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Bob Gray discovered his first memory technique when he was seven. He was given a magic book that showed him how to remember a twenty-item list. Shortly thereafter he was called on to 'do the memory trick' at family parties and gatherings.Encouraged by praise at home, he began to find memory techniques could have a valuable role in other aspects of his life. With a little ingenuity, he adapted the 'memory trick' to help him with his work at school. The reward was a significant rise in his grades.
Years later, Bob immigrated to Canada from his native England. At the time he was working as an entertainer, and he had to prove to Immigration that he wasn't taking a job away from a Canadian. As the Immigration authority quickly learned, he wasn't taking a job away from anyone else in the world! Traveling and entertaining under the stage name of 'Backwards Bob the Memory Man,' Bob demonstrated the unique abilities that have netted him a place in the 'Guinness Book of World Records' and a recent appearance on 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
For the first several years after arriving in Canada, he traveled throughout North America, appearing in Comedy Clubs, Colleges and Universities, where he demonstrated his unique abilities in front of tens of thousands of people. Soon however, he decided to take a break from the road and entered the business world. Starting in the Fitness Industry, he quickly found that by adapting the memory techniques he had been studying and developing over the years, he was able to move ahead in his career faster than he or anyone else had expected. From never losing track of detailed information, to remembering everything about his many clients, including not only their names and occupations, but also the names of their family members, their birthdays, hobbies and fitness goals, he got the job done with confidence and ease. Along with making a lot of new friends, Bob saw the sales retention of his company increase by 13% in the first year alone.
After teaching his memory techniques to his own sales staff, with highly acclaimed results, there was a phenomenal demand for him to teach his systems to other companies and organizations. At one point, he was invited to share his techniques at a national fitness convention. Because he incorporated his unique brand of humor and the incredible abilities he had developed in his stage days, his presentation was an instant success. From then on, there was no looking back. Bob was again doing what he loved. He was performing. Only this time, he also had the satisfaction of knowing that he was educating his audience as much as - if not more than - entertaining them.
A recognized authority on memory systems, Bob has spent the last twenty years traveling the globe entertaining and training corporations, governments and associations to adapt memory systems for their particular needs. He has developed a series of sales oriented personal development keynotes and workshops, which have been popular on four continents, as well as writing the best selling book "Right Brain Rapid Recall".
When Bob is not traveling or developing his memory systems, he is an avid golfer and enjoys playing squash and blues piano. He resides outside of Toronto with his wife and their twelve-year-old daughter who has been memorizing a list of twenty items at family parties since she was six. Bob also enjoys setting new records for the people at Guinness, and is currently training himself for 'Speed Calendar Memorization,' another mental feat he is happy to teach to interested parties.
His many TV appearances include, 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not,' ABC Regis Philbin, NBC Today Show, CBC and Britain's BBC 1.
PRESENTATION TOPICS
"Right Brain Rapid Recall" (45-60 Minute Keynote)
In this interactive Keynote Presentation, Bob reveals the untapped memory potential in each of us.
He begins by sharing the hilarious story of how his unique skills enabled him to immigrate into Canada. The fact that he was able to write extemporaneously upside down (plus upside down and backwards with both hands and feet while blindfolded and speaking phonetically backwards) pretty much proved to a stunned immigration official that he was not taking a job from a Canadian - or for that matter, anyone else on the planet!
Bob then delivers two incredibly powerful memory demonstrations, which never fail to astonish. After entertaining the audience with his own memory, he enriches their minds by teaching the hilarious and practical 'Chain' system. (A system dating all the way back to ancient Greece, which is an invaluable tool for memorizing speeches, presentations lists, complex equations and more!)
The members of the audience always leave grinning and eager to test their new skills. Watch them practice recall at conferences, on the road, at home, and at the office.
"I'm No Good With Names...But I Never Forget A Face!" (90 minute Keynote)
With this longer version of his 45-60 minute keynote, Bob is able to share the #1 memory problem in business today - how to recall clients' names.
How often have you bumped into clients, or customers, or someone you know you have been introduced to, perhaps two or three times before, but for the life of you, can't remember his name, or hers? And the harder you try to remember, the farther it seems to slip from your mind? Socially, this can be extremely embarrassing, but in business, it can be disastrous. With our lives already so hectic, and the number of people who are important to us increasing every day, we need an instant and easy way to keep each and every one of them active in our memory.
The sweetest sound to someone is the sound of his or her own name. By forgetting a person's name, you show not only a lack of respect, but you might just as well say that this individual is of no importance to you. Conversely, by recalling a correct name, especially after only one introduction, you will not only engage and flatter its owner, but you will be remembered for your thoughtful interest.
In his amusing, unusual and empowering presentation, Bob reveals a wonderful method to easily recall and store into memory the names of new friends and business acquaintances. Having been taught the system, participants are quickly and easily able to recall both first and last names of several new acquaintances as they are introduced during the presentation. It's a hilarious system that will have the audience in hysterics...and it works!
"181 Minutes to Total Recall" (3-5 Hour Fun Interactive Workshop)
In this half or full day workshop Bob will introduce the group to four major memory systems. Expanding on his ninety-minute keynote, he will introduce them to the Peg System and The Phonetic Index.
The Peg System gives the student the ability to memorize schedules, calendars, meetings, feature lists and rules and regulations. It is one of the easiest time savers you'll ever learn.
The Phonetic Index, which is often considered to be the single most powerful memory system ever devised, was developed over three hundred years ago. Yet, until now, has been known by only a handful of scholars and experts. Bob retrieved the Phonetic Index from history's dustbin, revamped it, and made it directly applicable for today's business leaders. This system gives the user the ability to recall the biggest stumper of them all - numerical information. On a basic level, the Phonetic Index makes the memorization of phone numbers and serial numbers as easy as smiling.
Using it in conjunction with some of Bob's other techniques, it becomes a valuable resource, allowing the student to recall deep banks of information. As an example of this, Bob demonstrates how he himself has memorized the capitals, population and square mileage of every nation on earth, as well as the major world events for every year of the twentieth century. In the workshops, groups never fail to amaze themselves by memorizing, both forwards and in reverse, a randomly generated thirty-digit number. It is an exercise that shows the incredible, untapped potential in each of us.
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