A quick way to remember names

One of the things which always impresses me, is then someone remembers my name. What great PR!  PR is all about building relationships, establishing rapport. Which of course, can be tricky if you can’t remember what that friend, client or journalist is called.

It’s a skill that for me, is sadly intermittent.  Somehow, no matter how much I trawl my virtual archives, run through the alphabet (trying out first names) or as a last resort, hunt through Linkedin photos, there are times when someone’s name just fails to materialise.

Until now. I’ve come across a great mnemonic for remembering names.  LAURA, which makes up these five top tips:

L=Look (at the person you’re being introduced to)

A=Ask (their name)

U=Use (it again)

R=Reconnect (find some way to connect their name to their role or something they have told you – for example, if, say Julie has a craft stall, then jewels/ Jules works well)

A=Associate (their name with something about the way they look)

I’m using this at the moment, and it’s working quite well – even though it’s another name to remember. But in my mind, you can’t beat the old failsafe method – name badges.