Page 118 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

122 Names and Faces
spelled it with an e or an i. This was fine, until he tried
it with Mrs. Hill.
No, I'm afraid it still pays to remember the name, instead
of resorting to trickery. Not only does it pay to remember
it, but believe me, it's easier than resorting to subterfuge
because it takes much less effort.
People have tried various systems and methods to help
their memory for names. Some use the alphabet, or first
initial method. That is to say, they make a tremendous
effort to retain only the initial of the person's name. This
is more wasted effort, since they usually forget the initial
anyway; and even if they remember the initial, how can
that tell them the person's name? If you address Mr. Adler
as Mr. Armanjian, or vice versa, he isn't going to be pleased
just because the name you called him has the same first
letter as his own.
Although writing things down on paper can sometimes
be helpful in remembering, it cannot be depended upon
as far as memorizing names is concerned. In conjunction
with a good system of association—perhaps, as I will explain
later, but not by itself. If you were able to draw an exact
replica of the person's face, this would be better, since you
would then know which name belongs to which face. You'd
have your two tangibles with which to make some sort of
ridiculous association. But, unfortunately, most of us can't
draw that well, and if we could, it wouldn't be that helpful
that it would make up for the time it would take.
Some memory teachers will tell their students to keep a
"memory book," and write down the name of every person
they want to remember. As I've said, this might help a
little if used together with a good system of association,
but not otherwise. It might help some, of course, if you
wanted to run down the list of names each time you meet
a person, with the hope that the name will come to mind