Bad at remembering names

KrankStricher

basquille wrote:

I'm the same...

Typical example is someone i know but haven't seen in a while (e.g. past school-mate) says hello to me in the street and i know their face. And i reckon i know their name and take a stab at it while i'm walking past. "How it's going, X?" (where X = what i think their name is)

And as soon as it's outta my mouth and they've walked past me - i always think "was that their name? I think so... but i'm not sure!"

Irritating but i cope!

Ha, just as well you're not popular enough to carry out full conversations.*humour(no harm intended)


Yeah, I also am hopeless, at face-name recognition, I really am, what's worse is everyone seems to remember me and I am like
"oh yeah I think I spoke to you befor, did I"
or worse once I met a girl the next day, and asked her what she did last night, 'cause I forgot I spent the night drinking with her, but that was more drunkenness I suspect.

simu

There's a useful word for these situations: hey. Can be used instead of a person's name 99% of the time.

arbeitsscheuer

simu wrote:

There's a useful word for these situations: hey. Can be used instead of a person's name 99% of the time.

Being a cockney, I come equipped with a default set of greetings for either gender in the event of monikor-loss:

To a Guy = "mate"
To a Girl = "darlin"

When talking about said guy to other "mates" = "that bloke"
When talking about said girl = "that bird"

Works quite effectively... 99% of the time, as simu said...

Blisterman

That's all well and good, until you have to introduce people.

arbeitsscheuer

Blisterman wrote:

That's all well and good, until you have to introduce people.

Ah, that's where the 1% comes in!!!

Yeah, then I'm screwed.

Nevyn

One of my exs would just ramble along in conversation not introducing people to each other until they would introduce themsleves or I would intoduce myself to them and tell them my name and they having manners would do like wise.
He was pretty awful at remembering names and I soon figured out if he didn't make introductions it was because he had forgotten the names completely but would be please when they would tell me thier name so he could try to remember but well he never did.
We would be out and eventually their would be the whispered comment of 'who is that ?' and I would have to remind him of the persons name.
Yet when it came to old and minor differing techspecs for pc hardwear he could ramble them off no propblem.

damo

I have the exact same problem - i forget peoples names within a matter of seconds, and alot of the time peoples names dont even seem to register, its like a part of my brain shuts off when someone tells me their name - its really weird but its not the end of the world, its a hinderence in some situtions notably talking to girls but its a fairly minor problem.

redman

I would suggest picking up one of Tony Buzan's books, such as Make the most of your mind.

His methods really made a difference with myself and others I have since introduced. I first came across his work in 1988, he started with a TV series on BBC in 1969.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0563487038/ref=pd_sim_b_dp_4/202

http://www.mind-map.com/EN/index.html

He has sections on remembering peoples names and also some great stuff for studying/revision such as Mind Maps.

Redman

Fajitas!

Blisterman wrote:

That's all well and good, until you have to introduce people.

If you're stuck on one persons name, only introduce the other person, for example, "Oh this is my friend James", then they'll go "Oh hi, I'm John"...Meaning they get introduced, and you have a second chance at getting their name!

dbnavan

I am terrible with names, what I do sometimes especially with people i just met I try to associate there name either with someone else I know of the same name or with someone famous, of the same name. Works sometimes helps if u can remember the famous persons name LOL.

Demetrius

I used to be the same way, but now Ive turned the exact opposite. What did I do? If youre introduced to somebody, maintain eye contact for a second and repeat their name a few times internally. If you speak to them, mention their name in a sentence. Also, as mentioned before, focuse in on a characteristic eg beard, glasses.

Blisterman

Actually, I was out last night, and I decided that every person I'm introduced to, I'll think of an association with their name, for example, I met someone called Aran, so I thought "Aran Islands" and it worked. So it looks like I have my answer.

biko

"Everybody complains of their memory, but nobody of their judgement".

French writer François de La Rochefoucauld comments on the limits of human insight.

snorlax

there are lots of different types of memory: short term/ long term/ sensory memory , semantic memory/ retrospective memory etc. wikipedia has a good entry on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory and for some tips http://www.web-us.com/memory/improving_memory.htm (the more deeply you process information the more likely you are to remember it and the less distractions there are around you as these influence the encoding stage of your memory, boards beers being full of distractions !, also if you associate with something you already know it helps to make the retrival/ neural pathways in your brain/ central nervous system stronger eg using semantic memory)