Visualization

“Your ability to visualize what you read and hear enhances recall and learning” – Tolu Alao

Imagine you are in the kitchen. You take a fresh lemon from the fruit bowl. It is cool in your hand. The yellow dimpled skin feels smooth and waxy. It comes to a small green conical point at either end. The lemon is firm and quite heavy for its size as you look at it in the palm of your hand. 



You raise the lemon to your nose. It gives off such a characteristic, unmistakable citrus smell doesn't it? You take a sharp knife and cut the lemon in half. The two halves fall apart, the white pulpy outer skin contrasting with the drops of pale lemon coloured juice that gently ooze out. 

The lemon smell is now slightly stronger. Now you bite deeply into the lemon and let the juice swirl around your mouth. That sharp sour lemon flavour is unmistakable. Stop a minute! Is your mouth watering? Did your mouth pull together? 

If it is, you have achieved visualization, because you imagined the feel, sight, smell and taste of the lemon. You have used your imagination well. The implications are fascinating, because of course, nothing actually happened - except in your imagination! 

Yet your mind communicated directly to your salivary glands and told them to wash away the sour taste. The words you read were not reality - but they created reality - your flow of saliva.

As a matter of fact, your subconscious mind cannot differentiate between what is real and what it believes is real. Yet it directly controls your actions in a very tangible way.*

Your ability to create images, sounds and taste in your mind makes it possible to stir emotions and once emotions are stirred, they can be linked to what is to be learnt. 

That’s why we learn best from teachers who are emotional, enthusiastic, passionate or excited about what they teach; we remember their gestures, smiles, accent, and body movements, consequently we remember what was said easily and naturally. 

I believe therefore, that if we can stimulate these ‘visualizations’ anytime we learn, learning will be fun, easy and natural. Visual links between two ideas form the basis of good memory.

Von Restorff discovered something upon which professional memory men rely heavily. If you want to remember something, ensure it is outstanding in some way - colourful, bizarre and funny.

A bright red flower on a black dress is memorable, a subtle floral print dress may be pretty, but it is not memorable. 

Outstanding elements have been measured to increase our arousal level and our attention - and you will always remember something better if it is presented in a way that either focuses increased attention, or is arousing to one or other of your senses or emotions.

Make up your mind today to always create mental images of what you hear and read and you will be astonished how you remember stuffs. 

Don’t forget: VISUALIZE what you want to INTERNALIZE!!!