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I am sure you would all agree that trying to learn something off by heart on a deadline is a very stressful experience. Whether it be a speech for work, a wedding or any other social event, having your speech learned can dramatically reduce your nerves. The real issue that comes up when trying to actively learn off a speech is that stress and nerves can dramatically affect your memory. Have you ever been caught off guard or been so nervous when being asked to speak that your mind goes completely blank? You are not alone! This is something that is extremely common and should not stop you from putting yourself out there to speak in future.

So, how can we make it easier and faster to learn off a speech? The first thing of course is preparation. The earlier you can start preparing for this speech, the less nerves and stress you will have as you try to learn it. However, this is not always possible, I like many of you have been given 1 or 2-days notice for an important speech or presentation. The technique I am going to go over is something I have used for many years when learning a script or a speech but I have also used it when studying for an exam.

Anchoring is a term you may be aware of from the worlds of NLP and Hypnotherapy; however, it is not this new technique which you need to learn. Anchoring is a part of human nature and it is something you already do. So, what is anchoring? According to NLPWorld.co.uk it is:

“Anchoring is a neuro-linguistic programming term for the process by which memory recall, state change or other responses become associated with (anchored to) some stimulus, in such a way that perception of the stimulus (the anchor) leads by reflex to the anchored response occurring.”

Now I don’t know about you but that seem like a lot of jargon to me. That definition is an incredibly complicated way of describing something so simple and so natural.

Performers have debated this question for decades. If you ever want to see how nerdy magicians and mentalists really are, just ask this question. So, where do we begin? According to Wikipedia:

“Mentalist is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics.”

I honestly believe magicians think differently to the general public. As a magician you must look at the world differently, in a somewhat deceptive manner. Deception is a word with a lot of negative connotations but magicians use it for good. I call myself an honest deceiver because as a magician and mind reader I tell you I am going to deceive you and then I do it. There is a level of consent to the deception which allows the audience the feel wonder and amazement rather than feeling duped or taken advantage of. Now that we have cleared up what magicians do, lets discuss how we think.

Corporate entertainment is something I am truly passionate about and I feel like it can be utilised a lot more by corporations to achieve their goals. We have probably all been to corporate events with entertainment and corporate events without entertainment and I hope you agree with me that there is a significant difference. Getting the most out of a corporate event is the aim and entire purpose of holding one. Entertainment, especially good entertainment, can allow you to accomplish this. Having spent 15 plus years working at corporate events, here is why I think it is so important and beneficial to the corporation.

There is a cliché that most business deals are done on the golf course. Why is that? When people are having fun, they relax and are more open to engaging with the people around them. This is where entertainment can be used. Yesterday I wrote a blog about the benefits of virtual entertainment and I mentioned how important shared experiences are, shared experiences come into play here again.