Remembering Names 1

[SomeYahoo]

I was at a conference last week and realized that I have a very difficult time remembering names. Sometimes they are "in one ear and out the other"; I'll be having a conversation and realize I had forgotten their name already. Other times, I concentrate on their name, remember it for the conversation, and forget the next day.

So the question is: what do you do to remember names? I truly believe this is an obstacle I need to overcome.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[DaveVikingPE]

It's a really important talent to remember names. It's one of the few talents you don't have to be born with. Focus on it as it pays good dividends.

If there's one thing all successful politicians have in common it's remember the right people's names.

"I've given up and will ask for someone's name as many times as necessary. I also can't remember faces and ask often "Where have we met?"."

That's an excellent technique, too. It's also a good way to ask someone's name for the last time; that is, you'll remember it from then on.

 

[Radionise2]

I just want to give my opinion from a different perpective here. We, ourselves, also have to make some efforts to get people to remember our names 'easily'.

This is important especially when we are working with people from different backgrounds/nationalities. Being from the East, I can say that quite a number of people from the Asia have long names. I notice similar things among my colleagues say from Africa, Latin America and some part of Europe too. It is also on our part to make sure that people can remember our names when we talk to them. For example:

1. Use a shorter/simplified call name on daily-basis. (You can't teach one all those thermodynamic equation-of-states without first introducing them to the basic ideal gas law, can you?)

2. It's better for us to tell others how we'd like them to address us, before they start to simplify our names according to their own tastes/version. Example, "I'm Defghijk, call me Def!" Now I won't blame you if you can't remember my name as 'Defghijk', but don't tell me you can't remember 'Def'!

3. Additionally, if you have a name card, give it to them.

4. I notice that sadly, some people are discriminative towards the amount of effort they will put in to remember others. For example, if you tend to tell to people, "Hi, I'm Defghijk, I'm a graduate engineer, I wonder if bla bla bla". Chances are that you'd be deemed as less useful for him/her because you are perceived as a graduate employee with no experience and what ever questions or tasks that you are handling would be perceived as non-urgent etc... So chances are that they won't really care if they can remember you. So, why bother telling people "I'm a graduate"? Just say that you are an engineer doing so and so. Enough said.

It can be quite annoying sometimes when people don't pronounce our names properly, particularly full names, or especially if they start to shorten our names not in the way that we want it to be. But don't blame it on others if we haven't make any effort for people TO remember us easily. Only then can we blame the rest for their incompetency to remember our names.

All and all I just want to say is that, like most other communications, this is a 2-way process. People must put in efforts to remember others' names, but we also have responsibility to make ourselves easily and correctly remembered. Sorry for the rambling guys, just my 2 cent opinion.

 

[monkeydog]

An old trick, is when you are at a business meeting with cards being passed around, is place the business card in front of you relative to where the people are sitting (a seating chart of sorts).
Works well, and when someone calls you on it, it makes for light side conversation.