<\/p>\n
I came across a stranger with a dog a few months ago. As we walked toward each other on my empty street, I grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cCute dog,\u201d I said as we grew closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not mine, though. I\u2019m dogsitting for a friend. Hey, do you know any good places to walk around here? I\u2019m kind of bored just taking the dog up and down the street.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed out a hard-to-spot trailhead. She thanked me and said she\u2019d try it. Before she left, she told me her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Pat,\u201d she said. \u201cPat Race. You know how there\u2019s only one race, the human race? Well, that’s true, except for me. There\u2019s the human race, and then there\u2019s me. Pat Race.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I never saw Pat again. But I can\u2019t forget her name.<\/p>\n
You often hear people exclaim, \u201cI\u2019m bad at remembering names!\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re not, though. And you\u2019re not, either. Consider this:<\/p>\n
You are not bad at remembering names. People are bad being memorable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now let’s consider Pat Race. I met her for 2 minutes, tops. And I never saw her again.<\/p>\n
So why can’t I forget her name? Let\u2019s break down 5 of the factors that made Pat exceptional at making me remember her name.<\/p>\n
1. The solitude and simplicity.<\/strong> I didn\u2019t meet Pat in a room filled with other people. She didn\u2019t have to compete for my attention. Pat had a near monopoly on any new information entering my brain.<\/p>\n
2. The stranger and the surprise.<\/strong> I didn\u2019t expect a stranger to say anything beyond \u201cthanks\u201d to my \u201ccute dog\u201d comment. But she initiated an unexpected conversation that stopped me in my tracks.<\/p>\n
3. Emotional bonding.<\/strong> Pat didn\u2019t know for sure if I could answer a few quick questions, but she guessed from my smile and purposeful stride that I might be friendly and helpful. She picked up on unspoken cues and took a small risk.<\/p>\n
4. The mnemonic device.<\/strong> Pat used the \u201chuman race\u201d mnemonic device to make me associate new information with an old saying. By doing that, she made an abstract concept \u2014 her name \u2014 more concrete to me.<\/p>\n
5. The quick repetition.<\/strong> Pat told me her full name twice. She also used parts of her name \u2014 pat and race \u2014 4 times. And she did all that in less than 10 seconds! Clearly, she had used this smooth, well-rehearsed patter before.<\/p>\n
No ad campaign. No name tag. No business card. No real reason for me to remember Pat’s name. And yet, I can\u2019t forget it.<\/p>\n
Am I just that stupendous at remembering names? No. Of course not.<\/p>\n
But Pat? She’s downright exceptional at being memorable.<\/p>\n
You are not bad at remembering names. People are bad being memorable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If you want to be more memorable, why not riff on a few of Pat\u2019s techniques? And if you forget someone\u2019s name; don\u2019t feel too bad. It\u2019s not your fault.<\/p>\n
It’s clear. That person is no Pat Race.<\/p>\n
————————————————–<\/p>\n
Laura Bergells writes and teaches. You can book me<\/a>\u00a0for live workshops, or take my classes online<\/a> in the Lynda.com content library.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I came across a stranger with a dog a few months ago. As we walked toward each other on my empty street, I grinned. \u201cCute dog,\u201d I said as we grew closer. \u201cThanks,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not mine, though. I\u2019m dogsitting for a friend. Hey, do you know any good places to walk around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coaching","category-content-ideas","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions\/734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}