Suppose you join a new club, or start a new job and meet a group of 15 to 20 new people all at once.
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I've always *thought* I had a problem remembering names, but really everyone seems to say this and I think my natural retention is about average. And my profession means I need to remember an unnatural number of names.
After much emotional agony I just started making flash cards. The only thing that kept me from doing this for so long was the feeling that it was "business bro" behavior. But, it was the best decision ever. Mostly because it makes me less flustered and stressed.
@futurebird An administrator where I worked had the information technology people merge photos from student ID cards with class rosters to create printable rosters with face photographs of the students enrolled. He was so pleased with the results that he did presentations at conferences where he used a sound clip from the theme song ‘Where Everybody Knows Your Name’ from the popular TV series Cheers.
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Do you feel annoyed when someone can't seem to remember your name and must ask you?
@futurebird if it’s a parent
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Suppose you join a new club, or start a new job and meet a group of 15 to 20 new people all at once. How long would it take you to learn all of their names?
How long does it take for me to remember 20 names? At least two years. I wish I was joking.
I know thousands of names and faces, work with hundreds on a daily basis, and they all know me. My mind has a "buffer memory full" error... I was even tested over this for my PTSD diagnosis. I can remember one thing great. Two things and I forget everything about both.
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I've always *thought* I had a problem remembering names, but really everyone seems to say this and I think my natural retention is about average. And my profession means I need to remember an unnatural number of names.
After much emotional agony I just started making flash cards. The only thing that kept me from doing this for so long was the feeling that it was "business bro" behavior. But, it was the best decision ever. Mostly because it makes me less flustered and stressed.
When I'm coaching/mentoring students I make a big effort to learn their names because it feels like a safety issue. It's quite hard when there are more than a dozen of them and I only see them a couple hours a week.
The other big challenge for me is professional contacts I see once or twice annually at conferences.
What do you have on the other side of the flashcards? I feel hesitant to ask people for their photo.
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@secretsloth I do this, also often unsuccessfully @futurebird
@roknrol @futurebird at least it's not just me
though I'm sorry, too, it does suck. -
@futurebird if it’s a parent
I only see the parents once a year and really hope they don't think I know all of their names. Good lord. They do tend to introduce themselves with "I'm Bobby's mom" (THANK YOU)
Although... sometimes it's obvious that it's Bobby's mom.
I don't know why people worry their kid won't grow up to be just like them.
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I only see the parents once a year and really hope they don't think I know all of their names. Good lord. They do tend to introduce themselves with "I'm Bobby's mom" (THANK YOU)
Although... sometimes it's obvious that it's Bobby's mom.
I don't know why people worry their kid won't grow up to be just like them.
@futurebird tbf they named us and should know
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Suppose you join a new club, or start a new job and meet a group of 15 to 20 new people all at once. How long would it take you to learn all of their names?
@futurebird I will remember the names almost immediately, although I won't be able to assign them to faces for quite a long time.
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When I'm coaching/mentoring students I make a big effort to learn their names because it feels like a safety issue. It's quite hard when there are more than a dozen of them and I only see them a couple hours a week.
The other big challenge for me is professional contacts I see once or twice annually at conferences.
What do you have on the other side of the flashcards? I feel hesitant to ask people for their photo.
I can get photos from the yearbook.
If I didn't have that I'd insist on taking group photo on the first day of class I think. I need to know all of their names somehow.
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Suppose you join a new club, or start a new job and meet a group of 15 to 20 new people all at once. How long would it take you to learn all of their names?
@futurebird I meet different groups of 30-60 people once a year at conferences. If they send round a group photo afterwards, I try to make notes and match names/conversations to faces. It sometimes works. If not, I'm fine with asking for a reminder (preferably not more than once per meeting...)
At more "business networking" events, I sometimes ask if I can take a photo of a new-to-me acquaintance with their name badge
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Suppose you join a new club, or start a new job and meet a group of 15 to 20 new people all at once. How long would it take you to learn all of their names?
for two years in my early twenties I attended a school that was a lot like primary school in that most of the classes were with the same people and it was every weekday from morning until early afternoon.
6 months in, during lunch, somebody complained about a Nicole in our class and my response was "We have a Nicole in our class?!" They spent several minutes describing her before I knew who they meant. -
I've always *thought* I had a problem remembering names, but really everyone seems to say this and I think my natural retention is about average. And my profession means I need to remember an unnatural number of names.
After much emotional agony I just started making flash cards. The only thing that kept me from doing this for so long was the feeling that it was "business bro" behavior. But, it was the best decision ever. Mostly because it makes me less flustered and stressed.
@futurebird my biggest problem with names is actually learning someone's name, most especially the names of people I instantly get along with. There are more than a few people who I "catch up with" whenever I see them(update them on raccoons, show them cat pictures, stuff like that) whose name I might not know for years.
Cat though, I never have a problem with. No cat that comes near me leaves without a name or a nickname within an hour of meeting them.
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Do you feel annoyed when someone can't seem to remember your name and must ask you?
@futurebird
The more attractive, the less likely. -
With my own name?
I never liked it when adults would remember my name as a child/teen... it often meant they were paying too much attention to me and that meant I could get away with less.
My students have a funny sing-song way of saying my name that I find very funny and endearing now "Missus --- ---- ---!"
Mostly because they are asking for help and they think the problems are too difficult. (They are not 'too difficult' apply your mind like a laser, it will fall apart as soon as you do.)
Oh, we want a tale of your childhood shenanigans !
(maybe I should say "tales" as there should be a lot of them ?)
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@futurebird I have moderate face blindness, so I will often get names wrong too as it's difficult for me to match the face with the names I've just learned.
If I'm introduced to three or fewer people, there's a slight chance that I can force myself to remember, but any more than that I just straight up tell people that I will get it wrong.
@roknrol @futurebird I have almost the opposite problem: almost infallible memory for faces, but typically cannot remember names on a first meeting! I have to consciously come up with a way to visually link the face with the name, which I'll only bother with if the social or professional cost of getting it wrong are high enough.
Otherwise, most people do seem to appreciate the honesty of just admitting you're crap with names and apologising in advance.
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When faced with so many new names do you do anything to help you remember?
@futurebird I write down names & look people up the internal directory or online to see if they have a photo, then save those pix on my devices with their names written on them
️ I have #aphantasia, so I don't get a visual refresh when I think about people – all I see in my "mind's eye" is… nothing. if I didn't do all this I’d basically never remember anyone's name 🫥
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Every year I have one student with a name that's pronounced in a different way than I expect. I've had this happen with the name "Ann" (the student went by "on" not "ahn")
I still haven't perfected the solution to that one and feel terrible when I get the stress or vowels wrong for the second or third time.
The more subtile a name the faster the student tends to say it... probably because they are tired of correcting their teachers, but that makes it harder.
Do you get a handover from other teachers?@futurebird
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Do you get a handover from other teachers?@futurebird
handover?
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Do you worry about not knowing names?
@futurebird since my profession is a more visually-biased one (and most folks I come into contact with know this), if I can’t remember a name I’ll usually say “I’m good with faces but horrible with names; what’s yours, again?” and that usually produces a grin and a name to go with it from them. Mind you: it took me decades to figure out this strategy
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I use digital flash cards and the school's yearbooks for photos. Then I can just flip through each class on the train a few times and after about 4 or 5 sessions I have them all.
When I started using flashcards for names I felt bad about it (since it seemed like someone who really cared about the people around them would just naturally remember names)
But, when I started doing it I realized it was a chance to think about each student a little without the classroom distractions, so, it stoped seeming cynical to me.
One fall I had over 200 new names to learn. That's what drove me to the cards. No normal person could learn that many names "naturally"
