Dear Biff,
I’m terrible at remembering peoples names and have a bad memory. What can I do to improve it?
Vic,
San Diego, CA
Dear Whats-er-face,
Biff once forgot his own brothers name, so he understands where you’re coming from. Being a super genius and having the vast amount of important information overloading his lobes, it’s not always easy for Biff to squeeze in extra data, let alone names.
There are several tricks you could use but Biffs favorite is "Association".
When you’re introduced to someone, if you immediately try to find an association that begins with the same letter as their name, it’ll be that much easier for you. If you can find something that rhymes with their name, you’re golden!
"Face Association" is one of the oldest tricks in the book, where you look at a persons face and pick out their most prominent feature like their big nose, bald head or yellow teeth. The more it stands out, the more you’ll remember. So, if you meet Donna who has a chubby face, you can remember her as “Double Chin Donna”. If you meet Mike, who has a bad 80's style haircut, you can remember him as “Mike the Mullet”. Or Chelsea, who has a thicker beard than your father, you can remember her as “Chelsea Chewbacca”.
Now Biff understands that you’re pretty limited with “Facial Feature Associations”, especially when it comes to matching the beginning letter of their name with a prominent feature, so here are a few more “associations” that will get you out of a pinch…
"Random Association" – You meet Steve who has a stain on his shirt... You can remember him as “Sloppy Steve”.
"Smell Association" – You meet Paula who wears too much perfume... You can remember her as “Pungent Paula”.
"Hollywood Association" – You meet Tom who’s bushy 'stache and hairy chest make him look like he's in the running for the "Magnum P.I. Manly Award"... You can associate him with "Tom Selleck".
"Rhyme Association"- You meet Connie who’s got bigger arms that most of your football buddies… You can remember her as "Brawny Connie".
You don’t have to be nice when trying to associate something, in fact the harsher you are, the more likely you’ll remember it. Now a word of caution... It is VITAL that you not let your “Association Key Word” slip out when you meet said person again or “Gorilla face Gary” might give you a fat lip.
~ Bodacious Biff
What methods do YOU use to remember peoples names? Enlighten Biff by leaving a comment below…
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* For more information about this topic, please check out the "Relevant items that are BIFF APPROVED" on the bottom of this page.
Biff once forgot his own brothers name, so he understands where you’re coming from. Being a super genius and having the vast amount of important information overloading his lobes, it’s not always easy for Biff to squeeze in extra data, let alone names.
There are several tricks you could use but Biffs favorite is "Association".
When you’re introduced to someone, if you immediately try to find an association that begins with the same letter as their name, it’ll be that much easier for you. If you can find something that rhymes with their name, you’re golden!
"Face Association" is one of the oldest tricks in the book, where you look at a persons face and pick out their most prominent feature like their big nose, bald head or yellow teeth. The more it stands out, the more you’ll remember. So, if you meet Donna who has a chubby face, you can remember her as “Double Chin Donna”. If you meet Mike, who has a bad 80's style haircut, you can remember him as “Mike the Mullet”. Or Chelsea, who has a thicker beard than your father, you can remember her as “Chelsea Chewbacca”.
Now Biff understands that you’re pretty limited with “Facial Feature Associations”, especially when it comes to matching the beginning letter of their name with a prominent feature, so here are a few more “associations” that will get you out of a pinch…
"Random Association" – You meet Steve who has a stain on his shirt... You can remember him as “Sloppy Steve”.
"Smell Association" – You meet Paula who wears too much perfume... You can remember her as “Pungent Paula”.
"Hollywood Association" – You meet Tom who’s bushy 'stache and hairy chest make him look like he's in the running for the "Magnum P.I. Manly Award"... You can associate him with "Tom Selleck".
"Rhyme Association"- You meet Connie who’s got bigger arms that most of your football buddies… You can remember her as "Brawny Connie".
You don’t have to be nice when trying to associate something, in fact the harsher you are, the more likely you’ll remember it. Now a word of caution... It is VITAL that you not let your “Association Key Word” slip out when you meet said person again or “Gorilla face Gary” might give you a fat lip.
~ Bodacious Biff
What methods do YOU use to remember peoples names? Enlighten Biff by leaving a comment below…
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