Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Our next guest is a memory expert. He is the two time USA memory champion. He is considered

  • one at the top memory experts in the world. He can memorize a shuffled deck of cards in

  • one minute 27 seconds and he can memorize 200 names of new people in 15Êminutes. It

  • is my pleasure to introduce to you Ron White. Alright. Thank you very much. That was a good

  • introduction from memory, wasn't it? My name is Ron White and I am excited to be here and

  • I am happy to be here. Let me ask this question. How many of you in this room think that you

  • have a bad memory? You think she got a bad memory. Oh! No. You do not have a bad memory.

  • Your memories are million times better than you think it is. Twenty years ago, I was 18

  • years old and I heard about the memory class and took the memory class not because I found

  • one day I was going to be standing up on this stage or I would be on National Geographic

  • channel or a two times USA memory champion. I would have never believed that at the age

  • of 20, excuse me at the age of 18, 20 years ago I took the memory seminar simply Steven

  • because I felt like you. Somebody said you have a bad memory and I said Oh! My God, you

  • wouldn't have no three [inaudible 0:01:18.1]. I got a 0.9 GPA at the University of North

  • Texas right now. True story. Thank you for this support on that. I appreciate that. So

  • loud laugh here. That is how I got to college actually and got suspended from college because

  • my friends were just so horribly bad and now my problem was not that I didn't have a memory

  • class. My problem was I wouldn't go into class and significantly it affected my grades. Couple

  • of years ago, the University of Texas called me and they said we hear you are the one at

  • the University of North Texas and I said well. Kind of and said do you have access to GPA

  • so they were like no and they said we want to do a story on you and I said ok then let's

  • do the story. So we did the story. We talked about my time in North Texas, which I had

  • be very creative on and my dad is in [inaudible 0:02:18.7] about three months later, they

  • mailed it out and he gets the magazine in the mail and he calls me [inaudible 0:02:26.5]

  • you are in? And my dad called me and 20 years ago you never would convince me or my family

  • that I had some special memory ability that you don't have. Today I will have to work

  • hard, hard, hard to convince that the memory is not any better than you because the things

  • that I do with my memory today appeared to be above averages. Some people call him super

  • human and that's why I am on the show Super Humans on the History Channel. If I met you,

  • go ahead and stand up. Oh! My God, forget all of this. Let's talk about leadership today.

  • Now this is what we are going to do. If I didn't meet you, do not stand up. This is

  • not beat up the memory guy time. Alright. Whenever I put your hands over your name tags

  • or whatever, I call off your name, have a seat. So Jennie you can go and have a seat,

  • Amy you can have a seat. I believe it is Alvin right here. You can go ahead and have a seat

  • and I believe this is David and this is Shelby and Gary. Go ahead and have a seat. Melina

  • go ahead and have a seat. Now I believe this is David right here and you are Wendy and

  • this is Sam and this is friend Tuscan and you are Don and that is Paul right there and

  • this is Denice and you are Emily and that is Carrie and that is Kimberly right there

  • although you didn't stand up. I'm very forgettable I know. And this is Matthew, this is Todd

  • over here. We got Emira here and you are Jeremy and then I believe right here I'm looking

  • at Rick and Janice. You sat next to me at lunch and right back there is Katie and that

  • is Sarah right there and this is Stephanie and Steven and Cindy right here and then over

  • here we have Sarah and you are Larry and that's Russ who is sitting down, but I still know

  • you and Matts and then you are Jessica and Maria and Diane and Veronica you moved from

  • the front to the back, but it didn't work. I believe this Aron right there and right

  • here we have Bob and I believe this Robin and you are Rhonda and Wooch and Kellie and

  • this is Beverly right here and you are Elaine and this is Bob and I believe that is Michael

  • right there. Is that correct? And this is John over here, go ahead and have a seat.

  • Catherine, have a seat Judie, have a seat Jeff go ahead and have a see that this is

  • Lucille right there BB King Lucille. What did I call this guy? Ok. That's right. Alright.

  • My job is on and off. Ok. Right over here we got over here Nancy, right here this is

  • Sherry, right here and you are John and you are Bowden and this is Cecily and this is

  • a scar right here and are you John is that right? Ok. And then this is Hannah right and

  • this is you are Jake and this is Dr. Steven Loped and this is Debbie and then over here

  • are you Cody alright and then Torey right, ok and Lauren what are you trying out. You

  • are doing it on purpose. These are best friends then switch around. So I would notice that

  • and then let's come over here and we have got Adrian, we have got Russ and you are Patty

  • Dale and that's Caroline there and that is Lewis and Lanora. Is that right and Sheryl

  • over there and you are Shiela and that is Suzanne and then right here you are Margaret.

  • Is that right? And then I am going to come down this way Lolleen and then and this way

  • we have got Mark right here and you are Mary Neil and that is Malcomb right there and then

  • over there that is Lori over there and I believe that is Rochelle, Sarah over here and let's

  • see how much time do I have left out. Oh! I am still doing pretty good. Ok. I cannot

  • see is that Joseph right there alright and is that Carl right there alright and I will

  • come over here. You know what happened ladies you know what happened with you two. I was

  • so stunned by your beauty. Just locked my whole memory out, but I'm going to go ahead

  • and say that you are Gloria and you are Janet and I'm going to stop right there with the

  • purposes of time. Is that pretty good? Alright. With a little more time a little bit more

  • to and I got all of you but here is the good news. Not only with a little bit more time

  • with a little bit more time Shelby you would have got them alright. Dr. Lopen you would

  • have got them alright. Debbie you would have got them alright. The greatest computer by

  • far born on earth without question is you. Let me ask this question. How many of you

  • have ever shaken somebody's hand and 2 seconds later you can remember their name. Alright.

  • Somebody is saying two hands upon their eye and when that happens if you are totally honest

  • with that person and most of us aren't this hones Veronica, but if we were totally 100%

  • candid and honest, we would look right at that person. We would say remember this is

  • honest. Hey! You remember a few minutes ago and we were introduced. I wasn't even listening

  • to you. That's the honest approach. The more common method that I saw today here at the

  • seminar was this Oh! Where is your name tag or do you have a business card or the sneakiest

  • of all you know I just want to spell you name properly and what did they say. Bob there

  • you go I don't know if there are 3 Bs or 2. My name is Ron White, both of those were pretty

  • easy to spell right. Few years ago, I was on a phone call with a woman and by the way

  • all of you have heard Ron White was going to be the speaker and you rocks started running

  • to here. I apologize. Few years ago, I was on a phone call with a woman and I said. My

  • name is Ron White, very easy to spell. At the end of the phone call, she said sir I

  • want to get the correct spelling of your name. Could you spell it properly for me? I said

  • are you kidding me? So I was in a playful mood. So I said ma'm, don't worry about the

  • spelling. It spells exactly that's right. I thought it was funny too. She didn't think

  • it was so funny there was a pause on the other end of the line and she said well would you

  • man sounding that out for me please? Here's the boy in business and in education in anywhere.

  • You shake somebody's hand and you do business with him whether it is a $10 deal or a 10

  • million dollar deal and you see him six months later at a baseball game, you don't remember

  • their name, you have just told them. People don't care how much they know until I [inaudible

  • 0:09:39.4] how much you care. You just hold them. You are just a customer to them. You

  • do not really care. It is not necessarily the message that is true, but it is the message

  • that they give. Dale Carnegie says everybody's favorite subject is Guess what. There are

  • five steps to do this. Write these five steps down because you already told me your memory

  • stink. Number one is focus. Number two is file. Number three is a picture. Number four

  • is glue and number five is review. What are these again? Number one focus, file, picture,

  • glue, review. Number one is focus, good nutrition and exercise will help you focus. Spinach

  • and blueberries will help you focus. I went on Google and I googled the blueberry concentrate

  • and I mix it in there and where they do not have to eat 100 blueberries a day, omega-3

  • fish oil pills are good for your memory. Here is another tip that get only and I hope to

  • give five tips from my talk, but if you only get one tip focused on what I am about to

  • say. This is so simple. You not remember the name most of the time because you are not

  • focused, develop this one habit and you are going to be amazed how much your retention

  • of a name increases. As you are walking towards somebody that you don't know ask yourself

  • the question, what is their name? What is their name? What is their name? You do not

  • say that aloud. Ok. You better what is their name? What is their name? What is their name?

  • As they have Hi, my name is Ron. He says his name is Sam and listen. Yes. Focus is the

  • first key to your memory. What is the number two key to your memory, file. File is simply

  • a place or location to store information. This is how most of your brains are working

  • right now. You meet somebody and they say their name is Steve and that name goes into

  • your ear and goes into the floor of your memory. Then you mean Kane, that name goes into your

  • ear and goes into the floor of your memory. Then if you meet Bob that information goes

  • into your ear and goes into the floor of your memory and then you see all these fantastic

  • awesome speakers or is not awesome speakers that right? You have got pages and pages of

  • notes all that information gone into your ear, and it has gone on the floor of your

  • memory and this is so much great information now goes in the floor of your memory; your

  • bank account number goes on the floor of your memory right. Then you meet Steve, then you

  • meet Lisa, then you meet Karen, and then you meet Bob and then six weeks later, you walk

  • to the grocery store and you see Kyle again. He says Ron. How are you doing man? Hey, it's

  • so good to see you here and your subconscious mind is gone. Oh! My God. No that's not it.

  • No that's not it. No that's not it. No that's not it. You are driving home two hours later

  • what happens. Yeah. Your mind goes look what I found. Was the name up there the entire

  • time? Yes. But was isn't in a file? Was it in a place where you can put the data? I had

  • files on everybody's faces, every single one of your faces I had a file a place to store

  • your name. So for Paul I used her ears, Francesca, I used your forehead. Sam I used your eyebrows.

  • Scott I used your hair. You got a lot more than me and so I like it. Elaine I liked the

  • way you parted your hair right there. Every single one of you are used to an outstanding

  • feature on your face that becomes your file. So in the future, from this point four, when

  • you meet somebody as you are walking towards them, what is their name? What is their name?

  • What is their name right? The second thing you ask yourself what stands out me about

  • that person's face? Is it the hair, the eyes or nose or lips or mouth or goatee whatever

  • it is? The third thing you do and this takes the most work and this is what throws everybody

  • off? When I was 18 years old, a guy told me to do this and it changed my life. He said

  • Ron for the next 2 to 3 months, everytime you meet somebody, turn their first name into

  • a picture everybody. When you are at the waiter and his name tag says Steve Ask yourself what

  • is the picture for that and turn that into a picture and I did and I thought stove. Then

  • I went to the bank and a teller's name was Chris and I thought Cross. Then the next time

  • I went to a baseball game and the guy taking tickets. He said Morgan. I thought organ and

  • I did that with every name for too much whether I saw name on the billboard or a movie string

  • or a hand shake. The end of two or three months, I had turned 2 or 300 names into pictures

  • and these don't change. They never change. Morgan has been an organ for 20 years all

  • right. Don't laugh because John is [inaudible 0:14:54.0] that hasn't changed for 20 years.

  • Steve is the stove, Lisa is the Mona Lisa, Karen is the care. It never changes. Then

  • when I see your face, the fourth step to remember in something and remember what it was glue.

  • Glue is action and emotion. Glue is how you see something in your memory. So I mentally

  • glue if your name is Karen and you got really pretty eyes, I mentally glue that Karen to

  • your eyes by shoving it in your eyes. Yeah. Very wild a guy right. Let's go [inaudible

  • 0:15:31.9] last week. If when you see somebody six months later, don't ask yourself what's

  • their name? That will lock up your memory and that is the worst question you could ask

  • your memory. Instead the question you ask your memory is what stood out to me about

  • their face? Oh! His ears stood out to me about their face. Oh! What was on his ears? Oh!

  • Yeah what are you doing man? People say Ron that's crazy. That's silly and I said just

  • he is not silly. What is silly is doing the business transaction that is $10 or 10 million

  • dollars and tell that customer of that prospect the difference between doing business with

  • you and the next guy is the professional intention the one and one customer service that you

  • are going to get and then six months later, when you see a Houston Astros game or a Texan

  • game or star bucks you can remember their name. Last time I met a woman and she worked

  • for a company that had 1400 different products. She said Ron I am responsible for all 1400

  • of those products. You would be a great salesmen for me and I said you don't need me because

  • you have the ability to do that. Very quickly how would you do that. There is a six year

  • old girl named Kelley and I love Kelley with all my heart. She is not my daughter, but

  • I could not allow Kelley any more if she was. Last summer she came to me and she said Ronnie

  • teach me how to memorize the presidents of the United States and basically we did the

  • focus file picture glue review, but we did in a bit of a different way. The files are

  • pieces of furniture in her house. This is your homework. You should take away. Over

  • the nextor 3 days, I want you to pick six rooms in your house and I want you to

  • pick five pieces of furniture in each room and memorize those. For example, I walked

  • Kelly in her bedroom and Kelley said number one is the bed, two is the dresser, three

  • is the master bed, four is my poster and five is the closet. I walked Kelley to the next

  • room and she numbered five more pieces of furniture in that room. I walked Kelley to

  • the next room. She numbered five more pieces of furniture in that room. She did that with

  • 44 pieces of furniture because there are 44 presidents. It took her about 30 minutes to

  • do that. After we had numbered the furniture, then remember anything, all you have to do

  • these become her files right, the places in the room. Then we take the president's name,

  • we turned it into a picture and then we mentally glue it to the furniture. So our first five

  • was over there, which was her bed. I said Kelley the information that you want to retain

  • is called Washington. For you it could be product knowledge, for her it was a president.

  • I said what does that sound like to you. She said it sounds like a washing machine to me.

  • So the file is her bed, washing machine becomes the picture and the glue is the story we create.

  • I've got Kelley over here and Kelley is pouring soap and she is pouring water and she is spiraling

  • around. File, picture, the action is glue. We did that with 30 pieces of furniture. Whenever

  • we got a Nixon, I asked her what that sounded like and she said it sounded like Mexon. So

  • I said Kelley sit down on the piano and start mixing a ball. So she did and I said what

  • does Carter sound like, she said that sounds like my cousin, his name is Carder. I said

  • alright my Carder is [inaudible 0:18:59.0] in the stove over here. Then Kelley a six

  • year old little girl walks through the house and said all 44 presidents, not for some silly

  • song, George Washington, George Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison. She said on this

  • way, George Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Jackson and then I stopped

  • her and I talked to her for ten minutes and I said pick it up right there and then she

  • continued to go and a light bomb went off in my head, I thought Oh! My God if I give

  • this on video, I'm going to make million dollars. I said Kelley can we do this one more time?

  • Can we film this and she said you can film it for a dollar. It is so hot right now on

  • YouTube, time.com put it on their website, espn.com put it on their website, fox and

  • friends, the number one morning show in America for ten years has put it on their show. Why

  • is it powerful? It is powerful because it shows that even a six year little girl, if

  • she has focus, file, picture, glue with you, but files being pieces of furniture in her

  • house she can memorize the information forward or she can memorize the information backwards.

  • If I worked for a company, I wouldn't take the product knowledge and put in on those

  • files. I will conclude with this. Catherine with the students go and stand up your credit

  • of 38 digit number today and have never seen this 38Êdigit number ever right? And you

  • gave it to me in about 90 seconds. I am going to repeat this number that I have never seen

  • that she created. That number should be 5222633443427511939850172314777793425 correct? What are the five things you need

  • to memorize anything? Number one, focus; file, picture, glue, review. I am the world's most

  • diehard Texas Rangers fan. The fact that I am not in St. Louis right now is driving my

  • friends crazy. But there is no way in the world I am wearing my lucky T shirt. Got Texas

  • Rangers.

Our next guest is a memory expert. He is the two time USA memory champion. He is considered

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it