Memorize Scripts & Lines Quickly (Hollywood Secrets Part 2)

If you haven’t yet listened to Part 1, listen to it here.

2 Rs to Memorizing Word-for-Word (Part 2)

7. Reform

• Reform means to change.
• Your brain thrives on novelty, and your nervous system lights up when it experiences something new.
• As you rehearse, change something about your voice.
• You could change your volume, pitch, tempo, timber, or accent.
• Consider speaking the lines as somebody else  – like Mickey Mouse.
• The more novelty you add to something, the more memorable it becomes.

8. Rise

• Rise and get out of your chair!
• Studies suggest that people who move as they study remember more than people who are stationary.
• Remember: as your body moves, your brain grooves.

9. Recall

• Use recall techniques you’ve learned in Kwik Recall or previous Kwik Brain episodes to remember the lines.
• You can try rhyming, acrostics, visualizations, peg method, the location method, chain linking, and the alphanumeric code.
• You should also make sure you’re taking care of the 10 Keys to Brain Health since they’ll affect your memory.

10. Ration

• When you need to study a lot, break the material down into manageable, bite-sized pieces.
• Take frequent breaks to take advantage of the psychological phenomena of primacy and recency.
• Primacy indicates that you tend to remember what comes at the beginning.
• Recency indicates that you tend to remember what came at the end.
• The more you chunk your material, the more beginnings and endings you’ll have – and the more you’ll remember.

11. Record

• Record yourself rehearsing and listen throughout the day.
• Take advantage of your auditory learning skills and listen as you drive, walk, or exercise.
• The best time to do this is when you’re in a state of relaxed awareness, like when you’re about to go to sleep.

12. Rouse

• R stands for arouse – so trigger something worth remembering.
• Many of our memories are triggered by our external environments.
• In one study, people were submerged underwater with oxygen tanks and asked to memorize a list of words. When tested, these people remembered more of the words if they were tested underwater than if they were tested on land.
• Your environment helps anchor the information in your recall.
• People who study in the environment where they need to perform recall more of the information.
• If you can’t rehearse or study in that environment, bring the environment with you!
• Your strongest sense is the sense of smell, so bring a scent with you.
• Make sure it’s a novel scent and not something you use every day.
• Try gum, chapstick, essential oil, perfume, or a cologne.

BONUS: 13. Relax

• Our biggest obstacle to memory is ourselves because we’re so stressed out.
• Use deep breathing and meditation to achieve optimal brainwave states.
• The alpha state of relaxed awareness is the best state to learn in.
• You can only consciously pay attention to 7 – 9 bits of information at once, but your unconscious mind can pay attention to millions of bits.
• In an alpha state, your conscious mind is set aside and your unconscious mind starts processing.
• Baroque and nature music, deep breathing, and visualization will help you get into an alpha state.
• Rest is also essential because it’s during sleep that we consolidate information from our short-term to long-term memory.

BONUS: 14. Reward

• If you study and are hard on yourself, it doesn’t make it better. Procrastinators who are hard on themselves procrastinate even more.
• Reward yourself when you make progress.
• Reward your practice because practice makes progress.
• Think of something you can reward yourself with externally or internally because practice makes progress.

Which of these Rs resonates with you the most? How will you apply it? Let me know on social media @jimkwik!