How to remember names

Calling people by the name they feel most comfortable with is an essential consideration when delivering a training course. Trainers have to ensure they get it right – every time and that’s not easy, especially when there is more than one person or the name has an unusual spelling. Some trainers have a knack for remembering people’s names – don’t ask me how they do it but they just seem to find names ‘stick’ in their mind. So is there any easy way to remember people’s names and how important is pronunciation and spelling?

If nothing else, it’s common courtesy to get someone’s name right. Not a shortened version, unless they have given you permission. So it’s David not Dave. Robert not Rob and Margaret not Maggie. So how do you find out what to call them.Easy.You ask them.

For a desk based event, if like me, you use and, in my case, rely on (it’s an age thing) tent cards bearing attendee’s names, ensure they write their own name in large letters using a felt pen (like I said, it’s an age thing) emphasising they put the ‘name they liked to be called by’ This ensures you ‘capture’ their name very quickly when responding to general points – ensuring they feel included in the session.

When participants are called by their names, they feel important. It is also important that fellow participants have an opportunity to get to know each other’s name. There are a number of ways that trainers can do this.

Paul Daniel’s method is to register something about the person to which you can relate their name. For example, Eddie (think head), Gabby (think talkative) David (think tall dark and handsome – ok so it doesn’t work every time)

There are a many ways of learning people’s names including turning it into a game or ice breaker. Here are some ideas:

1. Name-learning assignment

Ask participants to learn as many names as possible, either by going up to others and introducing themselves or by reading one another’s name tags. After several minutes, stop the group and ask the participants to cover up or discard name tags, name lists, and the like. Now, challenge participants to look around and quiz themselves on the names of others in the class. If desired, repeat the learning and self-quizzing activity as many times as you like. Within ten minutes, it should be possible for participants to learn at least twenty names.

2. Name chain

Ask each participant in turn to share his or her name and the names of the people who have already introduced themselves. For example, the first person to introduce himself or herself need only say his or her name but the second person is required to give the first person's name as well as his or her own. As the chain becomes longer, there will be more names to remember; however, the names will by then have been repeated several times. You can make the name chain alliterative by inviting each person to use an adjective before his or her name that begins with the same letter, as in "creative Carol" or "lucky Lee." The alliterative adjectives help others to remember the participants' names and often add humour to the activity. Or invite participants to say their names and then accompany them with some physical movement. The movement then becomes a mnemonic aid.

3. Alphabetical lineup

Invite participants to arrange themselves in alphabetical order by their first names. This task forces participants to find out other names in the group. Or do a "nonverbal name lineup" as a way to review names after participants have introduced themselves in conventional fashion. Ask participants to line up in alphabetical order by their first names without talking to each other.

4. Name bingo

Ask participants to mill around the room and meet one another. As they exchange names, have them write each name anywhere on a blank bingo form you have made for them. Create a 3 x 3 format of squares if the group has fewer than ten people, a 4 x 4 format if the group has sixteen or fewer and a 5 x 5 format if the group has twenty-five or fewer. Instruct participants to place an "O" on any box not used up after meeting each participant. Then place a copy of everyone's name in a hat. As the hat is passed around the group, each participant picks a name out of the hat. Everyone places an "X" on the box on their form containing the name picked. Whenever any player obtains bingo (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), he or she yells "Bingo!" Eventually, everyone will get bingo several times.

5. Name tag mix-up

Give each participant the name tag of someone else in the group and ask each person to find the owner of the name tag. Invite participants to circulate until every person receives his or her name tag.

6. Alphabetical sign-in

Premark sheets of flip-chart paper with the letters of the alphabet. Tape the flip-chart paper to walls around the room. Direct participants to sign the sheet containing the first initial of their name and to find others with the same initial. Then instruct the participants to look over the other sheets and attempt to identify as many names and faces as possible.

7. Do you know your neighbours?

Form a circle and place one participant in the middle. Ask that person to point to someone in the circle and challenge him or her with the question "Do you know your neighbours?" If the person in the circle can successfully say the name of the people immediately to his or her right and left, the person in the middle stays there and challenges another person in the circle. When a participant fails the neighbour test, he or she replaces the person in the middle. As the game is played, frequently change the positions of the participants in the circle.

8. Personalised name tags

Provide materials so that each participant can develop a name tag that uses any of the following:

interesting calligraphy
a personal logo
a zodiac sign ·
an object or animal that symbolises some personal quality ·
a coat of arms ·
a collage of magazine cutouts that contain favourite expressions or objects

Ask participants to meet one another and to learn names.

9. Name toss

Have group members stand in a circle with one person holding an object that can be easily thrown and caught, such as a ball or a beanbag. The member holding the object says his or her name and tosses the object to another group member. The person catching the object gives his or her name and tosses the object to another group member. Continue the tossing until all participants have introduced themselves. When the final member has been introduced, ask that person to say the name of another group member and then toss the object to that person. The receiver then repeats the name of the person who tossed him or her the object and says the name of another group member before tossing the object to that person.

10. What's in a name?

Have participants introduce themselves and then share any of the following about their names:

· what I like or dislike about my name

· who I was named after

· a nickname that I like or dislike ·

· the origin of my name

After these introductions, challenge participants to write down the names of all the members of the group.

I am sure you will have your own ideas to add to these. Why not share them with others viewing this web site. Help grow the list and we’ll give you a name check.

David Watkins

Pink Elephant Training

(0114) 288 5951

Browse these subcategories:

How to remember names > How to undertake a Training Needs Analysis

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