How to Remember People's Names

09/27/2011 13:04

On the last post I discussed the importance of getting out and meeting new, non-virtual people. There are all types of suggestions on how to make friends, but experts say that one of the best ways to make a connection is simply by remembering people's names.

 

This seems easy enough, but we have all experienced those awkward moments where you just can't remember the name of someone that you have met several times. Usually, you end up bumping into this person while you are out with your friends and are faced with the situation of having to make introductions. There is no good way out of this predicament. Your only options are to:

a.) Admit that you don't remember his name (and look like you don't care).

b.) Say hello, but avoid introducing him to your friends (and look like a snob).

c.) Try to dodge the person entirely by pretending like you didn't see him (this rarely works, so you will likely just look like a jerk).

 

The only way to avoid such a lose-lose situation is to learn how to remember people's names. There are all kinds of legitimate ways to help you get better at this, but I have found a very simple mnemonic system that works for me.

 

All you have to do is to find something that stands out about the person and figure out a way that it relates to his/her name. For example, if you meet a lady named Bonnie and she has big hair, you could remember her name by saying to yourself, "Big Hair Bonnie." You can also turn their name into a phrase that says something about them. For instance, if you are trying to remember the last name Manchester and this Manchester person has notoriously bad breath, you could create the phrase, "Man, Chester needs a breath mint!" Pretty soon their names will come automatically and you won't have to use your little sayings. You can walk around with the confidence that you know the names of everyone from your pizza man to your probation officer (what, you don't have one?)

 

This isn't really a new idea, and if you've ever played the name game in school then you basically already know how to do it. Just keep it simple, because if it gets too complicated you won't be able to remember your mnemonic devices, although it seems to work for Michael Scott…