Storytelling Myth (#5 of #5) – ‘You Must Have An Incredible Memory’
I’ve never been great at recalling important moments from my childhood, in rich detail.
Are you the same?
I remember a time in the corporate world, when a leadership coach asked me to recount a time when I’d felt unstoppable. The time I won the State Athletics Championships in hurdles sprung to mind. 🏃🏻♀️👇
However when my coach asked me to step them through that race in detail, I felt like I couldn’t.
I could remember the jist of it, but I couldn’t recall it minute by minute as if I was living it again in real-time (i.e. With a commentary of what I did, how I felt, who was standing where, what I did afterwards etc)
Then again, back in 2017 when I was doing my Advanced Storyteller Series at Toastmasters,I had to share an interesting true story.
So I told the story of an epic, unforgettable holiday I went on with my family (where we travelled around in an old school horse-drawn caravan for a week). 🐴 👇
But again I felt like I couldn’t remember it in day-by-day detail.
I could remember key things that happened on that trip, but I couldn’t recount it as if I was experiencing that whole holiday, from start to finish.
Unfortunately, the story I told myself after this was that A) I have a bad memory and B) this means I wouldn’t be good at telling stories. Ouch.
Kinda harsh right!?
Also, as I went on, I came to realise, also untrue.
As most of the stories I share these days are things that have happened very recently.
And that perhaps being able to remember “key things” from a trip over 20 years ago is still pretty good!
So – you don’t need to have a photographic memory of your childhood to be a good storyteller. Cause the times you’ll whip those stories out are few and far between. You need to rely on fresh stories. Which are far easier to recall.
The second realisation I had was that stories are actually FAR EASIER to remember than facts and figures.
So they’re a BETTER option if you feel like you have a ‘bad memory’. Yay!
There’s too many experiences I’ve had (that re-inforce how memorable stories are) to share them all in one article.
But let me share one really interesting thing I learnt about the ability for stories to stick in our minds.
When I was doing research into how ‘memorable’ a story is for a presentation years ago, I discovered that memory champions use the art of storytelling. Because stories are incredibly memorable.
One specific person I came across was Rajveer Meena.
Ever heard of him?
He’s the current World Guinness Memory Champion for remembering the most decimal places of Pi in their correct order.
In 2015 in India, he memorised 70,000 digits of Pi in their correct order whilst blindfolded. 🤯
Which by the way, took him nearly 10 hours to recall!!!
Pretty crazy right!?
Now you might be thinking that perhaps he was just blessed with an incredible memory.
I thought this too. But it’s not correct.
He was actually a struggling student who took to improving his memory as a way to boost his studies.
In order to do this (just like most memory champions), he leveraged the incredible power of stories to turn information into something far more sticky.
He associated the digits with people, objects or events and then had them interact with each-other in a memory palace.
He essentially turned numbers into a chain of events. AKA a series of stories.
That’s the only way he was able to remember so many digits.
But why are stories so much more memorable than facts and figures?
Because stories light up more areas of the brain than facts and figures. They light-up up to 7 areas of the brain as opposed to 2 with facts and figures.
Because generally you see a story in your mind and for most people, visuals are easier to recall than lots of facts delivered as words.
Also, as they’re a chain of events, once you remember one part of a story, it’s generally easier to remember the rest.
IN SUMMARY
If you’re ever worried that you can’t be a good storyteller because you don’t have a good memory……
You can forget about that (pardon the pun) ☺️
Most of the stories you’ll end up telling are not from your childhood, so you don’t need to have a photographic memory.
Also, a story is actually far more memorable than facts and figures are anyway.
So don’t let this myth hold you back. Anyone can become a great storyteller. It’s a skill that can be learnt.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this 5-part storytelling mythbusting series!
Happy New Year too! 🥳 If there’s something you’d like to learn more about in 2026, please let me know in the comments.
Emily
P.S. If you’d like to harness the art of storytelling to build engagement, trust and buy-in, I actually run a live 9-Week Program (The Captivating Storyteller™) dedicated to this. The next cohort of TCS™ starts in Mar 2026. You can check it out, or join the Waitlist here.
Hey, I’m Emily Edgeley, a Public Speaking Coach for the Cybersec industry.
Since 2017 I’ve transformed the lives of thousands, by helping them to communicate with more power. I’ve run 300+ group coaching sessions, coached more than 250 people privately, and helped more than 100+ others give their first ever Conf talk.
I’m on a mission to help anyone in Cybersec communicate with more clarity, impact and confidence. To boost their brand, career and influence.
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