On
your wedding day, you need to be prepared to greet more people than you do in
typical day, some of whom you have never met. Here are a few good tips to help
you remember all these new names, and feel confident when speaking to your
guests!
Commit
Begin by making a commitment — a conscious decision — to remember people’s
names. Don’t let yourself off easy, blaming a “bad memory.” Forgetting names is
due less to a bad memory than to a lack of application. Tell yourself — because
it’s true — that you can remember names if you want to and if you work at it.
Repeat
After Me
Clearly one of the most effective methods is repetition. When you are first
introduced to someone, use their names several times when you talk to them.
“Hi, Jim, nice to meet you. So, what do you do for a living Jim?” Make sure to
work it into your departure as well - “Jim, it was great to meet you!”
If you don’t catch their name when it was originally told to you, ask for it
again. Saying it immediately will help you remember it when they walk away.
Slow
Down
Where possible, try slowing down your introductions. The more time you take to
make an association - by looking into a person’s eyes, looking at their face
and shaking their hand - the easier it will be to remember their name.
Word
Association Try
to connect a person's name with a familiar image or famous person. For example,
if a woman's name is June, picture a sunny summer afternoon. If a man's name is
Arnold, imagine him as the "Terminator" or striking a body-builder
pose.
Turn
Names into Pictures This
converts the name into an image, which is the language of your memory. For
instance when you meet Barbara think of a barbed wire fence. Attaching a
picture to a name is simple and because you will run into so many people with
the same names, you will need fewer images than you think.
Turn
for Help
If speaking to a person whose name you can’t recall, confidently introduce them
to someone whose name you do know: ‘This is Jason Johnson.’ Then just let the
mystery person complete the introduction.
Cheat
Sheet
Unlike most scenarios, your wedding day allows you the chance to study -
- the seating chart. Before the big day, spending a little time studying who’s
sitting where might just come in handy!
