BALTIMORE, USA – It was Halloween in Prague.
A friend knew a guy who knew a girl who was going to a party at someone’s apartment.
So I invited myself and went.
And I don’t think I was the only one who had that idea, because the place was packed. I felt sorry for whoever had to clean it up the next morning.
Anyway, at one point I left the crowded living room to see what was going on in the kitchen.
A few guys were standing around telling stories.
It was the Australian vampire’s turn.
He said that once he was on the metro standing next to a woman holding a baby and someone who looked like her husband.
The couple started to argue and the Australian thought she was about to drop her child. So he turned toward her and held out his arms, ready to catch the kid if it fell.
But it didn’t.
And when the doors opened at the next stop the couple exited the train.
Later, when he got home, he reached into his pocket to take out his wallet and discovered that it was gone.
He had been the victim of a pickpocket trap.
(A pickpocket is someone who steals what’s in your pocket, ex. they pick your wallet out of your pocket.)
Pretty good story, right?
I heard it once.
Years ago.
But I still remember it.
And the person who told me the story… What was his name…?
I have no idea.
But that’s the power of a good story.
And also something they never teach you in school, which is:
Words are difficult to remember. But stories are easy.
Why is that?
One reason is, stories have a lot of information. In our mind, we can see things, feel things, even hear sounds and smell smells.
But when we hear a single word, you don’t have that same experience.
I read a lot about memory and learning, and I remember one experiment where people were introduced to a man who said, “My name is Mr. Baker.”
Later, they met another man who said, “I am a baker.”
Almost everyone forgot the first man’s name. But almost everyone remembered the second man’s job.
Same word: baker – Baker. But a huge difference in remembering.
Why is that?
The first time it was just a word. (And words are hard to remember.)
But the second time, the word made you think — maybe you saw a man dressed in a white baker’s uniform, or maybe you remembered the smell of bread, maybe you thought about your favorite bread and felt hungry…
That’s why we remember stories — they make us feel and think — and then we remember them.
That’s also the best way to remember new words.