QUESTION: What's your best trick for remembering someone's name at a networking event or meetup?

Hi Jessica,

I have a rather unique way of remembering peoples names. In my old job I used to work with a team of 15-20 new people every time I did a shift and so someone told me their technique. I associate the persons name with someone famous I know! Simple as that.

I hope this may help other people in remembering peoples names!

Kind Regards,

Emily

Hi @Jess W,

That is a great question, one that I wish I have completely mastered.  When I first meet a person at an event, I will always repeat their name to myself multiple times to try to help it stick longer.  If I am in a situation where I can write it down, I try to draw a little map that shows where people are seated along with something memorable from their introduction.

Unfortunately this trick does not always work if there is a large amount of time between interactions ( days or weeks), in those situations I find it very useful to team up at networking events.  In most situations you will have a least a quick moment to signal your partner in crime to extract the name for you by quickly introducing themselves.

The best way I have found to be forgiven for forgetting a persons name, is to say something like.... "If I remember correctly, the last time we met you were....." insert something unique"  how has that been going?

So, now that you all know my secret tricks, I will have to come up with some new ones to use! 

Hi @Jess W,

Business was great, then one big customer delayed me, I was off sick for a week, and another big customer dropped me completely! Not because I did anything wrong, but because they took their own bad advice about the needs of their garden.

Anyway, out of the blue I got a free 30 day trail with Rated People and got about 10 new leads in 2 weeks. Talk about chaos! Anyway, thankfully, for now, my time is filled up!

Here's the link - I had to see a Ted, a Terry, and a Trevor! Yes, I got their names mixed up multiple times :smileylol:

I never go to meetups or networking events for my business. But the way I remember people's names is to pretty much be open about having to make an effort to remember it. I look at them thoughtfully, repeat their name several times like a parrot, and say out loud how I think I'll remember it. Like I met a Mat and an Ally recently, a couple. So I think of "alley mat" and that's how I remember it. I basically said this at our first meeting, saying it out loud seems to help a lot!

It's a humorous moment in time. You have to spend some seconds on it with each new person. If I just say hello and move on I always forget their name.