Topic 4: Remembering Names and Faces - Introduction
Remembering names and faces is probably the most common reason for people wanting to improve their memories, because it is the one case where written notes will really not help. You can jot down a person's name, but how does that help you when it comes to linking it with his face.
Many people seem happy to carry on forgetting names, thinking they can always get round it somehow, and who cares anyway? Of course, the person who does care is the one whose name has been forgotten.
People like to be called by their names. For example, if you go to a local shop regularly how do you prefer to be addressed - 'Hello Mr/Mrs/Miss so - and - so', 'Hello luv/dear/dearie/', or with a vacant stare? If the shopkeeper has taken the trouble to remember your name, you will probably have a higher opinion of him or her and possibly be more likely to frequent the shop.
Most of us recognise faces - it's the names that cause us trouble. After all, have you ever heard someone say 'I know your name, but I don't recognise your face'?
Since we can usually remember faces, the best system to use for remembering names and faces is one where the face actually tells us the name. To do this, you simply need to associate the name to his face.
To do this there are two steps involved :
- Forming a mental picture of the name.
- Associating that picture to the face.
Tutorial 4 shows you how any surname, however long or complicated, can be pictured.
Tutorial 5 demonstrates how to associate a mental picture of a person's name to that person's face, giving you a never - fail system for remembering names and faces.