Tricks to remember names?

puaCurveBall · 2014-07-10T17:56:28+00:00

30% is technique, but 70% is simply deciding to make the mental effort towards remembering names.

Some techniques:

Think of an old friend, family or celebrity (even cartoons) with the same name, and try to remember that person next to the person you are meeting. Try to fuse the two in your head, so you'll remember the well known person, and thus the name.
Come up with an image based on the name. John = Toilet, Mike = Microphone, Victoria = Victoria Falls (the landmark), etc. Then memorize that image alongside them, associate the two. Even if its only close like Susan = Saxophone, it can be enough to jog your memory.
Repeat the name 3 times as you meet them, focusing on making the name stick. Get used to saying it. So "I'm Curveball. I'm Jason. Jason... Great to meet you Jason. Ditto. So Jason, what are you up to today?"
If it is a group, you can just repeat all the names 3-4 times. After getting the names, try to repeat them going around the group pointing at everyone. Do it until you feel comfortable that you've got everyone. People know remembering names is hard, so even if you take 10-20seconds to do it right as you meet them, they'll still be impressed that you got 4-8 names, and impressed you took the time to care about it.

There are other techniques of memory palaces and advanced things, but this should cover most cases. Still, the real secret is to decide that it is important, and take whatever steps are needed to do it.

Rx_Love · 2014-07-10T17:59:21+00:00

Repeat their name immediately upon their introduction. This is good for life in general not just pickup.

"Hi i'm Val" -"Hi Val, i'm Jessica" "Jessica! good to meet you"

works surprisingly well

Optikputs · 2014-07-10T18:40:29+00:00

I never remember names, I just flat out say: I forgot your name, what is it again?

IFlyAircrafts · 2014-07-11T03:24:21+00:00

I had the same exact problem as you! So I came up with my own technique and I have not even once forgot a girls name since.

Dead simple! Every time you meet a girl and they say "My name is [insert name]" You simply ask them a question on the spelling of their name. So if she says "I'm Sarah" you ask her "now is that Sarah with or without an H"? or for Kelsey just start spelling "K E L S ..." and boom they will jump right in and spell the rest of it for you. (This literally works for any name, even something as simple as Abby, you will find that the girl appreciates you doing this because she has probably met someone named Abbey)

So from there on out you simply refer to her as "Sarah with an H" or "Kelsey with an ey" or "Nicole with a C" After this you keep the conversation going with her name as the topic. Ex. "I'm glad you aren't one of those Sara's without an H, every single one of them is mean" and 99% of the time they will agree with you. Of-course try to keep this as genuine and truthful as possible.

So you literally start off the conversation with her name as the topic, pretty much every single girl loves this! Everyone loves their own name, so actually making a conversation about it, really builds some quick trust, and value! Best part is since YOU actually gave her the "Courtney with a C" name, your brain will never forget it!

Even on a second or third I will refer to her as "Jessica with two Ss" and she is still loving it. Because it shows you actually care!

philosarapter · 2014-07-10T19:11:59+00:00

When they give you their name, immediately repeat it back in a sentence. Saying it helps you remember when you go to say it.

1brajesh · 2014-07-10T19:31:22+00:00

I think remembering names is good for work related connections, but not necessarily for social connections. Agree with optikputs below, if you can't remember her name, be real, and tell her that you forgot her name. You'll get equivalent points for honesty.

TrentVanJames · 2014-07-11T01:39:55+00:00

You're terrible with names. I'm terrible with names. Everyone is terrible with names.

Since I'm incredibly qualified to talk about this because of my psychology minor degree in undergrad, this is because the cerebral cortex controls BOTH things like memory AND perceptual awareness and language. So when you meet someone new, your cerebral cortex kicks into overdrive because you're thinking about making eye contact, having a good handshake, making sure you say "nice to meet you," etc. While your cerebral cortex is doing all this, it doesn't have any further capacity to retain new memory.

Hence, we all suck at remembering the name of anyone we're introduced to for the first time.

There are various mnemonic devices you can use as puaCurveBall said to mitigate this, but overall I wouldn't stress about this. I don't know a single person that is good at remembering names when being introduced.

That being said, once your past the introduction and you have that dreaded feeling of, "holy shit, I don't even know this person's name," here are some tips you can use:

If you're talking to a girl and exchange numbers, usually you'll do this by giving her your number and have her call you, and vice versa. Once she's done this, ask her to input her own name as a contact in your phone. Say, "Here, put in your name... I don't want to assume how it's spelled, I know some people get offended by that." If she goes, "um, okay..." because her name is "Jane," then tell her you once met someone named "Khymm" and she'd get really pissed off whenever anyone assumed it was spelled "Kim" (or any other equivalent -- if you're under age 30, millenial parents love giving their kids 'normal' names with weird-ass spellings, so I'm sure you've met some at some point) which should give her laugh.
If you're with friends, make an intro between them. Your friend should give his name, get hers, and you will be able to remember this easily now, since your brain has settled into the social engagement and your cerebral cortex can balance between handling memory and awareness.
If she brings up her work, ask if she has a business card. "Oh, you're a massage therapist? My friend just mentioned she's looking for one, do you have a card?"
If all else fails, just admit you forgot her name. You seem to already be fine doing this and being funny about this, so just keep going with that. Again, basically EVERYONE is bad at this because of physiological reasons. There's like an 80% chance she forgot yours too, and a 0% chance she'll say, "I'm so offended you forgot my name, you jerk!" and slap you.

joshsway · 2014-07-10T17:17:51+00:00

This is one of the few times when self deprecating humor works wonders.

Title	Tricks to remember names?
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	3
Comments	16
Date	July 10, 2014 5:15 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/seduction
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/2aciot/tricks_to_remember_names/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/seduction/tricks-to-remember-names.1373410 https://theredarchive.com/post/1373410

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