Ruth was a sweet and lovely girl and had many boy friends,
but here mother felt it was time she was married.
While reading a book on the meanings of names, Ruth said,
“Mother, it says here that Philip means ‘lover of horses,’ and James means ‘beloved.’ I wonder what George means?”
“I hope, my dear,” said mother, “that George means
business!”
Now that you know how to make any name have meaning, by
using a substitute word or thought, you have to know how to associate the name
to the face in such a way as to remember both of them. Many memory systems
teach the student to make a jinglet with the name; something like, “Mr. Baker
is a faker” or “Mr. Gold is old,” or “Mr. Radcliffe had a mad tiff,” or “Mr.
Lillienkamp is a carnival tramp.”
This is fine, until you meet a Mr. Nepomosimo or a Mr.
Smolensky. Even if you could quite grasp is how this would help you to remember the person’s face, or
rather, how one would bring the other to mind. No, I don’t think that this
jinglet system is of too great a help. In my opinion, the only way to remember
a person’s name is to associate that name to the person’s face in some
ridiculous way. And here’s how to go about it:-
Whenever you meet someone new, look at his face and try to
find one outstanding feature. This could be anything; small eyes, large eyes,
thick lips, thin lips, high forehead, low forehead, lines or creases on the
forehead, long nose, broad nose, wide nostrils, narrow nostrils, large dimples,
clefts, warts, mustache, lines on the face, large mouth, large mouth,
teeth-just about anything.
You are to pick the one thing that seems most outstanding to
you. It may not be the most outstanding feacture; someone else may choose
something entirely different. This isn’t important; the thing that stands out
to you is the thing that will be obvious and outstanding when you meet this
person again. The point that is important is that as you’re looking for this
one outstanding feature, you must pay attention to and be interested in the
face into your memory.
When you have decided on the outstanding feature, you are
ready to associate the name to that particular part of the face. For example,
Mr. sachs has a very high forehead. You
might “see” millions of sacks falling from his forehead, or see his forehead as
a sack instead of a forehead. You can see, of course, that you’re to use the
same chapters of the book. The most important principle being look at Mr. Sachs
face, and “see” those sacks falling from every part of his forehead. That’s all
there is to it! If a bottle of rum and a
robber stealing it!
Mr. Horwick might have very bushy eyebrow, so I would see
wicks in them, as in candles, and see a woman trying to take them because they
are her wicks. Ger wick-Horwick.
The original publisher of this book is Mr. Frederick Fell .
the moment I met Mr. Fell, I noticed a cleft in his chin. I simply saw things
falling from this cleft, and that’s all I needed to help me remember that his
name was Mr. Fell. Remember that in these example, I give the substitute
thought and the outstanding feature that I personally think is best. The name
“Fell” could have meant “feel,” or the material, “felt” to you, and you could
have associated that to any other feature on Mr. Fell’s face. The substitute
word and the outstanding feature chosen is an individual thing; the things you
choose are the right ones to use.
At first, some people may feel that it takes too long to
find a substitute word for a person’s name, and then associate it to his face.
They think it would be embarrassing to have people notice that they are staring
at them. Please believe me, it does not take any time at all. After a minimum
of practive, you’ll find that you’ve found a substitute word for the name (if
it’s necessary) and associated it to an outstanding feature on the person’s face
in less time than it takes to say,
“Hello.” As in everything else, it’s easier to be lazy and just go on
forgetting names, but, try my system and you’ll soon agree that it is just as
easy to remember them.
The best way to practive remembering names and faces is to
just start doing it. However, to give you a
bit of confidence, let’s try this:- I’m sure that before you started
reading the book, most of you felt that you definitely couldn’t remember and
retain the names of fifteen people if you met them all at once. If you took the
little test in Chapter #3, you probably
proved it. Well, let me introduce you to the pictures of fifteen people right
now, just to prove that you can do it, with the help of my systems. Of course,
it isn’t as easy with pictures, since you see the faces in only one dimension.
It may be a little difficult to find outstanding features of a face in picture,
but I’ll try to help you with each one.
No. 1 is Mr. Carpenter. this name is no problem because it
already has meaning. The next step is to find an outstanding feature on Mr.
Carpenter’s face. You might decide on his very small mouth. If you look
closely, you’ll see a sort of scar on his right cheek. Pick one of these
(the one that’s most obvious to you) and
associate Carpenter to mouth (get the carpenter’s tools into the picture)
trying to make to repair it. Now, and
most important, look at the your association in your mind’s eye for at least a
split second. You must make yourself
“see” this picture or you’ll forget the name. Have you done that? If so, go to
picture #2.
No. 2 is the Mr. Brimler we spoke about awhile ago. Notice
the long dimples in his cheeks. Can , you see the heavy character lines from
his nose to the corners of his mouth?
As in every face, there are many outstanding features that can be used. I would
use the dimples, and see them brim full of judges’ gavels. Remember, I use a
gavel to represent law or “ler.” if you wand
to use policeman, jail or handcuffs, go ahead. You might “see” police
brimming all over the dimples. Whichever way you want to do it, is fine; but
look at Mr. Brimler and see the picture you’ve decided on.
No. 3 is Miss Standish. I would select her “bang” hairdo.
You could “see” people standing on the bangs and scratching themselves violently
because they itch. Standitch-standish. Of
course, a dish standing, would serve the same purpose, but I like an
association into which I can inject some
sort of action. Now look at miss Standish and see the picture you’ve decided
on, in your mind’s eye.
No.4 is Mr. Smolensky. Don’t let the name scare you,
it’s easy to find a substitute thought for it. I would see taking pictures
(while skiing) with a small camera (lens), small lens ski-Smolensky. See how
simple it is? I have chosen Mr. Smolensk’s broad nose; you might
think that think is most obvious and see the picture of the skier
taking pictures with a small lens.
No.5 is Mr. Hecht. I would see his mustache being hacked
from his face with an axe. See the association violently if you can. Violence and
action make it easier to recall. Hacked-Hecht. Be sure you see the picture.
No.6 is Mr. Bjornsen, pronounced, Byorn-son. The way I would remember Mrs. Bjornsen is to see a boy (son) being born in the very
wide part in her hair. You might think that either her full cheeks or wide
mouth or dark eyes are more outstanding, if so, use those in your association.
But look at Mrs. Bjornsen and actually
see the picture for a fraction of a second.
No.7 is Miss Van Nuys. The first thing that I notice when I
look at Miss Van Nuys are her bulging eyes. I would see moving vans driving out
of Miss Van Nuys’ eyes, and making terribly loud noises. So loud that you have
to hold your ears. (Get the action in the association) Van noise-Van Nuys. Be
sure you see the picture!
No.8 is Mr. Hamper. Notice the very wide mouth. I would see
myself throwing all my dirty clothes into his mouth because it’s a hamper.
Remember to look at Mr. Hamper and see the picture in your mind’s eye.
No.9 is Miss Smith. This is a common name, but don’t think
you’ll remember it if you do not make an association. The names, Smith, Jones
and Cohen are forgotten just as often as the longer and less common names,
and there’s less excuse for doing so.
Miss Smith has very full lips, they almost appear to be swollen. I would see a
blacksmith using a gigantic smith’s hammer on Miss Smith’s you might want to
utilize Miss Smith’s long eye-brows, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is
that you look at Miss Smith and see that picture or association.
No.10 is Mr. Kennan. Pick an outstanding feature you might
notice the ear standing out from the head, or the lines in the corner of the
eye, or the thin long mouth. You can see a cannon shooting
from the feature. Pick the
association you like, and see it in you mind’s eye.
No.11 is Mr. D’Amico. you
can’t miss the full head of wavy hair. See the hair as a dam, and it is
overflowing while you scream, “Eek” and ”oh.” Or, you are running towards the
dam, shouting, “Me go.” Look at Mr. D’Amico, and see the picture.
No.12 is Miss Forrester. I would see trees (forest) growing
out of those heavy, definite lines on her lower cheeks. If you want to be sure
of the entire name, see the forest growing wild and tearing her cheeks. Forest
tear-Forrester. Be sure you see the picture.
No.13 is Mr. Pfeffer; the “p” is silent. The first thing
that hits my eye is the cleft in Mr. Pfeffer’s chin. I would see lots of black pepper pouring out of this
cleft. So much , in fact, that it’s making me sneeze. “Pepper” would be enough to tell me that this is Mr. Pfeffer.
If you want be enough to tell me that
this is Mr. Pfeffer. If you want to make
sure, hear yourself sneezing like so. “fffft,” with an “f” sound. Silly? Yes;
but this will come back to you later, and you’ll know that the name is Pfeffer,
not Pepper. See the picture.
No.14 is Mr. Silverberg. See a large silver iceberg instead
of Mr. Silverberg’s jutting chin. Actually see it glittering, so you get the
idea of silver in there. If you want to use the laugh lines around the corners
of Mr. Silverberg’s mouth, that’s okay, too .see a silver iceberg on each side. Whichever
feature you use, be sure to actually see the picture.
No.15 is Miss
Kornfeld. I would see millions
(exaggeration) of ears of corn falling from Miss Kornfeld’s wide mouth. Make
sure that you look at Miss Kornfeld, and actually see the picture or
association in your mind’s eye.
I have purposely used a wide assortment of names to prove
that it just doesn’t make any difference as to the type of name. you might want
to go over these faces once, quickly, to make sure you’ve made a strong enough
association. Now, here are the same faces in a different order, without their
names. See if you can’t fill in the fifteen spaces under the pictures. When
you’ve done so, check yourself and be amazed at the improvement in your memory
for names and faces!
If you had any trouble at all recalling any of the names,
the reason is that you didn’t make your association vivid enough; you didn’t
actually see the association in your mind’s eye. If you did miss any, just look
at the face again strengthen you association and try it again. You’ll surely remember them all on your second try.
If you feel confident, why not try that test in Chapter #3, and compare your
score now, with the score you originally
made. Tomorrow, or the day after, look at the fifteen faces pictured in this
chapter, and in Chapter #3. And you’ll see that you still know the names of all
the people!
Keep in mind that if
you can remember the names of faces in
pictures, you’ll find it much easier to do when
actually meeting people. Aside
from finding an outstanding feature more easily, there are many other things
that can be taken into consideration,
such as: manner of speech, speech defects, character, type of walk, manner of
bearing and so on.
If you happened to be at an affair, and wanted showoff by
memorizing the names of everyone
present, you could do it now by using they systems you’ve just learned.
You would probably find it helpful to review the names every so often. Each time you look at a
person, his name should spring to mind. The name coming to mind in this fashion
serves as a review, and the name didn’t come to mind ask for the name again or
ask someone else to give it to you. Then strengthen your original association.
Try it! You’ll amaze yourself and your
friends.
For practical purposes-for those of you who meet people, and
would like to retain the names: writing the names would help, as far as review
is concerned. As I said in the preceding chapters, writing in conjunction with
a system of association is fine. This is a good example of that fact. You
would, of course, use the systems learned here, upon meeting these people. Then at the end
of the day, think of each new person you’ve met and as the name comes to mind,
jot it down.
The next day go over this list of names. As you
look at each one, a picture of the person’s face will come to mind. Just
picture the person for a moment, and see your original association of the name
to face. That’s all. Do the same thing a few days later; then again, a week
later, and so on until the faces and names are indelibly etched in your memory.
Of course, all this is theoretical, because if you wanted to
remember these people, it is probably because if you wanted to remember these
people, it is probably because you intend to meet them again. If is probably
because you intend to meet them again.
If you do meet them often and recall their names, well, then that serves the
purpose of review, and writing the names isn’t necessary at all.
The thing to do is to use whatever is best for you or your
particular circumstances. Just make up your mind to get over the initial hump
of actually putting my systems to work, and they will diligently work for you.
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