A MUTT ON SKIS

CHRISTIANE STENGER, 24, IS A MULTIPLE WORLD CHAMPION IN MEMORY SPORTS. IN HER SEMINARS SHE SHOWS HOW ANYONE CAN TRAIN THEIR BRAIN.

Ms. Stenger, what does one have to do to become a world memory champion?
In memory contests it’s a matter of remembering as many things as possible in a given time. There are various disciplines: learning numerals, words, fictional historical dates or playing cards. The current world record in the playing card sprint with 52 cards stands at 21.7 seconds.

That’s impressive.
Yes, it’s hard enough to turn them over that fast! It’s a really serious sport among adults. There are professionals in China who just sit in a room all day and train.

You don’t give the impression of someone who just sits in a room all day.
Well, it doesn’t matter to me whether I can remember three thousand or five thousand binary numbers. I prefer teaching other people the techniques. To me that’s more worthwhile.

So how do you remember complicated things?
It’s quite simple: you turn them into funny stories.

Let’s look at this statistical formula here below:

We need a simple image for every letter. Visual images are easier to remember than abstract concepts. For “M,” for example, I imagine a mutt. Not a mouse, because it’s a capital “M.” A fat little mutt. And the mutt is on skis, that’s the “equals” sign. So we’ve got a mutt on skis heading towards a Ferris wheel, that’s the “x.” The Ferris wheel has only one passenger car that’s stuck at the top. Underneath the Ferris wheel is a mouse that has wrapped itself up in a blanket. Then comes a clown—plus always means something is coming. The clown has got another mouse that he’s holding up in his hand, the way a waiter holds a tray. He does a magic trick and juggles three pine trees. The pine tree at the top has a present hanging on it. And the two lower ones, they love one another— another image for plus. One has one present and one has two. Now if we take away the formula, I’m sure you can repeat the story.

You’re right, it works!
The important thing is to always think of the images that accompany the story. What’s the dog’s coat like, what mood is he in, what kind of skis is he wearing? The better you can imagine this, the longer you will retain the story, especially if the images are funny or crazy.

Why is it so much easier to remember using the story method?
Because of the images, for one thing. But also because you have to consciously think about something. For that reason alone, you think about the material and connect it in different ways. Our brains learn most when we find things interesting.

I think I would find it difficult to come up with all these stories. You seem to find it easy. But then you’ve got an IQ of 145.
No doubt it helps to be gifted. But you don’t have to be a genius to remember for example a hundred-digit number. With mnemotechnics, anyone can improve their memory. That’s what’s so great about it! You practice imagination, creativity, spontaneity and concentration— and learning is more fun.

You can remember 624 cards in order. That sounds like a long story.
No, it works by another technique: the routing method. You determine a route with set points, for example from the door to the chair, to the chest of drawers, to the mirror. For the playing cards, you have images in your head that you then connect with the points on the route. So when the jack of diamonds comes up—I think of that as Michael Schumacher— and then the two of diamonds—that’s a canoe—I imagine Michael Schumacher at the door, then a canoe on the chair. And so on.

One rarely has to remember a sequence of cards.
But you do have to remember shopping lists. The routing method has the advantage that it’s not so easy to mistake the sequence or forget some elements. It’s also a useful way of learning a presentation. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it to speak ad lib.

When was the last time you really forgot something?
I often forget things. That’s why I always have a day planner. I’m sure I could remember my appointments, but I’m just too lazy. And if I were to lose my mobile phone with all the stored numbers, I would be in deep trouble.

I would have thought that you would apply your techniques in everyday life.
Certainly. I use them in my seminars so I can remember the names of the 50 or 60 participants sitting in front of me. As a memory trainer, it would not make a very good impression if I forgot half of them. The really nice thing, though, is that at the end of the seminar all of the participants are able to remember all of the names.

At school you had a few very poor grades, and there was some doubt as to whether you would be promoted. How did that come about?
Early on I skipped a grade, but I never did any work—as I said, I’m lazy. In my case, it didn’t help that I knew I was gifted. I just wanted to be normal. I would rather have been really bad in math than always being called “the clever one.”

How do you explain the fact that many children of above-average intelligence have problems in school?
Some love school. Others are bored, start doing other things and stop paying attention. It’s not the case that as a gifted child everything comes naturally to you. You may get the point a little faster, but you still have to learn it. This much applies to all children: if they don’t enjoy learning and aren’t shown how to learn properly, they simply become frustrated. It has a lot to do with how much support children get.

You’ve written a book about memory techniques for children. Do children find these techniques easier than adults?
Yes. When I train with children, each wants to talk about their images and ideas. Whereas with adults, it’s hard sometimes even to tease out an unusual image. Nevertheless, in principle adults can do just as well. Provided they allow themselves to.

Interview: Felix Schnegg, Illustration: Sebastian Iwohn
Bilfinger Berger Magazin 1/2012