S5 E8: How to improve your memory and cognitive ability with World Record Holder Dave Farrow

Dave Faro discusses how childhood diagnoses of ADHD and dyslexia led him to develop brain training methods aimed at practical learning rather than “memory athlete” competition, including inventing five techniques and a “memory modes” syllabus tested in a double-blind study at McGill University. He explains that mnemonics work by making information feel novel, and argues people differ in what triggers novelty (action, exaggeration, personalisation, oddity, fantastical), with “teacher bias” causing mismatches. Faro recounts his Guinness records memorising 59 shuffled decks (3,068 cards) using compression and training. He teaches a names-and-faces “costume party” method using the first visualizable association, plus recall “shadow memory” tactics (look up/slow breathing; question technique; journaling questions before sleep). He covers stress effects (cortisol), meditation, ADHD as risk-oriented wiring, “focus bursts” timed study intervals, his multi-business experience during COVID, his PR agency’s trend-and-demographic publicity formula, and basics of sight-based speed reading.

00:00 Meet Dave Pharaoh

01:09 Why Memory Training

03:10 Memory Modes Breakthrough

04:24 Guinness Card Record

06:50 How Mnemonics Work

10:02 Finding Your Style

13:47 Names and Faces Trick

17:14 Trusting Your Memory

25:44 Recall and Shadow Methods

31:50 Staying Calm Under Pressure

38:27 Mindfulness Over Panic