Page 103 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

Develop a Brawny Brain • 87

riety of ways to spell Kathy: Cathy, Kathi, Cathie, and others.
An auditory learner might want to repeat the person’s name
aloud or find a rhyme to the name. One of our friends uses
pretzel to remind him of Wetzel. Linking the name to a physi-
cal object helps kinesthetic learners. Aname such as Harmeyer
contains an arm and an eye. Looking for these 3D representa-
tions of a name helps a kinesthetic learner pay attention.
Once you have your attention focused on a person, it
may help to create a mental picture of the person. Associat-
ing her name with another person or group will help. For
example, if her name is common, link it to people with the
same or similar names whom you already know. Using the
person’s name as soon as possible and often during the first
conversation will help you store the name. However, too
much of a good thing might annoy your new acquaintance.
So go easy!
If you realize that you are easily distracted, and you
know the introduction is coming, you can start noticing
characteristics of the person as you walk over. Practice the
name and the mechanisms you are going to use to remem-
ber the name after the conversation is over and you are
moving away from each other. In other words, you select as
much as possible the time you are concentrating in order to
avoid as many distractions as possible. You also might tell
people at the end of the conversation that you are learning
to remember names and give your own name again. People
usually are relieved and repeat their own name as you say
your good-byes. You can practice as you leave and are less
distracted by the conversation.
You may not feel that introductions are the most impor-
tant concern in your life. And indeed, they may not be unless
you are very active socially or introductions are a business
concern. But regardless of the learning situation, you need to
be in control as much as possible in order to limit the number
of distractions as you try to process information. Remember
the discussion in Chapter 3 regarding the environment and
distractions? Be sure you are truly focusing on the material
you want to transfer to LTM.