I had a really bad memory for names 2 years ago, not because I had a bad memory but just because I didn’t care so much to remember names. Then, 2 incidents happened..
1) We were out for dinner as a team and a mentor of mine began addressing the waiter by name(they generally wore tags) and suddenly, this guy started serving us with great pleasure. I was amazed!
2) I read a bunch of books that emphasized that the easiest way to make an impression with people is to remembered their name! :)
So, the effort began. I spent an exciting week with a bunch of truly amazing people.. and I realized that remembering names can be really fun. Here’s an example..
Peter has a wonderful little nephew called Daan. Guess what, we had a camp mate called Daan. His niece is called Finka(reminds me of another RealAcader called Tinka).. and sister Sara(simple enough to remember eh? :))
Now, Daan’s sister’s name is Elaine and Alan(another camp mate) also has a sister with the same name..
Aren’t the patterns fun?
What do we need to do?
We will need to take some effort to make sure we write names down/form maps about people.
For eg: Daan’s sister Elaine’s map in my mind would be – Elaine, Law – related to Daan-political Science, Canada etc.. makes it easier to remember Elaine all of a sudden..
or Daan’s brother’s map would be something like – Robert, runs faster than Daan, pic of Robert on Daan’s desktop wall paper.. :)
How can we do it?
Here are a few tips that may help..
1) Memory is all about forming patterns. It is the exact opposite of decoding logic/algorithms. Here, we just have to create these algo’s for ourselves. Now, everyone has their own programmable computer.. so its a question of what works for you.
2) What works for me is.. if I know when I meet a person that I won’t remember it(we know it.. most likely we can feel it in our gut), I make sure I type their name into Memos on my Palm(do find a place that you look at from time to time) and within 3 days, I am confident I can take the memo off..
3) I also take a bit of time to form mental maps about people. Helps here to prepare.. for example, before the camp I had little maps of people drawn out for myself from applications/intro cards. This may/may not be in our control, but hey.. let’s do the best we can with what we have.. :D
4) Helps understand and get to know people. I know someone whose name means the ‘morning dew’ and his sister’s name means ‘morning’ and somebody else whose special friend means ‘wisdom’ in latin. These things definitely help us remember.. but again, they take effort..
5) There is NOTHING wrong in asking a person you have met after a long time to repeat their names. It can feel bad but its much better than pretending.. :) 1 way that can save your face though is –
5a. Ask them for their phone number as your phone has been reformatted and ask ‘How do I spell your name?’
:)
Hope this Names101 helps whoever necessary. Just as a closing note, it’s worth remembering names.. it works like Magic and all it takes is a bit of effort! :)
Oh, and Big Question
Will I remember all the connections between Daan, Peter and Alan 6 years, or even 6 months from now?
I’m not sure would be the best answer, but atleast I know I can come back to this blog post and refresh my memory.. ha ha ha
:D
A Learning a Day 