We forget Words. We forget what was discussed in the last meeting. We stand in front of a group and realise how the common thread has suddenly disappeared. And somehow we have come to terms with this - with the belief that a good memory is something that you either have or you don't have.

Not true.

Memory is not a talent. It is a skill. And like any skill, it can be trained - with the right methods.

The loci method - or: how Cicero gave his speeches

One of these methods is as old as rhetoric itself. Cicero used it to deliver speeches for hours without a single sheet of paper. Greek intellectuals developed it because books were rare and expensive and knowledge had to be stored in the mind. The essence is very simple: our brain remembers places and images with astonishing precision - far better than abstract information. The loci method utilises precisely this. You link what you want to remember with visualised places and create mental connections from successive pieces of information to these places. Locations. You build an inner space for yourself - and walk through it whenever you want to remember.

What sounds like a trick for memory athletes is actually an invitation: into your own imagination, into spatial thinking, into a completely different way of dealing with knowledge.

Why this is a SOCIUS laboratory

Annette Wiesneth is a memory trainer. Nicola Kriesel has been working in organisational development for years. Together we are not only interested in the technology - but what it reveals about us.

How do we deal with what we know in organisations? What do we remember - and what not, and why? What kind of sovereignty is created when I no longer have to search and scroll in a meeting, a moderation or a presentation, but am simply there? What does that do to my presence?

The lab combines practical memory training with reflection. We practise the method - and see what it does to us.