There's a reason we can't remember names but do remember faces. Names are arbitrary. Faces are unique.
We also remember other unique things, like the circumstances of meeting people.
I find it easier to remember people with unique names.
Many of the people you meet are going to have extremely ordinary names like John and Jeff and George and Jennifer. How can you remember one more John or one more Jeff?
I try to give people mental nicknames -- like for a man named Garber I'll tell myself, "he looks like a baby, the Gerber baby." Or a judge named Stitt, "Judge Stitt doesn't stint."
This is one reason I go to professional meetings a lot, so the names are in front of me several times a year. I "know" a few hundred people -- if I have a really hard time with the name, I give them a public nickname. Like, one lady whose name I always forget is now "Boss Lady."
And one trick I have been trying lately is, when I see someone I haven't seen in a while, I shake their hand and tell them my name, "hi, Cobalt Blue, nice to see you again." They always tell me "of course I know your name," but so far few of them get the hint and remind me of their name. But they seem grateful that I reminded them of my name, so their name doesn't tend to come up as an issue. |
