2 ways to better remember names

How often do we tell ourselves we’re ‘bad at names’?

Well this one is for you!

Here are 2 ways to better remember names:

1. Sound association

An English person named Tom = ‘Tom Pom’

A woman with nice hair = ‘Claire Hair’

Someone named Brett = ‘Wet Brett’

The rhyming word doesn’t have to link to the person but any extra associations or meanings you might naturally come up with will make the name stick even more!

Claire might have nice hair.

Alternatively, Brett might not be wet but -

You could imagine he is.

You could imagine him with wet hair and drenched, dripping clothes.

Over time you can start to build even more detail into your images to make them stick even better.

Maybe the squelching sound of Brett walking in his soaked shoes, the feel of shaking his wet hand or the damp smell of his clothes!

It can seriously become quite fun.

2. Name/image association

I’ve already mentioned some image associations above, building from the sound association.

If you can’t think of any easy sound association to start with though, you can start with a name/image association instead!

You might meet a ‘Travis’ -

For me, it makes you think of Travis from the film Clueless.

A casual, cool, skateboarding dude.

= You imagine both Travis’ hanging out, being all buddy buddy, talking to each other in the same language and style, going for a skateboard around the place you’ve just met.

You of course, might have a completely different connection with the name Travis.

So you get to go with whatever makes sense to you!

But there you have a couple of starting tips from me.

Now go forth and meet the people!

Here’s a ‘get started’ challenge to help you:

The next time you meet someone new, ask yourself at the time or reflect afterwards -

Is there a sound association that comes to mind?

Or a name/image association you could have fun creating?

Give it a try!

Want more help with this to impress everyone with your memory for names? Click the ‘book a chat’ link!