"T'ree buns and a chicken, men. Aks anybuddy"

Okay, here’s a neat party trick, which I’ve actually used in giving extempore speeches and in writing exams. I read it in Mukul Sharma’s column more than two decades ago, and the fact that I still remember the trick says something for its efficacy.

Here’s how you zap your friends. Ask them to draw up a list of ten unrelated words. Have them number the words. Then have them read the list to you, pausing for around five seconds between each word. When they’re done, you tell them each word on the list, from memory.

That’s no big deal, someone will say, it’s easy to remember ten words. So you take up the challenge, and prattle out the list, BACKWARDS. There’ll still be some sceptics who’ll say, that isn’t very difficult either. Then you give 'em the zinger. Have them call out numbers between one and ten, AT RANDOM, and you TELL THEM THE WORD THAT CORRESPONDS TO THAT NUMBER!

That should knock 'em dead.

How do you do it? It’s pretty simple, really. First, you memorise the following rhyme:

One is a bun
Two is a shoe
Three is a tree
Four is a door
Five is a hive
Six is a stick
Seven is heaven
Eight is a gate
Nine is a line
Ten is a hen

Note that each word rhymes with the number to which it corresponds. Now, when your friend reads out the list, relate each word on his list to the words in the rhyme. The wackier the association, the easier it is to remember. For example, let’s say your friend’s first word is “prestidigitation”. Well, you just think of a clumsy prestidigitator juggling buns and dropping the sticky ones on his head, smearing his hair with jam. So, when you are called upon to recall the first word, your mind goes, “one-bun-sticky hair- juggling-prestidigitation.” That’s all there is to it! Of course, you need to know the meaning of “prestidigitation” in the first place.

Be careful using the trick in your extempore speech, though. I mean, if your speech is on traffic accidents and your points are “helmets, rear-view mirrors and brakes”, you don’t want to wind up telling your audience, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the best way to prevent accidents is to carry your buns in a helmet, put your shoes on your rear-view mirror and carry a tree to use as a brake.”