8 TACTICS TO HELP YOU REMEMBER NAMES

Delete the sentence “I am not good at remembering names” from your speech. As soon as you give yourself permission, you will forget names.  Say this outloud,
"I am excellent at remembering names.”

So, what I do is when I meet someone for the first time, I use their names three times. The first one is easy, “Nice to meet you, Lindsay.” The last one should be easy too: “pleasure to have met you, Benny.” Then, add one in the middle: “What is it that you do, Andrew?”, “What is your connection with this group, Sara?” There is a better chance you will remember the name after you have said it
three times.      
​

I associate the name to someone else in my life or some famous person or character. I always remember Steves and Joes because my brothers’ names are Steve and Joe. I always remember Marias because when I meet them I sing West Side Story or Sound of Music words.

At small meetings, I ask that everyone has a
name tag in front of them. At keynotes,  I ask everyone to wear a nametag. At business lunches,
​I take business cards and put them in front of me in the order in which people are seated.

​My wife, Peggy, is my accomplice. If I go to a company’s holiday party and I have not seen people for months and months, I say
“Hi, meet my wife Peggy.” And they introduce themselves. (Note: Many of my clients I meet in workshops are helping me with this. They are my accomplices. They will come up to me and say, “Hi Michael, Dakota.” I get to say, “I remember you, Dakota.” ​ Be nice, be an accomplice!)

‘Fess up. If I meet someone on a street six months after our initial meeting, I will apologize that I don’t remember their name. No one ever is offended. Note: this does not work for family members and employees.

I carry a little pad and pen with me at all times. This is especially helpful for unusual names.
You can accent the syllable, write it phonetically. I also use the pad to notate their childrens’ and dog’s names.

Do your homework. I have a client in Wisconsin who has several factories that we sometimes visit when I come. Before he goes into each factory, he references a company directory to match names and photos. He walks into that factory and calls someone by name on the assembly line and their cup gets filled to overflowing. 

I applaud you for coming to this page for that reflects a desire for growth and change.
​Right on!