Have you ever seen someone you haven’t been in contact with for ages, but they still remember your name but you can’t remember theirs?
Let me guess you just say “Oh hi” and hope that their name pops into your head, or have you ever said the wrong name to someone, and they had to correct you? Yeah, that’s pretty embarrassing…
But what if you could never have to go through those awkward moments ever again, and remember a hundred names right on stage just like Jim Kwik?
In this blog, I am going to show you some tips and tricks to never forget someone’s name.
Why does it matter if I forgot someone’s name?
I know you aren’t being mean by forgetting their name but what it says subconsciously to the other person is that they weren’t that important.
Think about it, to them you’re saying that you couldn’t even be bothered to retain their name, if you want to start a rapport with someone you have to start with remembering their name.
Because people aren’t interested in what you have to offer, if they don’t see that you care about them.
- Tell yourself you’re good at remembering names, I know what you’re thinking, but believe me, your words are powerful, and what you tell yourself can impact how you behave, if you tell yourself I can’t remember names, you’re giving self-doubt, for now on I want you to look in the mirror and tell yourself seven times, “I can remember names!”
- “Practice makes perfect”, if you keep on trying to remember names, you’ll eventually get better at it, since your brain is great at adapting, you can keep on training your brain to retain names and memories until you master it, so don’t shy away or give up.
- Say their name out loud, a lot of people hear the person’s name once then it’s never repeated again, but if you repeat their name out loud it gives your brain a second chance to remember it.
For example:
John: Hi Samuel my name is John.
Samuel: Hi John my name is Samuel, you know John’s a really nice name, what does John mean?
John: Wow! No one’s ever asked me what my name John means, it’s derived from the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning “Graced by God.”, John is a biblical name, first appearing in its Hebrew form in the Old Testament.
Samuel: Wow I didn’t know that’s what John meant that’s really cool.
Samuel: Oh, by the way, John the name Samuel is a male given name and a surname of Hebrew origin meaning either “Name of God”.
John: That’s really interesting, I didn’t know Samuel meant that.
John: Sorry I got to go Samuel I’ll see you later.
Samuel: Ok John I will see you later.
This is really powerful, since you can be corrected early if you get their name wrong, rather than being embarrassing later on, but please don’t constantly use the person’s name or you’ll look weird. 🤣🤣🤣
Do you know what a lot of people don’t say? What their name means we always say “Oh that’s a nice name” but we never go deeper into something as personal as a person’s name.
The reason why you should ask someone what their name means is, that it will make them open up about themself which is crucial for breaking the ice with a new person.
Another way this helps you is that it gives you a better chance of remembering someone’s name especially if it has a meaningful backstory.
Take the name Elliott, at first it doesn’t mean much to remember but what if I told you it means walks with God, now that sounds a lot more interesting doesn’t it?
- Attach the name to an emotion.
Is there a person that you hate and anytime you see them in person or see their name on your phone caller id you sigh and get annoyed?
This is the same tactic you can use to remember new people’s names, the next time you are greeted with a new person try and attach an emotion towards their name, a good method is to use a funny reference.
For example, if someone is called John think in your head John Cena, does this sound silly? Good, that means you’re more likely to remember it if it sounds childish.
Source: https://bit.ly/2Sa1E3d
- Write their name down 10 times, obviously you can’t do this in front of them but there is something the brain feels when you write down onto pen and paper.
FINAL WORDS
Remembering names is the most important thing when it comes to people, so make sure to use these techniques and have people saying “Wow you still remember me!”
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