Tricks to Remember New Names

Contributed by The Hive Women, Overland Park

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CATCH THE BUZZ

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You walk into a Hive event and meet Amy, Julie, Lisa, Cindy and another Amy. Ten minutes later, you are having a wonderful conversation with…a lovely woman whose name has completely disappeared from your brain. Ugh! If this happens to you, welcome to the club.

Apparently, remembering every lyric to a song from 1983 does NOT guarantee that we can remember the name of someone we met 45 seconds ago.

One trick that actually helps is to use the person’s name immediately. “Nice to meet you, Julie!” Then try to connect the name to one small detail: Julie has a daughter at KU. Amy just returned from Italy. Lisa plays pickleball. You can also introduce the person to someone else—“Have you met Cindy?”—which gives your brain another chance to lock in the name.

And if all else fails, just ASK AGAIN. A simple, “I’m sorry, tell me your name one more time” is much better than spending the next six months strategically avoiding saying her name!

The truth is, remembering someone’s name is a small thing that makes people feel seen and welcomed—and that is something we love at The Hive and why we wear nametags All. The. Time! So, at your next event, try the name-and-detail trick and see if it works. And if you forget a name, don’t worry. We will happily tell you again!