The first tip here is the most important. Unless you are an isolated recluse, you will have thousands of acquaintances with strangers during your lifetime – and like death and taxes, personal announcements are inevitable. Unfortunately, most of us forget the other person’s name once the performance is over. This is how a typical scenario works:
- The other person says to you: “Hello, I’m Sasha”
- You respond by providing your own name: “Nice to meet you, Sasha. I am Philipp. “
- A split second later, you totally forget Sasha’s name because your mind is too busy thinking about the next thing you’re about to say to move the conversation forward, or too focused on listening to Sasha. Likewise, Sasha totally forgets your name.
- The conversation can take a few minutes, and if you and Sasha break up, neither of you can remember the other’s name, but both of you are too embarrassed to ask again.
The main lesson here is that your next chance can be difficult to find if you don’t make an active effort to memorize someone’s name the first time they are told you. You can of course ask a friend, but it’s better to just remember their name the first time. Let’s look at our same introductory scenario again for a better way:
- The other person says to you, “Hello, I’m Sasha.”
- As soon as you hear her name, get in the habit of repeating it a few times in your head: Sasha, Sasha, Sasha. If you want to practice saying it out loud a few times, ask for her name. “Sasha, that is written SASHA?” Or “How do you write that?” The purpose is to hear the name a few times so that you can remember it better. This step should take a few seconds or less, or it may feel uncomfortable.
- Now introduce yourself: “Nice to meet you, Sasha. I am Philipp. “
- Unless you have something urgent to say, let Sasha speak and listen to what she has to say, and keep connecting what she says to her name. Think creatively about how to uniquely associate this name with her face. If you know someone else with the same name, try to associate that person with Sasha. or if you know of a clever reminder to help you remember her name, no matter how absurd it may seem, use it.
- When you finally break up, tell her her name. B. “Great to talk to, Sasha.” This has the dual benefit of making the other person feel good, that you remember their name, and also helps strengthen their name in your head.
With practice, you will find that you will be able to remember people’s names a lot better without being embarrassing.
