🧙‍♂️ Name Memory Magic: Master the Art of Remembering Names

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Name Memory Magic: How to Remember Names Effortlessly

Have you ever struggled to remember someone’s name moments after being introduced? You’re not alone. But what if I told you that remembering names is a skill—one that you can master?

At 17, I took the Dale Carnegie Course in Human Relations and Effective Communication, and I learned something powerful:

The sweetest and most important sound to a person in any language is their name.

A year after presenting a marketing seminar at Walt Disney World, one of the attendees approached me—not to thank me for the sales tips, but for teaching him how to remember people’s names. That’s when I realized just how valuable this skill is.

Why Remembering Names Matters

Remembering names helps you:
✔ Become more popular and build stronger connections.
✔ Increase sales and grow your business.
✔ Establish deeper, more personal relationships.

People do business with those they know, like, and trust—and nothing builds trust faster than remembering a name.

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The IRA BRAMMS Formula: A Memory Trick That Works

Dale Carnegie developed the IRA BRAMMS formula as an easy and effective way to remember names. Here’s how it works:

1. Impression (I)

When you meet someone, focus entirely on them:
👀 Observe their presence, clothing, and mannerisms.
🎭 Take in their energy and aura.
✅ Decide to be genuinely interested in them.

You already know what you’re going to say next—so shift your focus to them instead.

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2. Repetition (R)

This is one of the easiest and most effective techniques.
Repeat their name naturally in conversation:

1️⃣ Start with their name: "Ken, what brings you here today?"
2️⃣ Use it in the middle of the next question: "That’s interesting, Ken. What do you like most about that?"
3️⃣ End your third question with their name: "Tell me more about that, Ken."

Repeating the name in different positions helps your brain register it.

What if you forget? No worries!
🔹 Simply say, "I’m working on getting better at remembering names. Could you remind me?"
🔹 Ask for their full name or have them spell it—it’s a subtle trick to help you remember.

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3. Association (A)

Association is the umbrella for the next set of memory tricks:

🔹 Business:
Does their name connect to their job? Mr. Baker, Ms. Carpenter, Ms. Gold?

🔹 Rhyme:
Make a playful rhyme! I once met a Mr. Hallisey and remembered him with “Mr. Hallisey is a fallacy.” (You don’t have to share your rhyme!)

🔹 Appearance:
Focus on a defining trait—hair, jewelry, tattoos, or clothing. I met a Mr. Minkoff and visualized a mink coat falling off his head!

🔹 Meaning:
Ask, "What does your name mean?" People love sharing the history behind their names, and it creates a deeper connection.

🔹 Mind Picture:
Turn names into images.
For example, I met an attorney named Terry Katachefzky.
So I broke it down into:
🐱 Cat 🧑‍🍳 Chef 🎿 Ski = Cat-Chef-Ski
Now, I’ll never forget it!

🔹 Similarity:
Link their name to someone you already know.
If I meet a Lisa, I picture her playing tennis with my sister Lisa. If I meet a Tom, I picture him standing in Tom’s house.

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Practice Makes Perfect

Like any muscle, your memory strengthens with use. But unlike lifting weights, once you train your brain to remember names, the skill stays with you forever!

Try it out today:
✔ Meet someone new.
✔ Use the IRA BRAMMS method.
✔ Watch how easily you remember their name!

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Word-for-Word Transcript

Hi, today, I want to share with you a gift that I was given when I was 17. It's probably one of the most powerful assets that I believe every business professional, every marketer, in fact, every human being should possess. At 17, I was fortunate to take the Dale Carnegie course in human relations and effective communication, and I learned something magical. The sweetest and most important sound to a person in any language is his or her name and funny story. I was presenting a seminar to the upper-level management of the wedding and events division of Walt Disney World.

It was about more effective marketing and selling more wine. And a year later, I met one of the attendees, and he said, you know that seminar you did was amazing. Thank you so much. And I was like, wow, I probably helped to make more money better experiences, but it wasn't for the marketing or the money making tips, it was for teaching him how to remember people's names. So with that said, today I want to share with you how to remember people's names. So here we go.

You're watching this probably because you've got difficulty with or you can't remember people's names, but actually you can, you just don't know how to yet, and that's what I'm about to do. It's a muscle that you haven't yet been taught to use, and I'm going to teach you how to use it. So let's change that right now.

Why should you remember people's names? And why does it matter? You become more popular, you become better at making connections, and you're able to sell more because it helps people know, like and trust you, and you create deeper, more personal relationships. Want to know the secret? Well, a secret is only a secret until you know what it is, then it's not a secret anymore. So first we need to change your language.

Stop saying I can't remember names, or I'm bad at remembering names, or I don't know how to remember names. Instead, repeat after me. Scott is going to show me how to remember people's names simply and quickly. Go on. Do it? Say it. Scott's gonna teach me how to remember people's names. Great.

Why should you remember people's names? It's simple. People want to do business with people they know, like and trust. When you remember someone's name, you're saying you're important enough to me to remember.

Think about this. When you walk into a room and someone greets you by name, you feel good. They recognize you. They say you're someone. It's personal, and they're saying, you matter. So let's get started here with the formula. The Ira Brahms formula was created by Dale Carnegie as a memory aid. It's the easiest and fastest way to remember someone's name. Here's the formula.

The I stands for impression when you meet someone for the first time, focus entirely on them. You don't need to remember what you're going to say, because we always know what we're going to say. Observe their presence, their clothing, their mannerisms and their facial expressions. Take in their energy and their aura, if you will, decide that you're going to be genuinely interested in them and that you're going to commit to remembering their name.

The second is repetition. This is probably the easiest and simplest one. When you hear the name, use it three times. Now don't say Oh, Hi, Ken. Ken, Ken. Use their name naturally in questions and conversation.

So here's how to do it. You start your first question with their name. So Ken, what brings you here today using Ken in the beginning, then use their name in the middle of the second question. That's interesting. Ken, what do you like most about whatever it is he said, brought him here, and then third and the third question with their name. Tell me more about that. Ken.

Now while you're listening to their answers, repeat their name, focus on them in your mind and just concentrate on them. You don't need to worry about what you're going to say, as I mentioned earlier. So here's a tip, what if you forget someone's name? Well, simple say, could you repeat your name? I'm working on getting better at remember names. They'll appreciate that honesty. Or you could ask, you know, What's your last name? Or what’s Your family name, what's your middle initial, or your middle name, or what is your full name, and in that they'll give you the first and last name. Again, it's a subtle way to get that first name, and you become more interested as well.

So here's a wizard sneaky tip. Let's say you just met someone turned around and you immediately forgot. You could say, Could you spell your name for me? Even a simple name like Tom could be t h o m or t h o mas, or Tomas or Tommy.

The third is association. Association is kind of a catch all for the B, R, A, M, M, S. It's how we associate the name to one of these. So we'll start with business.

Is there a connection you could make to the business they're in? You might meet a Mr. Baker or miss carpenter or miss gold, or somebody whose name helps you remember them based on their profession.

Next is rhyme. This is one of my favorite fun ones. You create a rhyme with their name. For example, I knew a gentleman. His name was Mr. Hallisey, and I just created Mr. Hallisey as a fallacy. Now you don't always share with people how you remember their name, because you might know a Mr. Blass, and you create a rhyme or other people's names that you might create a rhyme that's ridiculous or silly for you to remember. The important part is that you remember their name.

So let's move on to appearance. When you meet someone, observe their physical traits or their style. Maybe they've got big, poofy hair. I knew a gentleman. His name was Mr. Minkoff, and his hair, I kind of made it into like a mink coat falling off of his head. What kind of jewelry maybe they have a certain kind of ring or necklace or earrings that you could focus on. Maybe there's tattoos or ink, or their presence, their clothing mannerisms, voice, anything that could help you to remember them, triggering your memory in part of their appearance.

Next meaning. People's names have meaning, and finding out is a really good way to become genuinely and more interested in people. And guess what? They feel good too, because they're talking about themselves, their name, their history, you might say or ask, that's a very unique name. I've never heard that before. What does it mean? And of course, you could always ask them to spell it too. That's another good thing, so that you repeat the name as they spell it as well, and even if you didn't remember their name, maybe you knew what it meant, flower child or angel of the seas. And a lot of people have these cool, unique meanings for their names.

People love sharing this and it shows you care. And of course, it helps you remember their name, and even if you just remember that they were a child of the fields, and next time you saw them, you go, Hey, how's it going in the fields? They'll smile because you remember them and you appreciate them, and they appreciate you.

Next is mind picture. This is a really effective way to remember people's names, probably the most effective way of training the mind is by creating mind pictures. That's how our brains work. We create pictures, and we remember things with pictures. So you create a visual image with their name, and you break down the syllables of their name and make them into a picture. I'm going to give you two examples.

We were doing a seminar at a real estate office, and there was an attorney. His name was Terry Katachefzky, and he goes, there's no way you can remember my name. Nobody ever does or gets it right.

Well, it's pretty simple. Let's break it down into simple syllables. Cat, Chef, Ski. So we created a picture of a cat wearing a chef set on a pair of skis. That was the simple way to remember the name Terry Katachefzky.

The second one was Dennis Kolodjiesky. He was a regional vice president for the Midwest region of Marriott, and I met him, and we went out to dinner in Orlando. And when the check came and he pulled out his credit card, and the waitress came back and said, thank you very much. I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce your name, because it's Kolodjiesky.

And I was like, picture this. He's got a bottle of Coca Cola on a jet ski. So Dennis Cola, Jay ski, Cola, jet ski. Just play with it. It's fun. I've used this to remember more people's names that I can even remember,

And similarity is the last one I use this often, and it's a simple way to remember names fast, especially in groups of people, when I don't have much time to spend with each person, you connect their name to someone you already know.

For example, if I met Lisa, I put her in a picture playing tennis with my sister. Why? Because my sister is a tennis player, so I just put that person on the tennis court playing tennis with Lisa.

It's a very easy way to remember name. My friend Tom, I mentioned earlier. I meet a Tom. I put them in Tom's house. So use this technique to help you remember names.

By the way, practice makes perfect. Like any other muscle, your brain needs practice to remember names. But here's the best part, once you've trained this memory muscle, it's there for life. It's not like lifting weights, where you have to keep doing it over and over again to build the muscle, you don't need to do the reps. Just call it up whenever you need it

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