About Steven Aitchison
How to memorise a complete essay or speech
Christmas and New year is over and for some there looms the prospect of mid
term exams. A lot of these exams will be closed book exams. A closed
book exam tests your knowledge and memory of a subject. One of the ways
in which some students prepare is to actively learn the subject areas and also
look at past questions and anticipate a question which might come up. At
the moment my wife is studying for exams in which she is actively learning
her subjects and also she has written 3 500 word essays on the three areas
of study.
Together we have come up with a system which means that she can memorise a
500 word essay in 1 day and 3 500 word essays in 3 days. Together with
actively learning the subject she is confident that she has prepared well.
In this article I will show you the system we came up with to memorise 1500
verbatim. Sound hard? It is actually quite easy and is a system I used
to when at university studying psychology for 2 1000 word essays.
This method can also be used for memorising any kind of written work or speech.
Before you begin
Before you begin this it is important to actually believe that you can memorise
a complete essay or speech whether it be 500 words or 2000 words. When
I first suggested using this method to my wife she said that she would never
be able to memorise an essay word for word.
Once she got over this and started telling herself that she could do it we
started.
Active learning
First off, this method of memorising an essay should not be substituted for
actively learning a subject. Active learning is when you read, not skim,
the subject area and take note of the key points. Cross reading is also
very good for active learning. This is when you read books on the subjects
by different authors. Some authors are not good at getting information across
so cross reading is an excellent way learning.
The method for memorising an essay or speech.
You will need to write out the essay or speech first. Treat this part
of the process as if you were writing an essay to hand in for marking by your
lecturer. In other words make sure it is worthy of memorising.
When you have written the essay make sure it is grammatically correct as you
will be memorising every comma and full stop.
When you are sure you have a good essay or speech print it off and mark down
the left margin the number of paragraphs e.g. if you have 6 paragraphs write
at the side of each paragraph the numbers 1 – 6. In the right hand
margin write the number of sentences in each paragraph. This is the first
part of the memorisation process.
A quiet place to study
Now, make sure you have quiet space to be able to read, walk and vocalise
your essay. When you are sure you will not be interrupted you can start.
With your printed essay start walking and reading out loud the essay or speech. When
you have read it out loud a few times go back to the first sentence and read
it out loud. Then read it again and again until you have memorised it. When
you are confident you have memorised it word for word go on to the next sentence. When
you have memorised the second sentence, whilst walking vocalise the first two
sentences without looking at your printed essay. If you are okay
with this go on to do the same with your 3rd sentence and so on until you have
memorised your first full paragraph. This can take anywhere between 15 – 45
depending on motivation, alertness, quietness etc.
The reason I ask you to walk is to keep your blood flowing whilst memorising. If
you are sitting down you might nod off, by walking it will prevent you from
nodding off. I find walking up and down an excellent way to concentrate
on reading.
Keep reading, and vocalising your essay or speech until you have memorised
it completely. When you are confident of having memorised it. Vocalise
it without looking at your printed sheet. If you get it right, do it
again, and if you get it right a second time reward yourself with a cup of
tea or coffee or whatever is your want and leave it for a few hours.
When a few hours have passed go back to the essay, read it out loud whilst
walking and looking at the printed sheet and then try to memorise it again.
Once you are confident that you have memorised it completely, at the bottom
of the page write down the first few words of each sentence of your essay,
separated by a comma, and number each line for each paragraph. When you
have done that put in the number of sentences at the end of the list and bracket
it.
For example if I was writing out the first few words of this article for the
first 3 paragraphs it would look like this;
- Christmas and New year, A lot of, A closed book, One of the, At the moment
(5) - Together we have, Together with actively (2)
- In this article, sound hard? (2)
Now what you should do is only look at the lost at the bottom of the paper
and read out from that whilst walking. This way you are only looking
at the first few words and finishing the sentence without looking at it. If
you get stuck just go back to the main essay and look at it, until you have
got it completely.
Now memorise the bottom of the sheet of paper with the first few words of
the essay and how many sentences are in each paragraph. This should only
take 10-15 minutes at the most.
This sounds a very convoluted way of memorising an essay but it is a lot easier
than it reads here.
Time taken to memorise
You should be able to memorise a full 500 word essay in about
3 hours, for your first time, using the above method. When you are practiced
you should be able to memorise a 500 word essay in about 60 – 90 minutes.
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Nice post. You should follow up with a post about giving a speech entirely off the top of your head.
John, If only I could do that. Toastmasters should help though.
this is very similar to how i do it, except after i have read it and nearly know whats in each paragraph i do a spider diagram with 1 key word for each paragraph and try and recite it, thenm all i need to remember is the key word for the exam]
great stuff
hello steve
im a 43 year old student having difficulty in exams especially recallling from memory….any advice?
hi louise
I would suggest studying in different ways for example reading multiple authors, mind mapping, listening to audio. It depends on how you recall. Are you a visual recaller, are you an audio recaller. You have to figure out how you remember things and then you can work on how to improve your memory.
Hope this helps.
it is quite ridiculous to memorise essays in such a way
i think you shoud read it 4 or 5 times and then present your lecture with your own words
Hi Really I found its very useful for all where we can improve ourselves in memorising the topics or essays. If we utilise this way definitely we can come up in our life.
thankyou! this will really help me pass my exams for french and spanish!!!!!
That is a good plan, but my problem is i dont have the patience to study for 3 hours. Even when i unplug my internet and turn off my phone i just end up sitting there and doing nothing. Do you know how to beat an addiction to procrastination?
You could atleast give it a try, to be honest i used to be like that too,but i gave it a try,and honestly it takes time so just follow the steps,it’s so useful,this technique helped me and motivated and inspired me about the way our mind sets are.SO GIVE IT A GO,have some self-confidence!
Good post. You make some great points that most people do not fully understand.
“When you are sure you have a good essay or speech print it off and mark down the left margin the number of paragraphs e.g. if you have 6 paragraphs write at the side of each paragraph the numbers 1 – 6. In the right hand margin write the number of sentences in each paragraph. This is the first part of the memorisation process.”
I like how you explained that. Very helpful. Thanks.
In response to downtown’s “it is quite ridiculous to memorise essays in such a way”. I have to say I totaly disagree. I ahve used this method for my exams and find it really works. Although my essays are a lot longer, I find this technique works. It was a self taught technique and I am still trying to master it, but it definately tops mind maps etc. I would say, however, if you use this technique to help with exams etc, then formulate outline essays where you can add in your opinions throughout to suit the question.
This is how I’ve done it for a few years and it works really well, only problem is that if it’s a speech the pressure of actually presenting makes me forget a few lines towards the end.
Mmmm this will help a lot for my end of school exams.. Only i need to shape my generic essay around an unknown question. Thanks for the post, though, I’ll use it for my creative writing.
Tomorrow is my creative writing exam. I have prepared it, and since I’ve used this guide, I have memorised 700/1000 words so far. If I manage to integrate my response into the question appropriately, then I’d be looking for a A range.
Thank you for this guide. It has helped me a lot. I’m going to add this page to my favourites
And now I have to write it at least three times (the whole creative) and recite the parts continously that I keep forgetting. And I’m prepared adequately for tomorrow
. Wish me all the best.
Hi Reshad
Good luck for tomorrow and let us know how you get on with the exam.
Steve
Very nice essay! Great writing style! Looking forward to hearing more from you.
I absolutely loved this memorising guide! I was looking for memorising techniques and I was glad I found this method. I hope this helps me with my exams next week. =)
Thanks!
thanks for the comments bibliophile. I have used this with great success over the years and taught it to my family and friends and it hasn’t let me down yet.
Hi Steven,
For some reason, your guide doesn’t work efficiently with respect to time. I can’t memorise 500 words in 3 hours, or even 500 words in 60-90 minutes (this seems incredibly impossible). I do manage to memorise the essay in the end, but it takes hours after hours after hours…(no exaggeration there).
Also, this method:
“Now memorise the bottom of the sheet of paper with the first few words of the essay and how many sentences are in each paragraph. This should only take 10-15 minutes at the most.”
I’m not sure if it works for others, as each sentence doesn’t logically flow from next to next (which is far more easier to memorise).
I hope you can get back to me asap because I’ve got an exam really soon. Thanks.
Hi Raymond, I don’t know why this is not working for you. are there any distractions at all? TV, computer, music, family noise all of this would interuppt your learning pattern and the information being processed. This is the method I have used over the years and have taught my family and friends and every single person says they are astonsihed that it works.
Nice article.
You shouldn,t make it so long, after all it is students who are going to be reading this right?
Any advise on how to use this technique in order to memorize 100-200 “rules” for a law school exam? (rules can be anywhere from a few words to a couple paragraphs depending on the complexity of the rule) Unfortunately, in law school exams, you have to use these memorized “rules” and apply them to a given fact pattern, usually a couple of pages, written by the professor. Since this fact pattern cannot be known in advance, memorizing an essay in this fashion would not help.
Thanks!
Hi,
I am an English teacher. I have used the technique of having my students walk around as they recite or read poetry to help them learn it. It really works! Learning becomes active or kinesthetic. Haven’t tried this method of memorization but it could be very useful for students taking the SATs.
anyone who writes a 500 essay.. is kinding themselves..
sorry if i sound bitter
i have an internal HSC exam 2morrow and my essay 2000 words
now that’s a real essay with good content
wish me luck! and thanks very much for the article.. hope it’ll help!
Brilliant!:D Works really well for me. I managed to remember a whole 1000 word essay in under and hour:) Thanks alot!
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! I have used this to learn 2 essays for my exam and it has worked so well. I have never felt so ready going into an exam before in my life. But for once I actually know exactly what I am going to write. Bring it on!!
Glad this method worked out for you Courtney. Good luck with your exams
hi,
well i dont have a very long speach but the problem is that it is German and im not very good at german, it is only a 2 minute speach and about myself but i just cant get the words rembered,
any advice?
i think you must be doing the same exam as me and i have a similar problem
Hi,
i find this is really good for making speeches as i do in my position in the masons
PS………. no rest for the w****s son….
brother Allan
hi
i have to admit this is a GREAT way to memorise i found this article extremely helpful. i followed your steps and it actually worked for me perfectly. thank you very much.
Hi steve,
your technique looks great.
I wanted to ask you if there is any such thing as brain overload. I have to revise 15 X 1500 word essays. I plan to use ure technique, but is there any chance that at one point my brain may start refusing to accept new information.
Hi there
I’m going to have my exam in 6 days and I have to recite 5 essays .
Each essay is 2000 words .
What should I do to recite so much in such less time .
Why I’m saying 6 days are less because my current way of reciting is writing over and over again and again until I can remember .
My fingers are in bad shape as I write alot I meant repeatedly writing .
I can’t sleep due to stress I m so worried .
As I had a back injury a month ago due to that I can’t sit for long .
I’m not confident about any other method because my brain tells me if I font write I will forget everything .
Pls let me know what should I do ?
I do like your way as it sound simply and useful but I’m just not confident about my self .
Waiting for your reply .
Thanks alot
Great advice, this seems like a nice structured approach to memorising excerpts and short speeches however I don’t think 500 words constitutes and essay!!
Great!!!! And thanks for the post,
wow!! thanks so much for my history speech thats due tomorrow!!!!
Hello there, I was just out browsing the internet and happened to stumble upon your blog. This way to memorize is solid and good, although, maybe a bit slow. I’m not sure if you are aware but there exsist special memory techniques which would make things easier. Check out Harry Lorayne or Dominic O´brien. ^^ I believe you’ll find it to your liking!
I’m memorizing an essay, but not word for word. I was using the same method you were using, except I just try to get down the key facts and chronology. I will later write the essay again out in my own words, using the facts I can recall. Is it possible to memorize a 1800 word essay by Thursday morning? (today is Monday night)
i need to remember 5 essays that are each 1200 words-Any better advice besides re writing
Shouldnt you people be studying rather than sitting there reading this?
easier to study once you know the simplest way to do it
This has helped an AWFUL lot. I had a spanish oral exam about 2 pages long and memorized it in an hour! This method REALLY helped and will keep on using it, no matter what sort of speech i’m doing.
I am a physics student and i have alot of definitions and formulae to memorise how will technique favour me or any other alternative
should i use this method when remembering a 500 word FRENCH essay?
Hi just give a thanks for posting this, it really helped me memorise my essay quickly, I had a five page essay learnt in 3 hours. I usually just write out paragraphs numerous times which is dull and boring and takes too long but this really helped the process go a lot faster,thanks
Hello!
Great tips! Thanks! I memorised a 500 word speech (just under 500) in less than an hour thanks to your great method! All ready for my English exam tomorrow.
Thanks!
Great! I’m a law student at Cambridge University and the amount of substance is unreal; this helps a great deal! Thank you!
I have an english controlled assessment tomorrow and mine is 12 pages long. I have been trying to read and memorise it and the only success i have had in 6 hours is 1 and a half pages memorised+ a lot of procastinating. I will give this method a go and see how things go. Hopefully i’ll get that 12 pages done 4 and a half hours time (leaving for college then in that time).
Thanks in advance for your help
Thank you so much! You are an absolute life saver! I cant believe how much this helped me. I was stressing out like crazy for my exam and now i basically know a 1000 word essay off by heart just in a few hours! Thanks again!
Hope it works for me. Well done Sheree
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Hello,
I am a part time student, sitting my finals. The only way I have ever learned was through rewritting my work continously, that can be anyting from 50+ times for any essay/paragraph. I am just a slow learner. I have recorded myself but it doesnt work either. As you can imagine the continous writing out of essays give me one very sore arm, and cramps in my fingers! The last two exams I sat I blanked. It has taken me a week to learn not one essay but a part of a question from a past paper. My arm is now so sore I cannot do any more.
I am going now, to try your method out with the remainder of the question, if it works, I will do for 2 3essays 1500 words each! My exams arent for another 2 weeks, and I really really hope this works. Will keep you posted. Thank you
Hello,
Steven i have an science exam in a 3 days to come,i was wondering if you think it is possible,that i attempt to use your technique for a 24 long revision pages,i will not try to memorize all the pages and paragraphs,because some of the information i don’t need to revise so i will shorten the length of word on the pages,do you think i should attempt to do this,and will it work?,i will be very grateful,for a quick response,
thank you.