The new semester has started and it can be challenging to remember the names of new classmates. But for Valentin Michel, who’s doing a double-degree Master’s in Management at NUS Business School and HEC Paris, recalling more than 100 of his classmates’ details is easy.
Valentin’s strong memory works as an effective icebreaker; he is also the co-founder of Clever, a training firm that trains individuals to improve their memorisation skills. He was preparing for France’s entrance exam to HEC Paris when he first realised the value of a good memory.
“I needed a method to digest an incredible amount of information,” Valentin said. The content spanned across economics, philosophy, mathematical theorems and foreign language. “I had to read books in all these disciplines, to understand and remember more information than my fellow students in the competitive exams.”
The art of memorisation
Valentin then found out about memorisation by watching variety shows where contestants perform feats like remembering more than 150 dates in five minutes, thousands of numbers in a limited amount of time or playing card decks in less than a minute.
Playing a pivotal role in introducing Valentin to the world of memorisation techniques was Yoann Allardin, whom Valentin met during a preparatory class for the HEC Paris entrance exam. “He showed me videos of memorisation world championships and introduced me to the methods,” said Valentin. Yoann would eventually become the co-founder of Clever.
He learned that the methods are based on the Art of Memory. Originating from Ancient Greece (700-480 B.C.), it describes a set of memory device principles that use visualisations of places to aid memorisation.
“Fundamentally, you mentally walk around a place you know – your home, your parents’ home, the NUS campus – and place images, actions, stories on your path. These will remind you of the concepts you want to remember in your lessons,” said Valentin.
Applying these methods, he passed his entrance exams for HEC Paris, and soon took university degrees in parallel — a master’s in business law, a bachelor in economics and the double-degree MSc in Management programme. “Without these techniques, I simply would not have been able to carry out all this academic learning and lead an active student life.”
Today at NUS Business School, Valentin uses memorisation methods in his classes. Being able to retain information enables him to be more at ease during presentations and exams. He even taught the first 100 decimal places of pi to some of his classmates!
Memories to new horizons
In 2020, Valentin and Yoann co-wrote a book on memorisation in French, Révélez les super pouvoirs de votre mémoire (Reveal The Super Powers of Your Memory). Their training firm Clever also set up courses in French universities and online training sessions.
Valentin is already looking ahead. He plans to publish an English version of his book by 2022 to reach more people. “I think that NUS is the best university to open doors for me in Asia in the future,” said Valentin, who was impressed by the quality of the faculty and the diversity of the modules.