Remember names at meetings by making a map
Submitted by Merlin on January 12, 2007 - 11:41am.
Meeting Tip: Learning Names | Gurno.com
As someone who suffers from frequent encoding errors and buffer overflows, I love Adam’s idea to start a meeting by mapping the name and location of each attendant, along with their title, etc. Adam writes:
Step 1 - Reconnoiter
Draw a quick map of the table/layout of the meeting. Place yourself on it, to give yourself a reference point.
Step 2: The Combatants
As people introduce themselves around the table, fill them in. If you feel last names are necessary add those too, but don’t do it at the expense of writing down someone else’s name. You can guess at the last names later. If you miss one, leave it blank and fill it in as soon as you can - if someone else refers to them, etc, etc.
In the times I’ve used similar tricks, like Adam, I also go a step further by adding some “file card” sort of fact that will help jog my memory about who was who months later. E.G.“Jim - weird frat ring; Kathy - said she likes applesauce; Bob - Tall with a toupee.”
I think making everyone into a character of some kind also tends to help me digest their thoughts and ideas more completely.
Good post, Adam.
- Merlin's blog
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[...] Remember names by drawing...
[…] Remember names by drawing a map January 13th, 2007 by Lifehacker Avoid the dreaded “what was your name again?” scenario the next time you’re in a meeting by drawing a map. Here’s how it works: as you are introduced to people, you draw a quick and simple map (much like the one above) with their names and any identifying characteristics you think will help you recall their names later; i.e., Bob/Beard/Good with Numbers, etc. It’s not rocket science, but as someone who’s chronically memory-impaired herself, it’s an easy, effective hack. Got any other tricks to remember names? Thoughts in the comments. — Wendy Boswell Meeting Tip: Learning Names [Gurno.com via 43Folders] […]