The link method is a powerful memory technique that will help you learn faster and remember more.

You can rest assured that learning how to use it is worth your time because it has been used for thousands of years and studied by scientists.

We know how and why it works.

And one reason the technique has continually improved over the years is simple:

Many people have worked to ensure that proper mnemonic linking helps you build instant associations.

In other words, well-linked associations can help you memorize certain kinds of information within seconds.

You just have to learn it properly.

Sometimes, this particular learning strategy lets you retain information you’ve heard just once for the long-term without needing any repetition.

For example, as a memory educator, I give a lot of demonstrations in the community. I remember the names of people from live classes I’ve given decades ago.

And once you master basic linking for simple information like names, you can use the technique in more elaborate ways.

Everything from language learning to complex mathematical formulas.

The problem is…

Even simple versions of the technique can confuse people new to the link method.

This is not your fault. The confusion creeps in because different memory teachers use the term in several different ways.

In fact, the sheer number of definitions is enough to melt your mind.

Well, never fear. On this page, I’m going to do my best to reduce the confusion.

Because the reality is this:

Linking really can help you learn faster and remember more.

You just need to apply this mnemonic device in the right way and in the specific situations where it’s useful.

So if you want to master linking for faster and more thorough learning, let’s look at exactly how linking works.

And when to combine it with other memory techniques for even stronger recall.

In the world of memory training, we use the word “link” because this technique creates a kind of chain between what you want to remember and something you already know.

You can think of it like a gold necklace. Each loop links to the next one until the circle is completed by a clasp.

Except in memory, each mental image or association is the link that helps you find your way back to the target information.

This is part of where confusion about the technique comes in.

Memory educators often use the word link to create the mental image of a chain, as in a chain of associations.

Everyone from Bruno Furst to Harry Lorayne present the technique in this way.

This means that there’s no particular difference between linking and the chain method.

The key is that you mentally “link” or attach one item in a list to the next item. That’s why most memory trainings will present a list of words with which to practice. For example:

Then most memory guides will suggest that you:

In the case of the example list above, you would imagine that your hero uses a drill on a spacecraft that is blasting out music.

This way of using linking sounds a bit like a story, doesn’t it?

The story is a kind of chain that you follow, and each action or action and reaction is the link that helps you “trigger” the next word.

Many people successfully use this form of linking to memorize lists, something I discuss with more depth in this tutorial on how to memorize a list.

Linking works well for when you need to memorize simple lists.

The approach also has its weaknesses, though, problems we’re about to fix.

What are those problems?

For one thing, if you can’t remember how the first part of your narrative chain started, you’ll struggle to trigger the next part.

It’s also possible that an individual link in your chain will go “missing.”

One key solution is called deliberate practice.

And although most memory improvement guides do give you words to practice, I’m a critic of them and here’s why:

It’s very rare in real life that we have to memorize random words.

A rare case is when you go shopping and need to get tomatoes, carrots, celery, and bread. In such a case, it does make sense to use linking to quickly imagine a tomato stabbing celery and bread with a carrot.

Even so, as a person who loves using memory techniques for large learning goals, I have to ask?

Why waste time on memorizing a shopping list when you could just write it down? That lets you save your energy for memorizing vocabulary or technical terms related to your profession.

And that’s how I suggest that you practice. With important information that you can’t just write down.

Here’s one fruitful practice:

If you’re going to memorize your shopping list, at least get a bang for your buck by memorizing it in a foreign language.

Then, apply the linking technique to memorizing more complex terms, like:

Basically, learn to get really good at linking by practicing with useful information that will improve your life.

Then, once you’ve got a handle on the basics, take things to the next level using the process we’ll discuss next.

As you’ve seen, the linking method can be powerful for chaining together lists of information.

But it’s mostly linear. That means, if you can’t remember the first part of the chain, or drop one of the links, you’re in trouble.

The Memory Palace technique fixes this quirk.

If you’re not familiar with the term, sometimes it’s called the Method of Loci or the Roman Room Method.

No matter what you call it, a Memory Palace provides your brain with the ultimate, non-linear linking system for a few reasons.

Think back to necklace example. We’re about to expand it.

Rather than having every link in the chain dependent on the previous link, a Memory Palace lets you place each link securely in its own display case.

Each case is itself linked naturally by your familiarity with the locations you use to place them. When you have a series of locations strung together in a chain, this is called the journey method.

For more on how this technique works, watch the video below and read my full Memory Palace guide.

In sum, you’re using familiar locations as a foundational link.

Then, on each spot within the Memory Palace, you use the story method to establish a link on each and every station of the Memory Palace.

This approach helps with recall for a few reasons.

First, you don’t have to think back to how the story started or do anything elaborate to kick off the first link. You can simply think back to where you placed the first link, which gives you two chances to kickstart your list of associations.

Second, the Memory Palace technique allows for spaced repetition. This non-linear form of review means you can quickly make sure each item in your list enters long-term memory.

True, in some cases you won’t need to review the information. But it’s the missing step many of the most popular books like The Art of Memory completely miss.

One of the most direct ways to see linking and the Memory Palace technique at work in combination is to join me at one of my events.

As you can see in the photo above, I’m at the head of the room.

I’ve just finished memorizing the names of everyone in attendance.

To do this, I used the room itself as a kind of Memory Palace.

Exactly where Alan was sitting, I imagined a giant Allen key. He used this to open a door on the ear of Sharon, who was sitting next to him. But to remember that her name was Sharon, I pretended she was the very famous Sharon Osbourne.

Later that day, I wrote out all of the names, revisiting each one from the exact location where I’d placed the association in that room.

In some cases, I had used the bodies of the attendees as mini-Memory Palaces.

For example, Martin had mentioned a friend named Eloise was an author of thrillers. I placed an association that helped me remember this fact on his chest.

You can learn the body Memory Palace technique yourself in my tutorial on the most important ancient memory techniques.

And for another dedicated example, check out my full tutorial on how to remember names quickly.

For a fun example that will improve your life immediately, go to your bookshelf or glance through your preferred e-reader.

Jot down a list of names you continually forget but would find helpful if you could remember them.

Then, create a quick Memory Palace. Let’s say you use your kitchen.

Make sure to link each name to a distinctive association.

If name one is Lars, for example, make sure it’s Lars from Metallica pounding the counter with his drum sticks.

If name two is Lucas, have a Star Wars character like Luke Skywalker carving his name into your fridge.

If the third name is Jerry, imagine Jerry Seinfeld dancing in your sink, etc.

Later, revisit the kitchen in your imagination.

Bring each station to mind and simply ask what it was you imagined taking place on each location.

I suggest writing down your answers. Soon you’ll see exactly why I consider the Memory Palace the ultimate link:

Not only does each association help you recall the names on your list. The Memory Palace journey itself links you to the next item in the list in a logical formation.

One that is already in your memory. This fact reduces cognitive load and makes the learning process faster, more interesting and fun.

One of the first ways to use the more advanced version of linking you’ve just discovered is to your studies.

In my full guide to studying faster, I share how I used the technique as part of earning my PhD and passing various certification exams.

Another favorite example is in giving a speech from memory.

In 90 BCE, the unknown author of Rhetorica Ad Herennium created an incredible guide that I used to help me memorize this popular TEDx Talk.

Here are some other example tutorials where I walk you through various goals for which linking is helpful:

How to Memorize Scripture

How to Memorize the Presidents

How to Memorize Vocabulary

How to Memorize Numbers

It’s one thing to read about how others use linking.

The key is to develop your own linking system.

My favorite way to do this is to develop a mnemonic alphabet.

To do this, you simply associate (i.e. link) each letter of the alphabet with a famous figure, pop-culture icon or familiar person in your life.

Here’s a video where I dive deep into how and why this simple exercise is so important for enjoying better recall:

If you think about it, the alphabet is the ultimate mnemonic chain!

To ensure that you always have mnemonic links ready for use, here’s what to do:

Get out a piece of paper and write out associations for each letter of the alphabet. Like this:

Once you’ve completed a list of people coded to the alphabet, create a second list filled with objects.

For example:

Ideally, all of your objects will connect with people or places in some way.

For example, I don’t just think of a weathervane in an abstract way. I’m thinking specifically about weathervane for W as an abstract object. No, I think about how it was used as a weapon in the movie Warlock.

Likewise, with Zorro. I don’t think abstractly about him as a pop culture character.

I focus specifically on Antonio Banderas’ performance of this character. Drawing upon him specifically was particularly helpful when I was learning German, a language packed with Z words.

For example, “zerbrechlich” means “fragile.” I simply saw Banderas as Zorro at a Berlin movie theatre with a few other images to help me memorize the sound and meaning of this word.

To be clear, the link is not just the letter “Z,” but all of the many multi-sensory sensations Banderas as Zorro helps me bring into the Memory Palace.

The next step is to make sure the “links” are always multi-sensory.

When I say that this is the key, that’s not a simplistic cliche. The renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno often used the Latin term “clavis magnus” or “great key” in his memory training books.

To make all of your links multi-sensory, I use the eight main Magnetic Modes: KAVE COGS:

For more ideas, The Memory Book has a broader system of multi-sensory elaborations. It has SEM3, which is based on the linking strategies of Bruno, Peter of Ravenna and Jacobus Publicius.

The KAVE COGS model will sound like it’s missing something to people already familiar with linking.

Often memory teachers say that you have to make the associations in your links strange, crazy and bizarre.

Although that additional layer of mnemonic encoding certainly helps many of us, this study on “Bizarreness as a nonessential variable in mnemonic imagery” confirms that it’s simply not true.

In fact, one of the reasons I worked to develop KAVE COGS is that many people told me that they don’t want their minds cluttered with strange images.

Me neither, quite frankly. And now you have an alternative.

That said, memory competitors like Nelson Dellis are not wrong when they embrace the vigorously strange while memorizing.

As he shared in our discussion of extreme imagery for competition purposes, he imagines whatever is necessary to help him win.

The point is that you have options. You can safely remember more by using multi-sensory links. Or you can explore bizarre imagery.

You should just know that scientists have found that adding weirdness simply isn’t necessary in order to get great results.

Phew — that was quite a deep dive into linking!

And if I’ve succeeded, you’ve seen how even a simple chain of associations can serve as a portal to the larger memory arts used by our ancestors for more ambitious learning goals than memorizing lists.

You’ve also learned more about how advanced mental imagery is multi-sensory.

This means that your memory is not limited by space.

The only limits you face come down to strategy and deliberate practice.

That’s why my message always involves the core suggestion that before you practice with a meaningless list of words, you take a moment to define why you’re memorizing.

Then practice with information that gets you closer to your goal.

That way you can improve your memory while learning in ways that help you experience accomplishment every time you use linking.

So what do you say? Are you ready to put linking to work? If you’d like to go deeper into memory improvement you’ll find more step-by-step exercises inside my  free Memory Improvement Kit.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and please remember:

Every link you create is more than a memory trick.

It’s a step toward mastering your mind and experiencing learning as a lifestyle and an art.

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