Forbes recently ran an article on tips for remembering names. Now, different things work for different people … and you might find something in the article that works for you. But for me, my mind gets so wrapped up on the “trick” that I either don’t hear the conversation or the “trick is what sticks in my mind.
Take for example the time a Dale Carnegie trainer spoke to one of my groups about this very subject. He used his name (Rick Gallegos) and the trick “association” (Brick Legos) as a way to remember his name. To this day, I struggle to remember his name but Brick Legos is firmly cemented there.
All the tips and tricks and helpful hints aside, here’s my straight talk on the subject. For most of us, our worlds revolve around us. If it doesn’t affect me, then it’s pretty much in some other orbit. When we meet someone, where’s our focus? On them and what they are saying? Or, is the focus inward? On what brilliant thing we’re going to say next? Roaming the room already wondering who else we can meet?
I know I’m guilty of a lack of focus at times. In fact, I love this concept of flow vs. focus. However, remembering names isn’t about flow it’s about focus – outward focus – on them, not us.
Of course, unless you’re networking maybe none of this really matters.