Hi, Does anyone know of a technique i could use to revise masses of information for exams?, i have read quite a few books on NLP and attended the recent 3 day course in Wembley.
rgds
Richard

[B]"The BEST person to revise is you. The BEST short-cut to exams is you."

Keep on seeing this in your MIND's EYE , every single moment of your life from now on and you cannot help believing that it does show no traces of losing out on ---"u" in the [ "Y-O-U"]

BEST of LUCK for a flying exam-victory.

Have great day everyday,after today.

!!!!!WARNING, WARNING, WARNING!!!!!

Do not read the above message tomorrow. (Or any day after the first day you read it.)

Venus

Rich_Moss wrote:

Hi, Does anyone know of a technique i could use to revise masses of information for exams?

Google "mind mapping".

Not quite you asked but getting everything in context really helps.

After each bout of revising imagine that the whole subject is spread out before you.

Float up above it and look down on it. Float around in a relaxed way, not worrying about the details. Just get a feeling of how it fits together.
If the feeling takes you then drop down at random to an area you have worked on, just look at the ideas neatly arranged around you, acknowledge them and then float up again.

Keep floating around knowing that whilst it is impossible to know everything you know a lot and your mind is organising everything so that you can get at it. Remember that you remember everything that you have ever been exposed to but that only by arranging things right will you be able to find things exactly when you want them.

You can make the floating process even more effective by finding a ball ( a tennis ball, an orange, a ball of socks, whatever you have around).
Take it on one hand throw it up in the air and catch it in the other hand. Watch it all the time.

Do this for as long as seems right to get your subject in perspective.

One of the methods I am using with my students is the loci method. If you haven't made an elaborate memory palace in your mind and lets face it, most of won't have, use a place that you already know well. For example one of my students was having trouble remembering a set of rules for a AS level ICT. She could remember the layout of her house really well though so she mentally fixed the list onto the doors in her house one thing for each door. To test this, I had the list she needed to remember and she took me on an imagined journey through her house and told me what was on each of the doors from her list. She remembered them perfectly after only 20 minutes practise and could still remember them perfectly after a gap of 2 days, then 4 and so on. Using something that you know well and imprinting something you want to remember onto that seems to work really well for some people, it's worth a shot.

Penny

Hi, I have no NLP training at all but...

I have just had to help my son with his high school entrance exams here in Hungary where you get tested on pretty much everything across all subjects. I wanted to get him motivated and moving from his table, where he was just trying to study traditionally - I could see it was getting him down, and his energy levels were low.

Just for fun, I tried see whether he could use any of his other senses to study and learn the subject matter. One of the things we tried was to use external anchors to solidify certain concepts for each subject. ( I remember researching this for a presentations course I had once run)
We began by creating a mind map for each subject as visually as possible (and also as rudely..as it engaged his humour), and then used a separate room (or part of a room) to associate the subject with a location in the flat.

Once we had established the location, we tried to associate as many sensory anchors with each of the key elements of the map (olfactory, kinisthetic, visual, auditory etc) eg. for geography we used the living room and turned it into a map of Hungary - then each county, city, town and river had a tactile association with the sofa, tv, table etc once we had this down, we could associate a sound, picture, smell with that place. In his exam, all he had to do was walk around the living room in his mind and recall the association.

The end result was to allow him to experience the mind map, and thereby access the key points that were on it - and it worked pretty well. (even I still remember all the counties, major and monor towns for his Hungarian geography - two months on.)

Now, I know this sounds a bit of a chore to do for something weighty and abstract, but it worked a charm for him at a time when he was exhausted form the sitting and reading part of his studying - maybe some of the more experienced NLP-ers here can validate/unvalidate what was actually working here?

That's my tuppence worth anyway...

A

venus_brown wrote:

!!!!!WARNING, WARNING, WARNING!!!!!

Do not read the above message tomorrow. (Or any day after the first day you read it.)

Venus

Heyya Venus,
Do ya know the principle ---"The Map ,is not the Territory,"
and I've extended it, further to say that--" Everyone has a unique way of Mapping and remembering out things; as also Note-Making Lessons and also Revising them too." Just being a little confident helps,alongwith a good sense of self-reliance and self-belief in succeeding.

Everybody is deeply having [see, another NLP principle, in action here]--- "All the people have all the Resources they need at all the time."

No offences meant, as I am not into personally Life-Coaching anyone here.
All views are purely educational. Then , I cannot understand why ya took too much into !!!WARNING !!! mode wording. Did my comment burnout a hole in your pocket or the brain ?

No.

Mom's the Word method, used by me for a High School Grade 7 student( who had a chronic case of ADHD ) , for the subject Geography is described herein below ====Map of India had to be labelled with Major Industries locations for Mica,Bauxite, Limestone,Heavy Industries Centers,etc...

I made him make a list and give this paper to his Mom(literally), then another list was made and given to his elder sister. Then , I asked him to recall from the sister's list after listening to a deep relaxational musical instrumental CD-tape. Then after he had finished writing it down on the book , I made him turn the page and on the fresh page asked him with gentler cajoling to recall (after a gap of 1-hour, to earlier recall) what he had given in the list to his "MOMMA". He smiled.

Then he took about two-more minutes to write down whatever was in that list. Surprise of surprises, he scored 28 correct-scores out of 30 words.
So much for a chronic ADHD child.

Venus, we must not undermine anyone's abilities (thats what i have believed and practiced till to-date)

Everyone must be given their own time and pace to unfold.
Quote="A Jasmine flower and Rajnigandha , both take time to enter full bloom; but once they become , their fragrance is smelt more than a mile away...What say yaa "

Andyinbp wrote:

maybe some of the more experienced NLP-ers here can validate/unvalidate what was actually working here?

The fact that...

it worked a charm for him at a time when he was exhausted form the sitting and reading part of his studying

...means it's absolutely brilliant.

As well as some of the ideas in this thread, have a look at 'Get the Life You Want' by Richard Bandler for a great way of recalling by hallucination.

Similar to Nick's idea ... what works for you works for you.

Hi Richard,

Some great ideas have already been mentioned on this thread.

I'd like to throw using a MindSpa system into the mix. The MindSpa is strongly endorsed by Richard Bandler and can be a great help to revision.

My 15 year old daughter used it for her recent exams. She was complaining that she was finding it difficult to revise as she found herself losing attention and daydreaming. Once she started using a MindSpa she said that she could concentrate and focus far better. It might be just a coincidence of course, but she did much better in these exams than she normally does.

You can now use the MindSpa system with your eyes open - while reading for example. This is particularly useful if you are studying new material as there is research to show that we assimilate and retain information more effectively when our brain is operating in the relaxed mode known as the 'alpha' state. Being able to use your MindSpa in 'eyes-open' mode adds a whole new dimension to what you can achieve with the system.

The latest version of the MindSpa in stock at Meditations-UK ( MindSpa Mind Machine)

HTH

Ivor

Well to begin with... revision assumes comprehension is already present.

To revise is to keep the neural architecture primed so that text on the test sheet or voice during an oral examination will activate the neural network that has been primed (sounds, sights, meanings, feelings, etc along with the mental representations you've developed from your study).

A key to success is being able to (using mind maps for example) begin from any topic, and branch out to recreate the mind map. When that is possible then the later retrieval of the earlier memory encoding (priming) has been successful. The greatest test (TOTE) for is being able to answer.

Also, depends on if it is multiple choice or open questions. Practice specifically for the test you are taking. Verbal reasoning is vital for open / short essay questions... but decision making, judgement and recognition play more a role in multiple choice questions.

I've used Paul McKenna's Accelerated Learning video & audio to prepare for my exams which I wholeheartedly recommend. During the pauses in the process I attempt to visualise my mind maps, jump from topic to topic and attempt high percentages of recall while in that relaxed state. Works well for me and I also take a few deep breaths during the exam when I need to centre. I also found my visual accessing quite active in my last exam last friday.

For relaxation and state control during revision is a similar tool to mind spa (in function = activates alpha brain waves) is the holosync audio system. I've found it useful.

So repetition is great and will complete a bulk of the work. However if time constraints are present then perhaps develop some photoreading skills and learn to encode only that which you need to learn.

All the tips above seem great, mnemonics is also useful for example: S.M.A.R.T. goals acronyms; Also, perhaps putting a goal in your future time line of successfully completing the exam. And then either mentally constructing the path you took (will take) to get there OR allow your unconscious mind to do this is the way in which it deems most appropriate for your personally lived context.

By the way, is your goal "WELL-FORMED?" If not or you are like, "what does he mean well formed?" then reply and we'll discuss it.

OK, enough from me, maybe even blurted out some pearl of revision wisdom.

Success!!

Rob Gronbeck

www.nlpaustralia.com.au
Ericksonian Hypnosis Workshop
Maastricht, The Netherlands Aug 17 - 23
"Discover What Freud Only Dreamed About Hypnosis"