How To Memorize Anything and Make Great Video Posts

Video blogging (or vlogging if you prefer) has started to become all the rage. Bandwidth limits are increasing. Unlimited server space is available. Video sharing websites are popping up all over the internet with YouTube leading the charge. Are you missing out at a golden opportunity to stand out amongst the pack by creating video posts? Why haven’t you started yet?

The two most common reasons why bloggers are reluctant to make the foray into video:

“I get very nervous in front of the camera.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to forget what to say.”

It’s natural that this would be the case, we’re all not born performers – but you can eliminate both of these fears with a simple memorization technique. Let me teach you how.

Before we start though, you first need to do the unimaginable. Jump off the cliff and ditch the script!

Speaking naturally and appearing confident comes from having knowledge of the subject at hand. As long as you have this, a word-for-word script is uneccessary. When you speak to others in your everyday lives, do you read your thoughts from a piece of paper? Of course not. Treat your video post in the same regard – like you’re talking normally to another person.

Ok, I see you’re getting nervous. You’re probably wondering “if I don’t have a script, how will I remember what to say?”

This is simple. It takes only three steps:

1. Speak your thoughts out loud to yourself.. Write them down, not with full sentences, but with key words and phrases. Continue doing so until you believe you’ve hit every point you’d like to make in your video.

2. Create an outline that organizes these phrases in the best chronological order. Eliminate any words that are uneccessary in helping you remember the original thought. Try to narrow this outline down as much as possible.

3. Take a look at this ordered list of words and phrases. While doing so, speak your thoughts as you did previously. Do this again and again until you can simply look at that single word on the paper and remember the thought that represents it.

If you’ve put enough effort into this process, you have now successfully condensed a wealth of information into as little amount of data as possible. In addition, since a pre-written script was never produced, you will seem quite natural on camera and not appear to be reading or reciting words from a page. Pin the list next to your webcam and record away!

Practicing this method over time will make anything easier to memorize. You’ll go from one or two minute video posts to ditching the ordered list altogether and being able to remember half-hour long presentations in a snap.

Don’t be afraid to do video posts anymore! Quash your fears about your confidence and memory. Just remember the three steps above and you’ll do just fine. Oh, do you need help memorizing them? Well…

Jordan Cooper is a 13-year veteran professional stand-up comedian who showcases his sarcastic humor with videos and written rants about blogging, social media & marketing at Not A Pro Blog. You can also catch Jordan on Twitter. He also offers offers comedy coaching for bloggers!