If you are fascinated with the mind you will love Derren Brown.
A famous British mentalist and performer he has produced some of the most memorable feats of mind control and illusion.
He once fooled a live TV audience to believe he was playing a real, deadly game of Russian roulette. In another show, using tools of covert influence, he got a nice young lad to admit to a murder that didn’t take place and he didn’t commit!
His work is that advanced, yet what you see reading his book Tricks of The Mind is how much he relies on basic techniques.
For instance, Derren dedicates nearly 15% of his book to teaching memory techniques, including how to remember names.
While many people would like to be better at remembering names, few of us have been taught how easily you can use basic techniques.
Like you once might have learned a nifty linking rhyme to remember the 50 states of America, here is just one powerful three-step method to remembering names:
- Repeat back the person’s name, to help it gel a little.
- Associate their name to some type of mnemonic. For instance, when you meet someone named John you associate them to your friend John. Or you might associate them to, well, visiting the john. Or any association that you like.
- Link your mnemonic to this person in particular.
For example, today I met Larry.
I said, “nice to meet you, Larry.” While doing that I automatically know my mnemonic is Larry the Cable guy who I imagine yelling in his ear for a while, before Larry turns around and they get into a hysterical biff.
Now, here is the thing, the artistry is all in Step 3, in how well you link back your mnemonic to the person you are meeting. Conveniently, your memory best remembers memorable events, so you want to make the connection as memorable as it can be.
When you study people who are excellent at what they do, you generally find they are exceptional at doing the basic things.
Magic is preparation mixed with artistry and when you practice this approach you will be magical at remembering names.