How to Remember People's Names: Memorize Names INSTANTLY | Jim Kwik

Welcome back, Kwik Brain, to your Kwik Recall. I'm your brain coach. What's my name? Jim Kwik. That's the topic of today's lesson, how to remember names. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever met somebody, they give you their name, and then seconds later the name just disappears out of your mind and you wonder where did it just go? Or if it's not a short-term issue, maybe it's a long-term issue. You're out and about. Maybe you're going for a jog or you're at the grocery store and somebody taps you on your shoulder and you turn around, you see someone you recognize, but for the life of you, you don't remember what? You don't remember their name. And what makes it worse is when that person has the audacity to remember your name, or you're talking to somebody whose name you really should remember and somebody comes up and you have to what? You have to introduce these 2 people. I believe 2 of the most costly words in business are, I forgot, right? I forgot to do it. I forgot to bring it. I forgot that meeting. I forgot what I was gonna say. I forgot that conversation. I forgot, I forgot that person's name. That's probably the biggest one. So if you've ever wanted to have more confidence remembering people's names and faces, this lesson is for you. I believe it's the number one business etiquette skill, networking skill there is, because how are you gonna show somebody you're gonna care for their future? Their family, their finances, their health and wellbeing, right? Whatever it is you have to offer them, if you don't care enough just to remember what? Their name. People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. And what's the message we send to somebody when we forget their name? That they're not important. You know, that we don't care, that they're not significant. So it doesn't matter what you say after that. They already think you don't care. Maya Angelou has a great quote about this. She said, people will forget what you said. They'll forget what you did, but they'll always remember how you made them feel. Right? Going back to the power of emotion. Remember in the beginning of this training, I told you information by itself is forgettable. What you say, did, everything. But information tied to an emotion becomes unforgettable. And I want you to be unforgettable because success is not just what you know. Yes, we're teaching you how to remember all that information better so you could be an expert at your field, right? And knowledge is not only power, knowledge is profit, but it's also who you know. And so that's why you want to remember all of them and remember not just their name, but their spouse's name and their children's name, right? And They're important dates, important hobbies, the things they hold dear. But it's not just remembering. It's not just what you know and who you know. It's who knows you. And if you could walk into a room, meet 10 strangers, and leave saying goodbye to each and every one of them by name, who are they all going to remember? They're going to remember you. And that's a standout skill. Please write this down. People remember people who remember them. People remember people who remember them. So remembering names is one of the most important skill sets. It sets you apart because most people, they're not too good at remembering names. And when you can remember people's names, it's so unique that you stand out. And that's so important today. Now I'm going to give you a few techniques, a few tips How to confidently remember names and faces. I want you to remember SUAVE, S-U-A-V-E. And what does this stand for? Okay, the first thing you do when you meet somebody, you do the S. The S is say the name. You want to repeat it back so you get to hear it what? Twice. Once from the person and once from yourself. So when somebody introduces themselves, Repeat the name back. Somebody says their name is Cindy. Cindy, it's nice to meet you. Okay, something simple like that, and just hearing it a second time will boost your recall. The other reason you want to say the name is it ensures you've heard the name correctly. Sometimes if you're in a noisy environment, it could drown out the name and you might hear it wrong. You don't want to have a 20-minute conversation with Ed and say goodbye Ted. It's better to get corrected. So you say the name. Now, the U in SUAVE stands for use the name. You want to use it. Now, here's the thing. You want to use it, but you do not want to abuse it. There's a difference, right? You don't want to say, Cindy, it's great to meet you. Cindy, you want to grab some lunch? Cindy, you know, what do you think about this? Cindy, Cindy, Cindy. That's an abuse, right? But you want to use it maybe 3 or 4 times in the conversation. Spread it out a little bit because the more you hear it, that repetition Repetition is the mother of memory, right? So it'll help you to remember things better. So you use it. Now, the A, this is a fun one. The A in SUAVE stands for ask. Let me ask you something. What's everyone's favorite subject? What do you think it is? Is it travel? Is it food? Is it entrepreneurship? What is it? It's what? It's themselves. That's everyone's favorite subject is themselves. So what can you ask about a name? You know, especially this is a great— before I go into it, this is a great tool when you meet somebody whose name is different. It's a little bit unusual, a name you haven't heard before, right? And so what can you ask? How do you spell it? Where's it from? Who are you named after? What does it mean, right? You have all these questions that people are genuinely flattered that you take interest, especially if their name is non-typical. So I remember I was doing a training for one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. And the training director— about 100 people there— the training director in the room, her name was Nankita. Nankita. And I was like, wow, that's beautiful. Where's it from? How do you spell it? And I said, what does it mean? And she paused. And I was like, does it mean something? What does it mean? And she looked at her coworkers and then she said, it means graceful falling waters. And I was like, wow, that's really beautiful. And The audience, her coworkers started to make this sound. And I was like, I have to ask you a question. How long have you worked here? She was like, X amount of years. With all these people? She's like, yeah, many of them are good friends. They were at my wedding. I was like, that's interesting. And then I asked her coworkers, I said, how many people in the room knew that's what her name meant? And out of 100 people plus, how many people raised their hand? Zero. Right. And so we created this bond around the name, and they say a name is the sweetest sound to a person's ears. Just think about one of the first words you learned how to say, or certainly learned how to write, your own name, and how much love and encouragement, emotion was tied to that information, right? And so we created this bond around her name, and that was a client for a very long time. And that's just an example of how important names are in business. Okay? So that is the A, the ask. The V in SUAVE stands for visualize. Visualize. And you know this already because we've covered this in this program, that when you could see something, you're better at remembering it. And you know this, you go to somebody and you recognize their face, right? Are you better with faces than you are with names? Most people are. You go to someone and say, "I remember your face, but I forgot your name." You never go to someone and say the opposite. You never go to someone and say, "I remember your name, but I forgot your face." That wouldn't make a lot of sense, right? There's a Chinese proverb that says, "What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I understand." What I hear, I forget. I heard the name; I forgot the name. What I see, I remember. I saw your face; I'll remember your face. And what I do, going back to exercise, practice, practice makes progress, right? I understand that's what is in your body. You can just do it. And so visualize means this: if you tend to remember what you see, then try seeing what you want to remember. And that's what we've been doing in this program. So if a person's name happens to be Matt, as an example, visualize Matt like a doormat. And then connect it to the person. Meaning, imagine you meet someone named Matt and you start using in your mind their tie like a doormat. And if it makes you laugh, that's why you remember it, 'cause you saw it and you felt it. You didn't just hear it. Let's say a person's name is Mary. I say Mary, you think what? Getting married? Imagine you're meeting Mary and all of a sudden she puts on a wedding dress and she wants to marry you, right? Would you remember that? Yeah. Certainly. You won't forget it when you say goodbye 20 minutes later. Oh, that's the person who wants to get married. What's her name? Mary. But here's the thing. You're doing this in the privacy of where? Your own mind. You're not sharing this with Mary and Matt. This is a tool to overcome what I call the 6-second syndrome. What's the 6-second syndrome? Somebody shares with you their name. You have 6 seconds to do something with it. Otherwise, what? It's just gone in the ether, right? And when you know the person's name, the picture disappears. It's just a means to an end. It's just to capture their face and the name. And then once you know the name, then the pictures disappear. Let's give another example. You meet somebody named Carol. What can you picture? All of a sudden, they just jump into song, right? Christmas caroling. Imagine that. If a person's name is Mark, imagine you're putting a check mark right on their forehead. And you're not really doing this. You're not telling Mark, but you're doing it in your mind so you can see it and feel something. And then you hear it also as well. If a person's name is David, I use a slingshot, right? For David and Goliath. Person's name is Bob. I imagine them bobbing for apples, right? So you come up with these images and all of a sudden you could open up new possibilities. That's the power. Good. That's visualization. And finally, the E in SUAVE stands for end. End. And what are you ending? You're ending each and every conversation using what? Using their name. Because again, if you could walk into a room of strangers, meet 10 people, and say goodbye to every single one of them using their name, who are they all going to remember? Me. They're all going to remember you. And that's a stand Out skill, not only in business, but in life. So what does SUAVE stand for? S, say it. U, use it. A, ask about it. V, visualize the name. And the E, end with it. That will help you to access more of your quick recall. It'll give you this immense superpower when you're networking, when you're in business, in life. All right, so your homework is to practice SUAVE when you're meeting people online, or maybe you're watching television, you're seeing the news and they're introducing new people. Practice this. Say their name, use it, visualize the person's name. You don't have to use every single one of these things, but something is better than nothing. Even if you're not using all the 5 things, then just say, say it and visualize. How about that? Or maybe ask about it and end with it. Something is better than nothing. Practice these tools. Let me know in the comments how they do for you. Come up with a picture for your name in the comments. Do that and support each other as other people are going there. I don't have a picture for Peter, and I think Peter Pan, right? I don't have a picture for this. Support each other because we have each other's back. We have each other's brain.