Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Hey...what's your name again?

10:51 AM 4 comments


Here's a great article from the American Psychological Association about effective ways to remember names.

Also, Fast Company posted a great blog on the same subject.

LET ME ASK YA THIS...

What's your most embarrassing name-forgetting story?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

4 comments:

Yeah I know, it's my own blog and I shouldn't post. But this was one of the stupidest things I've ever done...

I was watching a basketball game at the neighborhood bar when I noticed an old friend sitting across the room. I approached her and said hello. She then introduced me to her friend sitting next to her.

"Scott, this is my friend Lauren."

"Hello Lauren, nice to meet you..."

Lauren and I talked for a few minutes as she told me about her job. She then asked about my job, so I told her about the speaking and writing that I was working on. Asked if I had written anything recently, I told Lauren about an article that ran in February called "10 Effective Ways to Remember Someone's Name."

"I'm soooo bad at names," Lauren said, "I wish I knew ways to remember them."

I then recited the summary of my article and gave Lauren a few pointers on ways to remember names. I felt that as an expert, I should do my best to help her.

After finishing my five minute rant about effective ways to remember names, I pat her on the shoulder, smiled and confidently said, "You know, Stacey..."

...."Whoa...wait a minute....WHAT did you just call me?!" She exclaimed.

Oh no.

"Ummm....Sta...cey?" I muttered under my breath.

"Yeah...my name's Lauren, NOT Stacey. Maybe you should re-read your own article Scott!

Ouch.

Touche, Lauren, touche. Or was it Stacey?

that story is too funny scott!

i forget names sometimes too. on several occasions i've had extended conversations with people without recalling their name, which is pretty awkward to say the least! once i asked someone 'how do you spell your last name' in a last ditch effort to remember, but i was so busted.

I have actually forgotten my own middle name (or rather confused it with my Dad's first name for 15 minutes), and even more impressive (I can hear the crowd's Gasp!) I forgot my best friend's, who I have known since kindergarten, name for two weeks. I didn't want to ask anybody, or look for it. I wanted to remember it. The reason it was two whole weeks, is that I finally gave up and looked in our yearbook.
I don't worry about asking people's names again and again. I just tell them about my best friend's name story, or, in the case of a beautiful woman, I honestly tell her:
"Could you please tell me your name again, because I forget a beautiful woman's name more quickly than any other. I guess it's a safety mechanism to avoid falling in love too easily."
How's that for a line? Too bad it's true. I've forgotten some very pretty women's names, over the years.

Dear Scott, thanks for another super article, i just love this site, thanks for the hard work.

Post a Comment