Maximizing Memory Power: Making Sure You
Never Forget Good Ol' What's His Name
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
When was the last time this happened to you?
You are at a business function networking like crazy,
meeting lots of new people helpful for your business. One in
particular you want to remember. You say his name over and
over in your head until you get the chance to write it down.
But by the time you've found the pencil you need, it's --
gone! And so is the person you want to keep track of! Your
faulty memory has lost another potentially useful business
contact.
You're irked, frustrated, embarrassed. But having been
through all this lots and lots of times in the past, you now
are used to it. "I'm just bad with names," you rationalize,
shrugging off this incident as you have dozens before,
unwilling to face the fact that your faulty memory is
costing you big. The real question is: "Am I doomed to this
kind of irksome forgetfulness forever?"
No, says the author of a six-cassette tape program on
remembering names and faces. The truth is, you don't have a
system for training your memory and maximizing your memory's
power. Now, however, you can begin to make better use of
your memory and avoid the "in one ear, out the other"
syndrome which has probably characterized your adult life.
If this is you, pay particular attention to Bob Burg's "On
Your Way To Remembering Names And Faces."
The Problem
Most of us feel that like the brown or blue eyes we were
born with, we have a certain type of memory and any attempt
to improve it is futile. Nothing, of course, could be
further from the truth. Your memory can be trained and
improved. What most of us accept as "bad memory" is simply a
lack of knowledge about how to correctly focus on
information, assess and store it. That's where this cassette
program and its common sense system come in.
Burg's system, recommended by the Editor's Choice section of
Success magazine, combines right to the point information
with his entertaining style of teaching. It isn't the usual
memory course many have experienced and given upon before
seeing themselves improve. I particularly like it because it
is succinct and manageable, especially designed for people
who need to manage their memories better in business
situations.
His system focuses on three simple concepts which have been
explained in other memory books and tapes, yet Burg's way of
getting through to the student is refreshingly different
from others. He prides himself on being a "slow natural
learner," thus an effective teacher.
A Brief Explanation
Burg breaks down the memory improvement process into three
distinct functions: observation, association and
imagination. What does he mean?
Observation is simply original awareness. According to Burg,
"We often blame our 'poor memory' for not knowing a person's
name five minutes, or even five seconds, after we meet them,
when in truth, we never actually caught their name in the
first place. Why? Maybe we were thinking of the next clever
thing we were about to say, or maybe that person had an
intimidating name and we were so sure we'd forget it anyway
that we didn't even bother to try." Burg adds,"We must pay
attention and observe the name in the first place."
Association is simply the joining together of two items: one
item we already know with another we want to remember.
According to Burg, "In the case of the names and faces, the
face is what we already know, the name is what we want to
remember. After all, we might look at a person and say,
'Y'know, I remember your face but can't remember your name,'
but we never look at that person and say, 'Y'know, I
remember your name, but I can't remember your face."
Imagination is simply taking what you've observed and
associated and using your wildest imagination ("also a
learned skill," according to Burg) locking the whole thing
into your "mental filing cabinet."
This is all so sensible, you're going to kick yourself for
not implementing this system years ago. Let's take a common
problem like forgetting names and see how this system work.
Back To Networking Like Crazy
"Jeffrey, this is Dane Carruthers. He's got 35 publications
that publish columns just like yours."
This is obviously a contact I want to remember! Here's how.
Observe
Burg is right. Most of us never get the name in the first
place. Why? We're too busy being self conscious. "Wow," you
might be thinking."This guy's important. I hope I look okay.
Hope my teeth are brushed." You name it. In other words,
during the average introduction you are focusing far more on
yourself than on the person you're meeting.
The first rule for successfully training your memory is to
focus exclusively on the new information as you are getting
it, to make sure you get it. If you're the kind of person
who constantly worries about how you look, smell, etc.,
check yourself out before you meet any new people.
Otherwise, your worry will overwhelm your ability to
concentrate. And without concentration there can be no
memory.
Next, repeat the name. "Nice to meet you, Dane Carruthers."
Note If you're a nice person, you'll realize the person
meeting you is also "bad with names" and you'll help him by
repeating your own at the same time. "I'm Jeffrey Lant."
Next, discuss the name. If the name is unusual, difficult to
pronounce, obviously foreign ask the person about it. Your
objective is to familiarize yourself with this name and that
means gathering more information about it. Sinply hearing
the name once won't do. If it's a name you've never heard
before say, "Lant. That's an unusual name. How do you spell
it? Is it German or what?" Most people will be perfectly
happy to begin a conversation about their favorite subject -
- their own name.
Use small talk to fix the name in your memory. If you don't
begin a conversation by talking about the person's name, by
all means don't launch into a conversation that immediately
makes other demands on your memory. Face it. Your memory can
only absorb so much so quickly. Make it easy by easing into
a sequence that demands complete memory involvement. What
this means in practice is to begin conversations by asking
about subjects that you don't have to remember, like the
weather. While asking these questions, repeat the name to
yourself until you've got it fixed in your mind.
Take a personal snapshot of the person whose name you want
to remember. Pay close attention to how the person looks,
what he is wearing, his total mien. Then fix the name to the
complete picture.
Learn Only A Few Names At Once
This system takes time, of course. It always will. As a
result, you can only learn a few names at once. Personally,
I make it a point when going to a business function to meet
no more than 5 people, but to spend sufficient time with
them until I have the facts I need -- not just limited to
their names -- to fix them forever in my contact bank. This
has always proven effective for me, and I recommend it.
Because your memory needs time to function, give it all the
help you can. Start by arriving early at functions where
you'll be meeting new people. It is easier to concentrate on
people when there are fewer distractions and when you have
relative leisure.
Associate
Once you've really received the name (and the other
information you've gathered), it's time to associate it, to
give yourself the means of easily remembering it.
Use these steps: Find an outstanding, or prominent facial
feature. For instance, big or small eyes, liney forehead,
receding hairline, big or small nose, a scar, high or low
cheekbones. (Burg, by the way, expertly shows you how to
easily find these, and many more within a split second.)
After observing the name, repeat it to make sure you heard
it correctly. "Vera Gold. Have I got that right? Vera Gold?"
You need to be absolutely sure you're trying to remember the
right thing.
Use Your Imagination!
Now, before taking in any more information, visualize the
name using one of these five techniques:
1) Exaggeration of size. Seeing something as bigger than it
actually is will help you remember it. Concentrate on Ms.
Gold's eyebrows and see a HUGE GOLD NUGGET there.
2) Exaggeration of numbers. Don't just think of one of the
thing... think of hundreds or thousands. Thus, see yourself
plucking thousands of gold nuggets out of Ms. Gold's
eyebrows.
3) Physical action... like pain. Think how much it would
hurt to take those huge gold nuggets out of Ms. Gold's
eyebrows.
4) Substitution. Put the visual object in place of the
outstanding or prominent facial feature. Think of Ms. Gold's
eyebrows as nuggets... not eyebrows.
5) Star in your own show. Put yourself into the picture by
making sure you are the one in the association. See yourself
plucking out those nuggets.
Burg's Hint: combine as many of these techniques as possible
for each association.
Now before moving on to the next person (which usually
happens too quickly and hence makes it difficult for you to
remember):
OBSERVE the outstanding or prominent facial feature again.
ASSOCIATE the name with that outstanding feature.
IMAGINE by using the techniques just suggested.
Now you should really have the name!
It Works With All Names... No Matter How Uncommon
As I pointed out to Burg, Gold is a pretty easy name. What
about some difficult ones? Burg was ready for me and reeled
off a bunch:
## Abbott -- a boat
## Abernathy -- a bear nasty
## Blatt -- splatt
## Chandler -- channel
## Doyle -- boil
## Floyd -- fight
## Kaiser -- roll
## Pearce -- Pears
Even a tongue-twister like Haraviewicz becomes... hairy
carrots!.
Rehearsing: The Final Step
As Burg pointed out, however, even following the suggestions
he's provided so far doesn't ensure you'll remember. As
adults, if we want to remember information we must rehearse
it. But this doesn't mean intensively repeating the
information over and over in a single burst of enthusiasm
and then ignoring it. No, the better way is to repeat the
information over the course of several weeks, with longer
and longer intervals between the time we approach it. If you
really want to remember anything, intense concentration is
not as good as periodic review.
Thus, to remember the names you want to recall:
. repeat the names in your conversation. Make use of the
person's name on every chance you get.
. rehearse the names when you're alone.
. use the names when you say "good-bye."
. review new names at the end of the day.
Support
Use external supports to bolster your memory. In the case of
learning new names you can:
- get a list of names and study it before you meet people.
Giving many speeches as I do, I have found this technique
invaluable. You already have the names in advance of meeting
key people. Your job when you meet them is much easier:
associating the name and the person.
- stick with someone who knows people at the function. Not
only have him introduce you but have him provide you with
details about them, details you can fix in your memory.
- record the names afterwards. Put them on a tape recorder
or in a log book with pertinent details about them. Writing
down information gives you not only an external support
system but also another opportunity to fix the name and
further details about the person in your memory.
- create a back-up card file. But don't just file the card.
Annotate it with information about the person. Again, you
have a back-up and another opportunity to fix the details
you need in your mind.
Burg gives you techniques to remember not only the person's
first and last name, but information about them and their
family (in other words, the most important things in that
person's life.)
It's Up To You
We all know that information is power. But what we
occasionally forget is that the ultimate seat of this power
is our own memories, for that's where the information is
lodged.
If you don't take this lesson to heart, you had better be
awfully good at what you do so that people will overlook
your memory failings. Like Marilyn Monroe. Billy Wilder, her
director in several films, tells the story of how in a
single scene she had to say just a single three-word
sentence, "Where's the bourbon?", as she rummaged through
some drawers.
The line came out "Where the whiskey?", "Where's the
bonbon?", "Where the bottle?", but the patient Wilder
rationalized this exasperating behavior by saying, "She's
not a parrot. Anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real
artist to come on the set and not know her lines and give
the performance she did."
Unless you have that kind of talent and work with people
this accommodating, you had better get these materials and
put their sensible guidelines to work for you. Now, quick,
what's the author's name?
****************************
There are many things you've got to know to make more sales.
But one of the most important is remembering names and
faces. Your prospects want to be remembered... and they'll
be impressed not only that you know them... but that you
remember stuff about them, too. That's why you need Bob
Burg's 6 cassette (3 hour) album entitled "On Your Way To
Remembering Names & Faces." It's packed with easy-to-follow
techniques you can use right now. Just $64.95 postpaid from
The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., Suite
507, Cambrige, MA 02138 or with MC/VISA by calling (617)
547-6372. Don't forget to ask for your FREE year's
subscription to this quarterly resource featuring over 125
way to make your business more profitable.
__________________________________
Marketing consultant Dr. Jeffrey Lant is author of many
books, including HOW TO MAKE AT LEAST $100,000 EVERY YEAR AS
A SUCCESSFUL CONSULTANT IN YOUR OWN FIELD and HOW TO MAKE A
WHOLE LOT MORE THAN $1,000,000 WRITING, COMMISSIONING,
PUBLISHING AND SELLING "HOW-TO" INFORMATION. Both are
$39.50 postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog.