How to Easily Remember Names

How to Easily Remember Names

Want to learn how to easily remember someone’s name? This tactic will help you easily solve those awkward situations where someone introduces themselves and you immediately forget their names – oops! We’ll be using three tactics to help you remember names easily:

1. Feature
2. Action
3. Object

First, create a story or association with their name – what’s something about them that’s memorable? What’s a feature that you can remember about them, and connect with them about? This could be the way they wear their hair, or the way they walk, or even their eyes. 

Then, think of an action that you can associate with them. What do they do that reminds you of something? Their hobbies, their career, their passions? Think of that as the action that you’ll remember when you see them, or hear their name.

Lastly, think of an object that you can associate with them that has to do with something about them. For example, you might picture them holding a mic if they’re a singer, or a paintbrush if they’re an artist. This object will remind you of their name once you hear it. You can picture it in your mind, and when you hear their name again, you’ll remember what that object was, and then remember their name.

With these three factors in mind, create a story using those connections that you’ve developed with them. And remember, these are all internal – don’t let the person know that you’re thinking of these things while you’re speaking to them and introducing themselves. Keep it in your mind.

So, what would you do if you meet someone from a different culture, who speaks a different language? How would you remember their name? It can be embarrassing and frustrating to meet someone with a difficult name to pronounce and then forget it, making them have to tell you and sound it out all over again. Avoid that embarrassment by just calmly working through the steps we’ve outlined above.

Here’s an example of someone who’s name I’ve made up, but isn’t too familiar sounding to me: Shonda Curl. The first thing I’d do is take it one word at a time – first name, then last name. Shonda reminds me of Honda, the car company. Curl reminds me of girl. So, I’ll remember her name by going through my steps, feature, action and object, and then remember her full name – Shonda Curl. The next time I see her, I’ll remember her name by remembering those things I’ve associated with her in order to help me remember. ​

It seems silly and time consuming, but you can do these things in a split second. Within a minute of meeting someone, you can have this entire story built out in your mind to remember their name. It won’t take you nearly as long as it took you to read this article – it can happen in a split second, if you just remember to take these steps when you’re introducing yourself to someone new.

In case you missed the last blog about How to Memorise Your Speech in 5 Minutes.  Check it out & make sure to comment below if you liked this blog.