", "I always forget people's names the moment I meet them" and so on sets up a pattern in the brain.

First of all comes the habit of saying those things….then comes the belief that those statements are true….then we develop an identity to support that belief…..then we start acting in accordance with the identity we have created.

This downward cycle often begins because of a few cases of "losing" keys (see the concentration point above to understand why it is not necessarily a memory problem).

Fortunately this same cycle can work in our favour too if we inject positive statements at the start about how great our memory is….we start believing it….we develop the identity of someone with a great memory…and so we start taking the actions consistent with being someone with a great memory and bingo! our memory improves.

This might sound a little fanciful if you have not encountered this sort of idea before but believe me it works.

2.   Practical

I can remember being interviewed on Sky News a few years ago when the UK introduced the chip and pin cards and was asked about memory techniques to help people remember their pin.

The first answer I gave was to write it down (but obviously not in a way that others would be able to recognise it as a PIN number).

We forget that there are some very practical things we can do to ensure we don't forget things - writing it down is one of them.  Using our cell phones to store information is another. 

Using our PC to remind us of future tasks is also a very easy thing o do.

One of my favourite ways of reminding ourselves to do something in the morning is to move an object in our house so it is out of its usual place (can be something as simple as moving a rug on the floor to a new position).

When you see this thing out of place it will then remind you of when you moved it the night before and whatever prompted you to do that will come back to mind.

3.  Specific Memory Techniques

And then we get on to the vast range of memory techniques that you will find on sites like this one and in books and courses all over the place.

I won't go into detail here but by vividly using your imagination, creating powerful associations and using simple strategies to organise those images, you can remember amazing amounts of facts and "stuff".

The application of these techniques for improved memory range from the practical (remembering phone numbers) to the downright ridiculous but impressive (being able to memorise and recall pi to thousands of places for example)

The First Thing You Must Do If You Want To Improve Your Memory

So having read this and watched the video above if you still are interested in improving your memory then there is one thing you must absolutely do right at the very beginning:

You must get absolutely clear on what it is you want to remember better/more of and why that is important to you.

If you are a normal human being you won't have the time or mental abilities to remember absolutely everything in your life and be able to recall it at will.

However you can take practical and effective steps towards a realistic goal if you know exactly what that goal is, can break it down into manageable stages and find the right technique to help you.

But it all starts with getting that clarity (one of my favourite words)

So if you want to improve your memory and you want some guidance on what memory techniques to use, start by defining your outcome.

When you have done that, drop me a comment below so I can see the sorts of things you want to be able to remember.

I was reflecting on my post from last week about how to remember stuff when you are learning a musical instrument when I suddenly remembered one of the oldest mnemonics I have encountered.

I can recall as a 6 year old having piano lessons in this old house that seemed millions of miles away from where I lived.

In reality it was only a short drive away from home but at that age the bottom of the garden seemed a long way away, especially when my mum was nagging at me to go and pick up my toys.

My piano teacher was a lovely old lady who used to wind a knob on the side of the piano stool to make it go higher so I could reach the keys.

She taught me lots of things about how to press the white notes in a particular order to make something remotely musical that had the words "Ducks" and "Rain" in the title.

It wasn't Rock and Roll but even Jerry Lee Lewis had to start somewhere.

Then one day she introduced me to this funny sheet of paper with lots of black spots and with sticks coming out of them.

All of a sudden music seemed to get very difficult and not much fun at all (at least that is what my 6 year old brain thought anyway!).

I was now learning to read music.

Fortunately my teacher was an expert at helping youngsters like me deal with challenges like this and she introduced me to my first ever mnemonic - a clever way to remember the names of the notes.

If you look at the treble clef in a piece of music (the top set of lines) there are notes that sit in the spaces between the lines and there are notes that sit on the lines themselves.

Each has a name conveniently named after letters of the alphabet (which was very useful for a 6 year old who loved to read) but the trouble is very little music is written A B C D E F G - they muck the letters (notes) around a bit.

So a way of remembering what notes are where was needed and my teacher had the easiest way to remember.

The notes in the spaces are the easiest because from the bottom space up they are named F A C E.

The notes on the lines are a little harder as they are (again from the bottom up) E G B D F.

Unfortunatey they don't conveniently spell out an easy to remember word but if you say:

"Every Good Boy Deserves Food"

..and give a 6 year old boy a chocolate biscuit when he gets them right, you have a sure fire way of remembering the names of the notes.

This mnemonic is as old as the hills and if you started to learn a musical instrument at a young age then you probably know this one or have your own version of it.

Let me know in the comments section below if you have a different sentence using the letters E G B D F and we will see how many different variations we can gather.

I have been thinking about my last post about memory techniques for playing the piano and wondered if you have any suggestions for helping someone play not only the piano, but any musical instrument.

Some of the advice I have either been given or read about includes things like learning a new piece backwards.

Now that isn't so you can play it backwards (in case you weren't sure), it is about learning the last four bars first…then do the four bars before that and so on.

I have tried that when learning some new guitar lick and it does work really well.

Another tip I have been given is to practice my instrument in my imagination.

This seems to benefit me as well and it is an excellent excuse to get the air guitar out, make strange faces at the peak of the solo and try and do somersaults into the audience….er ahem….sofa.

I am not quite sure that is what they meant.

Anyway I digress.

There must be hundreds of tips and ideas and techniques out there for specifically helping someone learn a musical instrument.

Do you know any?

If you do why not let me know in the comments section below.

There will be a prize for the most creative suggestion.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

I get lots of questions from people all around the world about all aspects of memory and today I had this question from someone who has been reading my book on Memory Improvement Techniques "Memory Power Up".

Here is what they had to say:

I have been studying your book 'Memory Power-up' in effort to help me learn to play the piano. My problem is that I can't remember what the notes are, or where they are or my hands are on the keyboard.

The usual recall techniques, as in your book, do not help, as recall has to be intuitive.

One just has to know where to go without conscious thought. Are there any books or courses that might help with this specific problem?

I would be most grateful for your advice

Now as a musician myself (learning to play the guitar) I can understand the challenge but I also had a few piano lessons when I was very young so I can really relate to this situation.

The first thing we need to get clear here is exactly what are we trying to achieve?

As it is written, the question implies this person can't remember what note is where and how to get to it when their hands are on the keyboard.

I would imagine though that the problem is more complicated than that and this person can't find the right note at the right time whilst playing a piece.

Another thing that is not clear is whether this person is trying to play whilst reading the music or whether they are simply just trying to name the notes.

So there are a lot of unknowns here that make giving a good solution to this person's individual challenge somewhat difficult therefore I am going to have to be a little bit generic in my answer and hope that when they read this there will be something of value for them.

So let's start with the basics and see if we can use some fundamental memory principles to help us remember where the notes are.

Let's start by looking at part of a piano keyboard:

A piano keyboard consists of white notes and black notes as shown above. 

Between every black note there is a white note though in some cases there are 2 white notes which if you look at a keyboard will give you a black note grouping pattern of two black notes, three black notes, two black notes, three black notes etc.

These black notes are the sharps and flats but lets leave them to one side for a second and look at the white notes.

Finding the White Notes on a Keyboard

The white notes are the A, B, C, D, E, F, G of the musical scale so as you look at the white notes they repeat this pattern along the full length of the keyboard.

So straight away as most of us know our alphabet there is something we can immediately relate to - there are seven notes and they have the same names as the first seven letters of the alphabet.

This principle of association - link to something we already know is one of the basic principles of memory.

So if we can work out a starting point on the keyboard, and know where A is, all we have to do is simply recite the alphabet up to G as we work our way along the notes and there we have it, we now know the names of the white notes and where they are.

If we start considering this from a musical perspective, the first note we usually learn is the Middle C and this is easy to locate because it is just to the left of each two note black grouping.

So that is the white notes done.

In the beginning while we are getting used to the instrument we may fumble a little and get a few notes wrong but what we always have is a way of being able to find a G or an F knowing the alphabet rule and a starting point like knowing where the C note is.

At this early stage this process acts as a crutch to the memory - we have to rely on the technique to help us recall the notes.

However with practice we will start to notice where the G is or where the B is and pretty soon when our teacher tells us to play an A, we can go straight to it because we "just know" where it is.

That comes with time and practice and eventually we get to the stage where we can hardly remember the time when we did not know it.

Mmmmm Learning the Scary Black Notes

Then after a while as we start to include the scary black notes (at least I was always scared of them) we start to realise that the black note immediately to the left of a B is a B flat and that the black note immediately to the right of the A is an A sharp.

The confusing thing is when we discover that B flat and A sharp are the same note - that's when it gets difficult.

However this is not about music theory and we will leave that there but with this approach we now have a way of being able to name every note.

I suspect though that this is not the challenge this person is facing when they are sat at the old ivories.

I would imagine they are struggling to find the notes as they play whilst reading music.

This is always a challenging thing to do in the beginning, but one that anyone with a little patience and perserverence can learn.

Muscle Memory and Learning The Piano

It relies on having your hands in the right place, knowledge of the keyboard (which we covered above) and what is known as muscle memory.

Just like a skilled typist knows exactly where each letter is on the keyboard of their computer without looking, a skilled pianist will know where each note is without looking.

This is because the muscles in the arms and hands have done the task of finding a particular note at a particular time so often that eventually the person does not even have to think about it.

The key here is regular practice.

Without going into too much detail there are different levels of learning that range from not even knowing we don't know (unconscious incompetence) through to knowing it so well we don't even have to think about it (unconscious competence).

Over time and with regular practice, a positive attitude and a willingness to make mistakes you can transit the various stages from complete beginner to skilled practitioner.

Slow it Right Down

Bringing this back to a musical context, one thing that I have found extremely useful was a piece of advice I picked up from an excellent guitar magazine I subscribe to.

They say that when you practice, do so at the slowest speed you need to play at in order to get it right.

Then when you can do it at that speed, turn your metronome up a setting ad get it right at that speed.

Over time doing it this way can not only really help you get great technique, but also remember what it is you are trying to play.

In helping this person, I would say take the piece that is causing you problems, play it VERY slowly to start with and keep going slower until you get it note perfect - even if you have to take a few seconds between notes to find the next one.

Then slowly speed up.

In time you will master it and the more you do this the easier it will become and the better you will be at remembering where to put your fingers.

Unfortunately there is no short cut, it is just practice.

One final tip you might want to consider is practice playing in your imagination when you are away from the instrument and see what happens.

Let me know how this works for you or if you know of any other suggestions, do let me know by adding a comment below.

I have been interested in the Martial Arts for as long as I can remember.

When I was at university, I practiced Karate and then when work forced me to moved away from my Dojo in Plymouth I took up Tai Chi (which I still practice to this day).

Then after being in the martial arts wilderness for a few years I fulfilled a life long ambition and started studying the art of Aikido 4 years ago with the Swindon KSMBDA Club.

Not only is Aikido a very powerful defensive art, it is also a fabulous mind and body development process that has significant benefits on many different physical, mental (and even spiritual) levels.

It is an evolving art and one where you are constantly learning as your skill and levels of understanding deepen

After 4 years of training I now find myself preparing for my Black Belt.

As you can probably imagine to get to the 1st Dan (Black Belt) level in any martial art not only requires years of dedicated training and practice, but these rights of passage to wear the coveted Black Belt culminate in an arduous and gruelling grading.

The Black Belt Grading (for the KSMBDA Association) takes place once a year at the dojo of Sensei Kolesnikov in Oldham.

Over several hours you are tested on the power of your Ki, your ability in each of the moves, your skill with the bokkan (sword) and the ability to deal with a repeated 4 man attack.

It is a very demanding process and as you would expect I am training very hard to get into shape and to develop my skill to the required standard just to be invited to grade.

One of the challenges we face is being able to remember the moves from their Japanese name.

Sensei Kolesnikov who takes the grading will call out a move and immediately you are attacked by a black belt and you have to respond with the correct defence instinctively - this is repeated for as many as 35 different moves in random order.

The only guaranteed order in this process is that the last 3 sequences are what are called "The 5 Arts" which essentially are the same attack but dealt with in 5 different ways.

They are called the Yokomenuchi 5 Arts, The Ushirotekubitori 5 Arts and the Katatetori 5 Arts and they are done in that order.

Whilst training at the dojo the other night, one of the Black Belts helping me said that the easy way to remember the order is YUK (first letter of each name) because by the time you get to that stage of the grading you will feel Yuck! (Meaning you will be worn out)

This is a classic case of an in situ mnemonic that is so simple and so relevant and of course so easy to remember.

The strategy it uses is that it takes the first letter of the things we want to remember and then place them in a more memorable word in the same order.

Just like SPA for the Philosophers (see my last post) here we have YUK:

Yokomenuchi 5 Arts
Ushirotekubitori 5 Arts
Katatetori 5 Arts

 The relevance of this new word to the situation that we will need it is also an added bonus - by the time I get to this stage of my grading, I really will feel Yuck!

Of course this sort of mnemonic relies on you knowing the names of the 5 arts in the first place and then use of the memory device is about helping to remember the order.

It is a very simple process but it works and you will find probably hundreds of examples, some of which I will share with you in future posts.

So if you have a mnemonic like this that you use, tell me about it in the comments below.

I don't know about you but I am not really an expert on philosophy.

Much of it is above my head and whilst I like a good old ponder on the wonders of the world we live in and the people who inhabit this planet, I really don't understand it.

Now that does not mean to say I don't value or appreciate it, it is just that it is not my cup of tea - certainly not at a deep level.

However we have had some marvellous philosophers over the years and their contribution to society should never be under estimated.

The ones I can reel off without really thinking about it are Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato.

They are the ones that spring to mind straightaway for me anyway.

I don't really know much about the other than one drank hemlock (not really clever if you ask me),  one taught Alexander the Great and the other smudged his name on the form when they were trying to decide what to call the 9th planet.

However the one thing I do know, and which is quite important if you are tracing the evolution of philosophical thought is who influenced who.

Of course us learned folk in the philosophical circles I mix in know full well that Socrates influenced Plato who influenced Aristotle.

How do I know that?

Well you already must have realised that I am no student of this great subject so how do I know?

Well first of all someone told me which is how I get quite a bit of my knowledge and understanding (have found that the source in the bar though is not as reliable as the librarian!).

But how do I remember it and continue to recall it so well to this day?

Well the answer is simple - I just remember this word:

SPA

These are of course the philosphers initial organised in the order of who taught who.

So if I am ever in a pub quiz and that question comes up - 10 points are mine for the taking.

Ok it is a very simple one but very effective nonetheless.

Have you got any similar mnemonics you would like to share with me?

If you have just pop them in a comment below and I will share them with the rest of my loyal readers.

Let me take you back in time just a few wee centuries and share with you what very little I know about Greek Mythology.

Zeus was king of the Gods at that time (must have had a good election campaign that year) and he had a little intern called Mnemosyne.

Now Mnemosyne is the personification of memory in Greek mythology or as we would say on our side of the river - the goddess of memory.

Zeus and Mnemosyne had a little thing going one night, well for nine nights actually, and created the nine muses.

What is a Muse I hear you muse?

Well, in mythological terms (and according to good old Wikipedia a muse was one of the nine spirits (or goddesses) who who embodied the arts and inspired the creation process.

So it was felt in those mythological times that memory (through the goddess Mnemosyne) was the mother of creativity.

And this is where the term "mnemonic" comes from and one that has had poor old dyslexics pulling their hair out in spelling tests for years.

So what is a "mnemonic"?

Well quite simply it is "an aid to memory" or a "device to aidl recall".

Technically speaking when you want to remember something and you write it down, that piece of paper becomes your "mnemonic" in that instance.

Of course if you had written it down on a giraffe then that would also become your "mnemonic".

But if you had to remember that you had to buy a giraffe and you wrote that down on a giraffe then we get into all sorts of circular logic and highly improbably scenarios so I shall cease that train of thought…

Back to something more sensible now…

So a mnemonic is an aid to memory and whilst I dipped into the technicalities of the term, it is usually a reference to a mental device constructed to help in the recall of one or more facts.

In principle devices like Mind Mapping and some of the more structured memory techniques like the journey system are also mnemonics but specifically we are looking at something on a much smaller scale.

There are some very famous mnemonics such as:

Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain

The first letter of each word helping recall the colours of the rainbow.

This of course works on the premise that you know the colours of the rainbow in the first place but just need a little bit of help remembering the order.

And that is the beauty of these things called mnmeonics - they help you organise, sort and recall what you already know and simply trigger what is already there.

Another very popular set of information that has hundreds of different mnemonic variations is that of the order of the 9 planets from the Sun (yes I know Pluto has been downgraded and is not technically a planet, but have a heart and let him down gently).

Here is just one version of it:

My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets

This of course helps you remember the order of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Over the coming weeks and months I shall be publishing some of the mnemonics I have collected over the years and will be sharing with you many of the ones sent to me by my readers from all over the world.

So if you have got a mnemonic that you are particularly fond of and think would help others, then do send it in to me or share it with us in the comments section below.