Guest Post by Scott Bourne

Are you good with names, faces or both? I am better with faces than names. I speak at and attend about a dozen conventions/conferences each year. I’ve been doing that for a while. I’ve met literally tens of thousands of people in my life. I have to admit, I have trouble remembering names. It’s especially hard when everyone in the audience knows who you are – but you don’t know who they are. But names are important. Nobody likes to have their name forgotten. Sure, they understand why I don’t remember every name, but it doesn’t mean they like it.

So I’ve taken it upon myself to do better. It’s going to be hard. I’ll probably have to be content with aspiring to suck less, rather than to be good at it.

In any event, here are some techniques I am using to get better at remembering names. Please feel free to leave any suggestions for remembering names that you use in the comments box.

1. When I meet you, I’ll say your name at least twice. As in, “Hello Jayna Wilson – is that Jayna with a “Y” or just an “A?” Combining this with hearing the name from you, I’ll have heard it three times in a few seconds.

2. I may spell your name back to you for further confirmation and retention.

3. If you hand me a business card, I’ll pay strict attention to it while you say your name and/or I’ll read your name (and your title if any) back to you while focusing on your business card. This is a trick I learned in Japan. In that country handing someone a business card is kind of a big deal – as it should be – and this trick of reading and speaking the name helps with retention.

4. I may even write the name down on a notepad I often carry. Speaking it, hearing it and writing it, will increase retention.

5. I’ll ask where you’re from and then repeat that in association with your name. “Hi Jayna Wilson from Lexington, Kentucky.”

This isn’t an exhaustive list. But it’s a starting point. Oh, and if all else fails, get a traveling assistant like Christy Penn who can remember every name she’s ever heard and who can whisper in your ear valuable information like – “Oh, don’t you remember? That’s Jayna Wilson from Lexington, Kentucky. You met her last year at Skip’s Summer School. She has a children’s portrait business. Her two boys’ names are Eric and Allen.” God bless you Christy. God bless you!