How to Use Visualization to Remember Names
The way the human brain is wired makes it easier for people to remember images better than names. You can take advantage of this by associating people's names with images, which will lodge the names more firmly in your memory and make them easier to retrieve.
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Instructions
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When you are introduced to somebody, repeat their name silently to yourself. See if any images pop into your mind. The more far-fetched, humorous, sexy, or gory the images are, the easier they will be to remember. Let your imagination run wild.
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Sometimes a name will easily evoke an image. If you meet someone named Paris, you may immediately think of Paris Hilton, or the Eiffel Tower, or a city map of Paris, or someone that you know who is from Paris.
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If you are drawing a blank, try separating the name into several parts. Albert can be separated into "Al" plus "Bert." For "Al," you might think of Al Bundy, and for "Bert" you might think of the Sesame Street character. The trick is to take these two separate images and combine them. Since images that are gory will stick in your memory, you might think of Al Bundy strangling Bert.
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Find a way to combine your image with the person you just met. Aim for humorous, sexy, or gory images, if possible. You might think of the Paris that you just met hanging by her fingernails off the Eiffel Tower. You might think of Albert as trying to pull Bert out of Al Bundy's strangling hands.
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Concentrate on the image for a moment to fix it in your mind.
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The next time you meet the person, with a little luck you will remember the image you created. Then you can decode the image to get their name. For example, if you run into a woman then remember your image of her hanging off the Eiffel Tower, you can retrieve her name--Paris--from the image. If you run into a man and remember your image of him rescuing Bert from Al Bundy, you can retrieve the man's name -- Al plus Bert equals Albert.
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Tips & Warnings
Have fun with this. The more outlandish the image, the easier it will be to remember.
