MegaMemory

Created by Kevin Trudeau as a memory course (16 lessons, originally on cassette tape) and sold on infomercials and at one-session seminars.

Basics

No real difference from the basics of other memory systems. The technique is PegSystem based, using a "Tree List" which associates images with numbers by either shape (1 = Tree) or concept (6 = Gun, because it's a six-shooter.) Also uses a BodyList of ten pegs with names derived from the MajorSystem. Additional PegSystem lists are loci or RomanRoom based, using your home, your car, and anyplace else you are familiar with.

Good Points

Easy to learn. Doesn't appear as daunting as a 100-image PegSystem.

Bad Points

Not very advanced, although there is an Advanced MegaMemory course available which may cover the larger lists. Although the names of the BodyList are based on the MajorSystem (and is a good way to learn the MajorSystem,) there is no explicit reference to the MajorSystem, nor any explanation for the choice of names for the body parts. In fact, the MajorSystem isn't used anywhere else in the course, which seems like a waste.

Discussion

I attended a one-session seminar and purchased the cassette course about ten years ago. Although I got the course at a discount (comparable to what you'd pay for other audio-based memory courses) and I'm glad I got it, I can't recommend it, because everything in the basic course is available elsewhere, either free online or in low-cost books.

Kevin Trudeau is a bit controversial at the moment, but MegaMemory is not a scam. It works. It's just not worth the prices the American Memory Institute was charging, and it was being overhyped as producing "photographic memory". Also, I'm worried about the lack of references. For example, the BodyList was developed to teach a memory system to the blind, but Trudeau implies that he developed it.

--- JohnLaviolette