M
Technique library

Learn the techniques

Raw drilling only gets you so far — every competitive memory athlete relies on a small set of techniques to turn abstract data into something a brain actually holds onto. Work through the core systems in order; pull the rest in wherever they help.

Core systemsFoundational skillsStep-by-step guidesPalace Builder
Core systems
3
Core systems
Foundational skills
6
Foundational skills
Step-by-step guides
9
Step-by-step guides

Start here

The three core systems

Everything else on this page supports one of these three. Learn them in order — each one builds on the last.

  1. 01Method of LociThe memory palace — attach items to a route through a place you know, then walk it to recall them in order.Read the guide
  2. 02Major SystemTurn digits into consonant sounds, then words — so any number becomes something you can actually picture.Read the guide
  3. 03PAO SystemPerson–Action–Object — compress whole chunks of digits or cards into a single vivid scene.Read the guide

Pull in as needed

Foundational skills

Not a sequence — each one supports the core systems above, so reach for it wherever it's relevant to what you're working on.

VisualizationThe image-building skill every technique above actually depends on.
Linking MethodChain a short list together, image to image, with no palace required.
Peg SystemA fixed set of anchors you memorize once and reuse for random-access recall.
ChunkingWhy grouping information is the idea underneath Major System and PAO both.
Active RecallTesting yourself beats re-reading — and it's what every drill already does.
Spaced RepetitionReview a fixed system like a PAO deck just before you'd forget it.

Discipline by discipline

Step-by-step guides

Every guide walks the full path for one type of material — which techniques to use, in what order, worked all the way through.

How to Memorize NumbersChunking, visualization, the Major System, PAO, and memory palaces — the full path from a phone number to a hundred-digit sequence.
How to Memorize a Deck of CardsCard images, memory palaces, and PAO — the full path from a single card to a full 52-card deck.
How to Remember NamesAttention, association, and a face-anchored image — the complete method, from one introduction to Names & Faces training.
How to Memorize a List of WordsWord images, memory palaces, and linking chains — the full path from a short list to hundreds of words.
How to Memorize DatesTurn years into images, link them to events, and know when a guess pays.
How to Memorize Abstract ImagesGive meaningless shapes a quick meaning and turn each row of five into a story.
How to Memorize Spoken NumbersChunk digits by ear at one per second, and protect the start under sudden-death marking.
How to Memorize Binary NumbersRead 0s and 1s in threes, and turn every six into an image you already have.
How to Train for the Hour EventsPace, journey size, review plans and two hours of recall for Hour Numbers and Hour Cards.

Palace Builder

Build and save your own memory palaces, then use them while training — no need to keep them all in your head.

Open the builder