How To Remember Names Of People You Have Just Met

Have you heard the saying , "the most beautiful word an individual can ever hear is his or her own name being called by another person" ?

All of us feel kind of special if someone we had met earlier remembers our name. Imagine how special you can make another person feel by remembering his/her name from your earlier meeting.

However some people who have trouble remembering faces and names. It can be a really embarrasing and awkward thing for us if the other person realises that you do not remember their name, isn't it?

It can spoil relationship with people. So you can realize the importance of paying attention to people's names. This is specially important for business people while meeting clients or prospective customers. You can either win the loyalty of your clients or lose them due to this.

If someone approaches you and called you by your first name, wouldn't it be embarrassing if you don't reciprocate by saying his or her name back?

Difficulty in remembering names and faces is mainly caused by the fact that names and faces are uninteresting in themselves, hence we tend to forget them easily or do not pay attention to them in the first place.

How do you overcome this problem? Here are a few suggestions to help you remember people's names and faces easily:

1. When you meet someone for the first time and hear their name, repeatedly say it in your mind many times so that it registers firmly. And if possible, use the name as often in the conversation as possible.

You might also tell that you met so and so person to your friends and family members - for example, tell your friend now, and then later to your sister that you just met Jon Nowitzki.

2. If you met someone important who can be a prospective client for you later on, then make special effort in this case to remember his/her name.

After your meeting with them, as soon as its possible for you, write it down their name several times. This way you are acquiring the benefit of a double sense impression ( by adding eye impression to ear impression).

3. You can also visualize the person's name as an object in your mind. See the letters of the name in your imagination, as an image or picture. Exaggerate this as much as you can.

For example - you might imagine the name "Nowitzki" as a big hairy object with 3 eyes and spikes all over.

Or you may visualize Mr. Nowitzki himself lifting this giant word "Nowitzi" over his head, much like a weightlifter.

The more funny and exaggerated your image is, the better chances that it will stick in your mind.

The above techniques all do one simple thing. They force you to pay attention to the name of the other person. When you are visualizing funny images, or writing down or orally repeating the person's name, you are forcing your mind to concentrate on the name so that it registers firmly.