How to Remember Names

Whatshisface... Ya know, that guy... I can see her in my head, but can't remember her name... Do you find yourself saying that too often? Is it hard for you to remember names and faces, and when you meet people for the second time you don't remember meeting them the first?

This tutorial will give you memory clues and help for remembering names when you meet people.

Repeat after me: repetition, repetition, repetition. When you are first introduced to someone, use their names several times when you talk to them. "Hi, Jim, nice to meet you. So, what do you do for a living Jim? Do you have any kids, Jim? Jim, it was great to meet you!" If you don't catch their name when it was originally told to you, ask for it again. Saying it immediately will help you remember it when they walk away.

Guilty by association. You can remember someone by who they were with. For example, if you know Sam and he introduces you to Kathleen, you can use the letters from their two names to make S&K. Here, there is a store called S&K Men's Mart, so I would remember that by linking those two together. You can use other similar memory clues to remember someone. Warning: If you see Kathleen alone without Sam, you may not remember her name since it was linked to someone else. My fiance is Jennica, so people remember us at Church as J&J, Jeremy & Jennica, though if we are apart, they sometimes have difficulty with the memory clue of J&J since it is linked to both of us.

She's got the look! Another memory method is to link their name to feature or characteristic. If they resemble something and their name sounds similar to that, or begins with the first letter, you can use that as a memory clue. For example: if you know someone named Ryan who has big blonde hair, you might think of him as "Lion Ryan" because of his "golden mane". Or, you know a girl named Tiffany who is Tall, she becomes Tall Tiffany. Sometimes your memory clues get way out there, the farther out, oftentimes the easier it is to remember their name. A word of caution, if it is something that might offend, don't tell them what their memory clue is!

Famous names. Some of my friends have famous actors or actresses names, of those of other famous people. I know a girl whose last name is the same as a famous sports announcer, so I can remember her whole name by associating her as his daughter, even though she isn't. Even if their name isn't exactly the same as a famous person, if it sounds close, it can work. I have an associate whose name is close to James Bond, so I think of him as a spy in order to remember his name.

Ask again. If you run into someone whose name you have forgotten, ask again. It isn't bad to ask someone for their name again, but try some of the memory clues to see if you can remember it for the next time you run into them!