by Jan Risher
In celebration of Shift Key’s one-year anniversary earlier this month, we’d like to share some tips that have helped make us better people — these are also tips that should come in handy during the busiest time of year for social and holiday gatherings. Research says that one of our greatest fears is to forget a name mid introduction. I have experienced such shaming and agree that it ranks close to, but not quite up there with the time my underwear fell from my bags into the aisle of a plane.
As it turns out, mnemonic devices, repetition and the decision to care are at the core of doing a better job to avoid the embarrassment of forgetting a name. (They don’t, however, help with the other embarrassing situation I managed.)
So, here’s what you do:
1) Decide that you are going to put effort into remembering people’s names. That’s right, actually caring helps.
2) Make a connection between a facial feature and the person’s name. For example, “Donna has diamonds in her eyes.” Or, “Mark has an almost mustache.” I realize these sound silly, but they work.
3) Rhyming helps too. “Jane is not a pain.” Or, “Jesse saw Nessy.” Again, they sound silly, but trust me — they work.
4) Repetition is your friend. Ask the new person in your life to repeat his or her name when you’re first introduced. Say the name at that point. Say it again in casual conversation soon thereafter.
At Shift Key, we make communication capital. We are journalists who know how to create original content, the foundational layer of digital marketing. We understand audience and the information your audience wants — whether you are an agency, brand, company or non-profit. Content is the bedrock of digital marketing. Shift Key creates unique and informative content that feeds marketing activities across a mounting number of channels, generating buzz for brands and leads for products and services.