Haruto's Big Challenge: Rhythmic Rehearsal

2025-07-22 00:00:00 / episode: 447

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Welcome back to Haruto's Memory Mastery, where we follow one IT consultant's journey to improve his memory in English business settings. In our previous episodes, Haruto mastered serial recall, shadowing with delay, and chunking techniques. Today, he faces a new challenge: remembering multiple stakeholder names and roles for an important presentation. Let's see how rhythmic rehearsal can transform his approach to this memory challenge.

CHAPTER 1: THE CHALLENGE

Four weeks into his new role, Haruto had begun to build confidence in his memory abilities.

But this morning, Director Yamamoto had stopped by with news that would test his skills in a new way.

Tanaka-san, next Friday you will present our FinTech Solutions project to their executive team and stakeholders. You'll need to address eight people with different roles and priorities.

The director handed Haruto a document listing the attendees.

Our company policy is not to refer to notes during high-level presentations. It shows command of the material and respect for the audience. I trust you're prepared for this?

Yes, Director. I'll be ready.

As Director Yamamoto walked away, Haruto examined the list with growing concern.

Eight people with different names, roles, and priorities. I can't chunk these effectively because they don't follow a consistent pattern. And I need to remember which face matches which name during the presentation.

He realized this was a new type of memory challenge—one that his current techniques might not fully address.

CHAPTER 2: FRUSTRATION

That afternoon, Haruto prepared a practice presentation in an empty meeting room. Aiko volunteered to observe and provide feedback.

Thank you all for joining today. I'd like to specifically address some key concerns. For our security implementation, Mr. Wilson... no, wait, Mr. Schmidt from Security...

Haruto paused, realizing he had confused the names and roles.

I apologize. Let me restart. For Mr. Wilson from Security...

He continued but soon confused the Product Manager and Finance Director. After several similar mistakes, he stopped in frustration.

That was a good attempt, but you seemed to mix up several names and positions.

I've tried using my chunking technique, but these names and roles don't form logical patterns like project codes. They're all so different.

And you have less than a week to memorize them perfectly.

Haruto nodded, feeling the pressure mounting. Making mistakes with stakeholder names during the actual presentation would be embarrassing for both him and the company.

CHAPTER 3: DISCOVERY

That evening, as Haruto was leaving the office, he heard soft tapping coming from Mei's desk. Curious, he stopped to observe.

Working late, Mei-san?

Just preparing for my presentation tomorrow. I heard you're presenting to the FinTech stakeholders next week.

Yes, and I'm struggling to remember all their names and positions correctly.

Ah, that explains your worried look. I used to have the same problem until I discovered rhythmic rehearsal.

Rhythmic rehearsal?

Mei demonstrated by tapping a simple beat on her desk with her fingers.

Our brains are naturally attuned to rhythm and patterns. Information encoded with rhythm is stored more efficiently and retrieved more easily.

Listen: Mi-chael-Rey-nolds-C-T-O (tapping in rhythm) So-fi-a-Gar-ci-a-Pro-duct (tapping continues)

She continued through several names, each set to the same rhythmic pattern.

The rhythm creates a framework that helps your brain organize and retrieve the information. It's similar to how you can remember song lyrics more easily than prose.

So I create a rhythm for the names and positions?

Yes, and you can group similar roles together with the same rhythm. The key is consistency and practice.

Haruto tried it with the first two names, tapping along as Mei had demonstrated.

Mi-chael-Rey-nolds-C-T-O (tapping) So-fi-a-Gar-ci-a-Pro-duct (tapping)

Exactly. Practice this regularly, and you'll find the names and roles become connected in your memory.

CHAPTER 4: PRACTICE

Over the next few days, Haruto practiced rhythmic rehearsal whenever he had a spare moment.

During his morning train commute, he tapped rhythms quietly on his leg, matching each stakeholder's name and role to a specific pattern. He organized them into three groups: executives, technical roles, and business roles.

A-man-da-John-son-C-E-O (executive rhythm) Mi-chael-Rey-nolds-C-T-O (same executive rhythm)

Na-o-mi-Chen-Fi-nance (business rhythm) Pri-ya-Pa-tel-Cli-ent-Re-la-tions (same business rhythm)

Haruto discovered that adding subtle hand movements for each group enhanced his recall. For executives, he tapped with his index finger; for technical roles, his middle finger; and for business roles, his ring finger.

He tested himself regularly, deliberately mixing up the order and seeing if he could still match names to roles correctly when prompted randomly.

CHAPTER 5: CULTURAL ELEMENT

During lunch the next day, Haruto mentioned his new technique to colleagues.

I've been using rhythm to remember names and roles. It reminds me of how we learned multiplication tables as children in Japan.

Yes, we used rhythm and songs for all kinds of memorization in school. Remember the prefecture song?

But it's interesting—in Japanese business culture, we rarely use these techniques professionally. It would seem too informal.

That's true. When I worked with our German partners, they used all kinds of memory tricks openly in meetings. They even had rhymes for remembering client specifications.

I think there's value in bringing these techniques into our professional work, especially for international business. The results matter more than the method.

This conversation helped Haruto realize that embracing diverse memory techniques wasn't just about improving his own skills—it was about bridging different approaches to business communication.

CHAPTER 6: APPLICATION

The day of the presentation arrived. As Haruto entered the conference room, he saw all eight stakeholders seated around the large table, along with Director Yamamoto.

Tanaka-san will present our implementation plan for the FinTech Solutions project.

As Haruto began his presentation, he subtly tapped his rhythm patterns on his leg under the table, out of sight from the attendees.

Thank you all for joining today. Before I detail our approach, I'd like to address how our solution meets the specific concerns raised by each department.

He turned to the security officer first, the rhythm for technical roles playing in his mind.

Mr. Wilson, your security requirements for user authentication are addressed through our multi-factor approach, which exceeds industry standards while maintaining usability.

He continued through his presentation, addressing each stakeholder by name and referencing their specific area of interest. For the business roles, he tapped their rhythm under the table while speaking.

Ms. Chen, the financial reporting features you requested have been integrated with automated reconciliation to streamline your month-end processes.

Throughout the presentation, Haruto moved smoothly between stakeholders, never hesitating or confusing names and roles. The rhythmic patterns had created clear memory pathways for each person.

CHAPTER 7: SUCCESS

After the presentation, several stakeholders approached Haruto with follow-up questions. He addressed each by name without hesitation.

That was an impressive presentation, Mr. Tanaka. You clearly understood each department's priorities.

Thank you, Ms. Johnson. We've worked hard to align our solution with your company's specific needs.

As the stakeholders left, Director Yamamoto approached.

Very well done, Tanaka-san. You addressed each person appropriately and demonstrated a strong command of the material. The CEO specifically mentioned she appreciated your personalized approach.

Thank you, Director. I wanted to make sure each stakeholder felt their concerns were being directly addressed.

Later that day, Aiko asked Haruto how he had managed to remember everyone so perfectly.

Your presentation was so smooth. How did you keep all those names and roles straight?

I used a technique called rhythmic rehearsal. Let me show you how it works.

As he demonstrated the tapping patterns, Aiko tried it herself and immediately saw the potential.

This could help me in my client meetings too!

CHAPTER 8: REFLECTION

That evening, Haruto updated his memory technique journal.

Rhythmic rehearsal adds another dimension to my memory toolkit. Serial recall helps with sequences, shadowing helps with real-time processing, chunking organizes complex information, and rhythmic rehearsal helps with associating diverse items like names and roles.

As he was finishing his entry, Haruto received an email about an upcoming virtual meeting with international partners joining from noisy locations.

A virtual meeting with background noise and multiple speakers? That will require yet another approach to memory and concentration...

He smiled, knowing that each challenge was making him more effective in his role. His memory toolkit was growing, preparing him for increasingly complex professional situations.

Rhythmic rehearsal taps into our brain's natural affinity for patterns and rhythm, creating stronger neural pathways for information recall. This technique is particularly effective for remembering names, roles, and other information that needs to be associated correctly.

To practice rhythmic rehearsal yourself:

Create simple rhythm patterns for groups of related information
Practice tapping or nodding to the rhythm while rehearsing the information
Use different fingers or subtle movements for different categories
Test yourself by recalling information in random order
Practice regularly to strengthen the rhythmic memory patterns

In our next episode, we'll join Haruto as he learns silent articulation to maintain focus during noisy virtual meetings. Until then, happy practicing!