Just as a funnel concentrates a large volume of liquid into a small opening, learn general concepts before trying to memorize details. Details make more sense and are easier to remember when learned in the context of a general framework. Outlines help with this because they are organized from the general to the specific.
Pay close attention to detail. It is difficult to remember something if you don't focus your attention on it. Find a way to make the thing you want to remember meaningful. Associate it with something else, so that bringing to mind the associated thing helps you remember. This creates a mental "hook," or cue, that will help your recall.
Short-term memory allows us to remember a limited number of items -- usually seven to nine -- at one time. Therefore, "chunking" larger numbers of items into a smaller number of groups allows us to remember more. A long list of foods, for example, might be grouped into fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy. "In recent decades," according to Ben Zimmer, "the study of language acquisition and instruction has increasingly focused on 'chunking': how children learn language not so much on a word-by-word basis but in larger 'lexical chunks' or meaningful strings of words that are committed to memory.'"
Read or recite aloud the information you want to memorize. This makes use of your senses of sight and hearing; using more than one sense increases the likelihood that you will remember it. Read the information verbatim, answer questions about it, or use flash cards to test yourself. You can also pretend to teach the material to an imaginary class, which forces you to think it through and present it clearly.
Use diagrams, tables, pictures, charts and graphs to illustrate the material you need to learn. This allows you to see relationships among the various parts. Writing out vocabulary or mathematical formulas also provides a visual cue that makes you think about the information more intensely than simply looking at it would do.
Memorization of material that must be learned by rote can be facilitated by using mnemonic techniques. A mnemonic is defined as something that is intended to assist memory. One common type of mnemonic technique is using the first letter of a group of words to form a new word that helps you remember the group. An example would be using "HOMES" to help remember the names of the five Great Lakes --- Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
The loci memorization method involves imagining a route you often take and know well. Identify landmarks along the route and assign each item on a list you need to remember to one of the landmarks. To recall the list, take a mental journey along the path and "pick up" the items on the list from their associated landmarks. Similarly, you can create an imaginary structure out of the items on your list. If you need butter, an orange and a can of tuna at the grocery store, for instance, picture the tuna sitting atop the box of butter and the orange balanced on the tuna. The picture will be easier to remember than the list.
Don't attempt to memorize everything you need to know for an exam at one sitting. Spread your study over a period of days or weeks -- the longer the better. You will learn more and retain it better if you learn it in smaller sections, reviewing previous material as you progress.
A good time to do your recitation and rote learning is before going to bed. Read or say your material aloud two or three times. Though it may seem as though not much of what you are attempting to learn is sinking in because you are tired, you will be surprised to find that you remember it well the following morning.