In this article we see how to remember names of people.
To misname things is to participate in the unhappiness of the world.
Albert CamusRecently you met a person on the street who greeted you and you don't remember his name?
Or have you forgotten the name of the person who just showed up?
Don't worry, I am quite common situations, in fact, we are often so focused on ourselves that we can't even remember the name of the person who just told us his name.
If from a certain point of view it can be considered normal, it is still useful to learn some tricks to remember the names of the people we come into contact with.
In this article we see how to remember people's names and a little lifehack to make others remember our name.
How to remember people's names
#1 Make a conscious choice to remember. One of the most effective ways to remember people's names is to use willpower. When someone is introduced to you, make a deliberate decision that you want to remember their name and focus. Often this one step alone is more than enough to remember the name that interests you.
#2 Watch out for the pygmalion effect. Many times we do not remember a person's name because we have entered a circle of self-fulfilling prophecies. We constantly tell ourselves that we have little memory, that we can never keep anything in mind and that we do not remember people's names; in this way, however, we make the situation worse. Try not to influence yourself by repeating to yourself that you never remember names or that you have memory problems, the only result you will get will be to flesh out your limiting belief.
#3 Raise your attention. Most of the time we don't remember people's names simply because we weren't careful enough: we thought about something else, didn't listen or were inattentive. For each person the sound of their name is the most melodious and the most important, just as it is for you; when someone shows up they give your attention, nobody likes to be forgotten.
#4 Pay attention to the face. Our brain remembers a face much more easily than a name. To exploit this bug, try to associate the name you just heard with his face. If a new person comes to you, make an association like this: Marisa big smile; Marco long beard. This will connect a feature of his face to the sound of his name. Or you can associate the person's name with a distinguishing feature, such as height. If you are presented with a person named Luca who you find very tall, exclaim: Hi Luca, but how tall you are! In this way you will associate the pitch with its name and in addition you can repeat it and listen to it again.
#5 Let go of the ego. One of the main reasons why we have a hard time remembering names is that we are too focused on ourselves and what we mean. As we saw in the article dedicated to effective communication, this factor is also important to say no to others. When you talk to someone for the first time, let your ego go a little and focus more on your interlocutor.
#6 Needed help. It almost seems superfluous to me to say that repeating the name a few times aloud or in our mind is a great help in remembering it, especially if we use this strategy in conjunction with the other techniques we have seen. Furthermore, repeating the name, perhaps aloud, is useful for activating multiple areas of the brain, including the one dedicated to listening that we will activate again to listen to the name again, as we have seen in point number 4.
#7 Anchor the name. Another very effective ploy for remembering people's names is to associate the name with something we already know. For example, if you are presented with a person called Daniele, associate it with the image of San Daniele ham; for Riccardo you can associate the name to Richard the lionheart. This system bases its effectiveness on the fact that hooking something we want to memorize with information that is already in our mind allows us to create a solid web of memory, just as we saw in the article on how to study better.
An automatic strategy to make our name remember
Applying these tricks should make your life a lot easier, but if you want others to remember your name?
To make sure that others do not forget you you can use the same strategies but in reverse.
For example, I could present myself like this:
Hi, I'm Valerio which means healthy and strong!
I confess that when I tested this phrase in a martial arts gym I was seen as a bit of a weird, even if then by knowing better the people in question everything was clarified.
This trick is a bit bizarre but it is very useful especially when you have to introduce yourself to many people at the same time, like in a school class or in a gym; therefore very useful for a teacher or a coach.
Of course if you find an association with your name imaginative enough to be remembered but not too flashy like mine, you can share it in the comments.
How to remember names step by step
As you have seen remember people's names it's not that difficult, so let's see step by step how to do it.
- Be aware today that you can remember names
- Don't tell yourself that you are forgetful or that you never remember people's names
- Keep your attention high
- Associate the face of your interlocutor with their name
- Repeat the name aloud to hear it again
- Focus on the person in front of you and a little less on yourself
- Work on self-confidence
- Still name something you already know
- Make others remember your name with the passive strategy we've seen
- Practice consistently
