To remember you must be able to make an impression upon the brain which you can recall at will. This simple impression of the House may not be recalled as easily as you wish, but there are three simple and natural operations of the mind by the use of which you can strengthen this impression to any degree necessary. By their use you can learn to make an impression that is strong enough to be recalled at will.
The First Aid—Exaggeration
A large object makes a stronger impression upon your mind than a small one, a twenty-story building attracts your attention and impresses you more than a two-story one. Things which you see exaggerated out of their normal proportions make an unusually strong picture upon your brain. The House, which you have seen standing in the yard is small; if you wish to increase the strength of the impression, exaggerate the size of the house and see it as large as a ten-story building. The only limit to the size to which you can exaggerate the object is the limitation of your imagination. You can in this way strengthen the picture until the impression is strong enough to be recalled when needed.
Others Make You Remember
This idea of exaggeration is not new or unusual. There are two professions whose business it is to make us remember and they use this principle in doing it. They are the advertiser and the cartoonist. You have seen this same exaggeration of proportion in nearly every cartoon, but you think nothing of it. The cartoonist, however, knows that he can make a stronger impression upon your mind by its use. You remember the cartoon longer and recall it more easily than most anything you read.
One of the largest advertising companies of the country makes the statement, "A picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to making the public remember." Some of the most successful advertising campaigns have been largely confined to pictures. Almost without exception pictures drawn for advertising purposes take advantage of this principle and strongly exaggerate the proportions. You have seen this in the pictures used by the Goodyear Tire Company, the Bell Telephone Company, and many others. It is illustrated in the picture given here.
