✌️ 85% of People Struggle With This

This week we’re going to cover something that’s so simple, yet so many people struggle with.

It’s the simple act of remembering the name of the person you just met.

How many times have you been introduced to someone and asked their name…

Only to realize a minute later, you totally forgot it.

Happens all the time.

Now think about the flip side.

You meet someone at a conference - and you see them months later.

They come up to you and say “Hey, Keith - great to see you”

You’re shocked that they remembered your name - and you’re embarrassed because you can’t remember theirs so you say...

“Oh, hey….you…good to see you too”

Not a great look.

I struggled with this for many years until I learned a simple trick that helped burn their name into my brain.

So let’s walk through it because to quote the famous book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”…

“A person’s name is the sweetest sound they can hear” - Dale Carnegie

Here’s the 4-Step Process To Remember Names

Step 1: Pay Attention

This may seem obvious - but, actually pay attention when someone tells you your name.

Step 2: Find a Distinctive Facial Feature

As soon as they tell you - take a good look at the person’s face and find their most distinctive feature:

• ears

• nose

• eyes

• lips

• chin

• etc.

Step 3: Associate a Picture with the feature

Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text alone…

and 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual.

So associate that feature with an image.

For example:

You meet Mark and he has larger ears.

So in your mind, you picture Sharpie “markers” flowing from Mark's ears.

Now every time you see Mark - you visualize that image and can easily recall his name. (Markers = Mark)

Ridiculous image right?

In fact, the more ridiculous the association the more likely you are to remember.

Also - it’s important that the image has “action”.

You don’t just see a marker.

You see them flowing out of his ears.

Step 4: Practice

With practice, this will become automatic and you’ll use the same image with people who have the same name.

For example, here are a few I use -

Mark = Markers

Mike = Microphone

Tom = Tom from Tom & Jerry

Joe = Cup of coffee

Paul = Paw

Karen = Carrot

Lisa = Mona Lisa

Heather = Feather

Doug = Shovel Digging

Brian = Brain

And if you ever forget my name - just picture a freshly baked “Quiche” on my big ol’ forehead.

I first learned this technique from Ron White - who is a memory master. Here’s a video of him going into even more detail.

That’s all for this week.

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