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Every bit as action-packed as the 1995 thriller, the U.S. Memory Championship gives competitors a chance to put on their best Keanu grimace while trying to memorize a deck of cards in under a minute.

When I was in high school I found a book at a thrift store on speed-memorizing techniques, and I used to practice during class for fun. I was surprised to hear that the Grand Masters use pretty much the same devices I used.

Though every competitor has his own unique method of memorization for each event, all mnemonic techniques are essentially based on the concept of elaborative encoding, which holds that the more meaningful something is, the easier it is to remember. The brain isn’t built to remember abstract symbols like numbers and playing cards, but if one can translate those symbols into vivid visual images, even the dullest series of binary digits can be made as memorable as your own address. The key is to develop a system that allows quick encoding and easy recall.

The system I learned was like this: each digit (0-9) had a unique consonant sound associated with it that you had to memorize. The chart was something like this:

1 t, d
2 n
3 m
4 r
5 l
6 j, sh, ch
7 k, g
8 f, v
9 p, b
0 z, s

Vowels were meaningless; you could use them as you wanted. So a number like 5321 became lmnt. To me that sounds like ‘laminate’. You can see how you could easily come up with an easy-to-remember phrase that represents a lot of numbers. For example:
Birds like to laminate oranges

translates to:

9410 57 1 5321 4270

Obviously, the phrase is easier to remember than the digits. I got to the point where 300+ digits were pretty easy. But the key is practice, you have to get to the point where substituting words for numbers becomes natural.

If you want to practice, try this string:

31415926535897932384626433832795028841971

Here’s my phrase, in case you’re stuck:
motor tailbone jail milf back be mainname fridge nosher momma voom nike balls no effort picked

which comes from:
mtr tlbn jl mlf bk b mnm frj nshr mm vm nk bls n ffrt pkd