Remembering Names

Print Grow Pro is a company that provides sales management expertise and individual account executive coaching. The company president, Craig McConnell, also runs a great blog, which you can read at here.

Recently, Craig decided he was going to share with his readers the ‘tricks’ he uses to help him remember names. The first post is below. Don't forget to visit his blog for his follow up post on remembering names as well as other fantastic tips!

PrintGrowProBESTPRACTICES – Remembering Names #1
Posted on July 30, 2010 under PGP BestPractices.

How good are you at remembering names?

I’m not great, but, for one simple reason, I am a lot better than I used to be: I make remembering names a priority every day (it has become a habit).

That being said, every now and then, as a PrintGrowProBESTPRACTICE, I’m going to share with you the ‘tricks’ I use to help me remember names ( I’d love to know what works for you); here’s #1.

This one is almost too simple, but I feel strongly that one of the reasons we fail to remember names is because we do not make a conscious effort at it (see, I warned you it was simple). When somebody tells you his/her name, by reflex you reply with a “nice to meet you” while your mind is busy judging the person’s appearance, worrying about what you’re going to say, or processing some other information. Consequently, your short-term memory registers the person’s name briefly and discards it before long. Commit to pay attention to the person’s name and deposit it in your longer-term memory and then, at the earliest opportunity, write it down or add it to your Blackberry with some sort of visual to insure you’ll remember it. Our brain can remember pictures a lot better than letters.

If that doesn’t work, try doing what Paul Reiser does: “I don’t remember names, I remember faces. You should be introduced by the face. Whatever it is you remember about that person. ‘Big Nose, Short Pants, come here a second. This is my friend, Hawaiian Shirt, Bad Haircut.”

Additional tips to follow along with a ’name remembering trick’ I learned recently from a young woman who works at a Krispy Kreme down the street from one of my clients here in St. Louis.