Synopsis

Remembering names is a challenge for almost everyone. Remembering the names of all the people you meet at networking events (or anywhere else) is a challenge. Here is a four-step process that works for Dr. Misner.

* Repetition. Ask for the person’s business card. Read it. Read the name out loud and ask the person to repeat it. (This also helps with pronunciation.)

* Use their name in conversation. (More repetition.)

* Connect them with others and use their name when you introduce them.

* Consciously dedicate the person’s name to memory. Look at the business card again after you get home. Remind yourself what the person looked like and what you talked about.

What this whole process amounts to is being present to the situation. When you are with a person, concentrate on that person. And if you reconnect with the person later, your chances of remembering names over a long period of time increases.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of Epsode 478 –

Priscilla:

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you and where are you?

Ivan:

Hi Priscilla. I am doing great. I am actually in Austin, but I am on my way to Toronto, Canada to do a presentation for a good friend of mine for a big event, Raymond Erin. There is a big event every year in Toronto. He invited me to be a keynote speaker there.

Priscilla:

That’s great. You will have to tell us how it goes. What are you teaching us today about remembering names?

Ivan:

Well, listen, people always have a difficult time remembering names and I have to say that I do it, too. I, like most people, have difficulty in remembering names. There are a number of things that I do that help me.

I know that there are so many ways to do it, and people talk about various concepts where you hear the person’s name, rhyme it with something else. If it’s a full moon on a Tuesday, then you do some other thing. I mean, I have a hard time with all of the stuff that I have heard, where you envision them wearing something that sounds kind of like their name and that is how you remember. It. I can’t do that. I know some people can.

Are you able to do that stuff?

Priscilla:

Well, no, not what you just described. Definitely not.

Ivan:

You know, they try to teach me how to think of someone’s name and think of something that rhymes with it, sounds like it and then remember them from that. That just doesn’t work for me for whatever reason.

So what I would say is if what you have is working for you, then you don’t need this podcast. If what you have isn’t working for you, here is what I do try to remember names more effectively.

You know, when you are networking, it is really important to remember the basics of interpersonal communication, things like making eye contact, listening more than you speak and of course, remembering people’s names. I think it show that you are paying attention if you can remember the individual’s name.

To me, part of that is really about being present in the moment and listening, showing that you are interested in that person and their business. Not just that you are interesting but that you are interested in that person.

It can be really challenging to remember names, especially if you are an avid networker. Years ago, I was told about a four step process that will help ensure that I don’t forget people’s names.