MEMORY SYSTEM FOR NAMES AND FACES

Remembering names and faces is one of the most importan
aspects in our lives, and one of the most difficult!
In every walk of life, every level of occupation, and every
social situation, there are literally millions of people who say
they 'just can't remember' the people they meet.
In business and the professions this can be most embarrass
ing. If you are at a conference, attending a course, or involved
in any situation in which you are meeting new people, it is not
only embarrassing to be unable to remember the names and
faces of those who are with you, it can also be a serious handi-
cap when you meet them again. Even should you not have
occasion to meet them again, the ability to remember names
and faces without seeing them may be useful when you are
'mentally thumbing through' people who might be of assist-
ance to you.
In a social setting, the inability to remember the names and
faces of people you meet is a discomforting and unpleasant
experience. Many people devise little tricks and methods for
evading the issue!
One of the favourites is to ask for the person's name, and
when he replies with his Christian name to say 'Oh, I knew
that! it was your surname I had difficulty remembering', and
of course if he replies with his surname 'Oh I knew that! it was
your Christian name I had difficulty remembering'! The
disadvantages of this little technique are two-fold: Even if it
works you have had to admit that at least in part you had
forgotten his name; and secondly, many people reply immed-
iately with both their Christian and surnames!
Another device commonly used by people who have forgot-
ten a name is to say something like 'Oh, I am sorry, but how
was it that you spelled your name?' This of course can work in
situations where a person has a name like Pattlesserie Zhytni-
ewski! But when the retort is a sarcastic 'J-O-H-N S-M-I-T-H
you can be made to look a little silly!
These tricks are nothing more than tricks, and apart from
the obvious pitfalls I have mentioned they inevitably leave the
person who is using them in an insecure and uncomfortable
position. Aware of his inadequacy, he tends to be afraid that
his tricks won't work or that he will be placed in a situation
where they will be inappropriate and his poor memory will be
on full view! Tricks, then, are not enough.
At the other end of the scale from the person who 'just can't
remember' names and faces, is that well-known person who
always does remember. At school it might have been a particu-
lar teacher (or the headmaster!); at university a well-known
professor, and in business a successful manager. Whatever the
situation I am sure you will confirm the fact that the person
was socially confident, generally successful, and almost
certainly well-known.
I remember well the first class I ever attended at university.
It was an eight-in-the-morning English lecture, and the
excitement of the first day and the first class had not quite
managed to shake off the sleepiness from most of the students.
Our professor had! He strode into the room with no brief-
case and no books, stood in front of the class, announced his
name, and then said he would call the attendance. He started
alphabetically, listing off names such as Abrahamson, Adams,
Ardlett, and Bush, in response to which he got the usual
mumbled 'Yes, sir' and 'Here, sir'. When he came to Cartland,
however, there was no reply. He paused for a moment and
then said 'Mr. John Cartland'. To which there was still no
reply. Without change of expression he then said 'Mr. John
W. P. Cartland?' and proceeded to list the boy's birthday,
address, and telephone number! There was still no reply so
our professor (who by this time had thoroughly awakened the
class!) carried on with the remaining names. Each time he
arrived at the name of a person who was absent he called out
that persons initials, birthday, address and telephone number!
When he had completed the roster and everyone sat with
jaws hanging open, he repeated very rapidly the names of all
the students who were absent and said, with a wry smile on his
face, 'I'll make a note of them some time!'
He never forgot one of us, either!
From that day on he became a legend, for none of us could
imagine or hope to compete with the brilliance of a mind that
could so completely and perfectly remember names and dates.
We were, of course, mistaken. Using the proper memory
system, the kind of performance that our professor gave is by
no means an impossibility, and is in fact quite simple.
In this chapter I shall introduce you to the systems and
techniques that make remembering of names, faces and
related facts a relatively simple and certainly a rewarding task.
Before getting down to the specific methodology, there are
a few rules that should be observed, even when one is not
using special memory systems. These rules or pointers apply
mostly to situations in which you are meeting new people. The
pointers rely on one of the most important factors in memory:
Repetition.
When you are introduced to somebody first make sure you
listen. Many people actually 'turn off' when they are intro-
duced to people and haven't the faintest idea what the name of
the person is to whom they have just been introduced!
Second, request that the name be repeated even if you have
heard it. Most people tend to mumble introductions and even
if an introduction is clear no one will be disturbed if you ask
for a repetition.
Third, repeat the name when you have been given it the
second time. Rather than saying simply 'how do you do?' add
the name to the end of your greeting: 'how do you do, Mr.
Rosenthal'.
Fourth, if the name is at all difficult, politely ask for the
spelling.
Fifth, if the situation seems to warrant it ask the person
something about the background and history of his name.
Contrary to what you might expect most people will be
flattered by your interest, and pleased that you have taken the
trouble to enquire about their name and remember it.
Carrying the principles of repetition and involvement
further, make sure that during conversations with people you
newly meet you repeat the name wherever possible. This
repetition helps to implant the name more firmly in your
memory, and is also socially more rewarding, for it involves the
other person more intimately in the conversation. It is far
more satisfying to hear you say 'yes, as Mr. Jones has just said
...' than to hear you say 'yes, as this chap over here as just
said...'!
And finally of course when you are taking leave of those you
have met make sure you say, rather than just an impersonal
farewell, 'good evening, Mr. Jones'.
These aids to memory are, as I mentioned, useful to the
person who is not using memory systems as well as one who is,
although they are naturally far more beneficial to the latter,
because he has additional 'artillery' which he can use to back
himself up. Without further ado, let us learn the system for
remembering faces and names.
To begin with, we must become far more observant of the
faces we wish to remember! Many people, especially those who
have a poor memory for names and faces, have great difficulty
in remembering how one face differs from another, and find it
almost impossible to describe the individual characteristics of
faces. Our first task then is to become more observant.
To aid you in this the next few pages will give you a 'guided
tour' from the top of the head to the tip of the chin, enumer-
ating the various characteristics and the ways in which they
can be classified and typified. You may well be surprised at
just how varied faces can be!
HEAD AND FACIAL CHARACTERISTICS
1. The Head
Usually you will first- meet a person face-on, so before deal-
ing with the run-down of separate characteristics we will
consider the head as a whole. Look for the general shape of the
entire bone structure. You will find that this can be:
a. Large
b. Medium
c. Small
And that within these three categories the following shapes
can be found:
a. square
b. rectangular
c. round
d. oval
e. triangular, with the base at the chin and
the point at the scalp
f. triangular with the base and the scalp and
the point at the chin
g. broad
h. narrow
i. big-boned
j. fine-boned
You may, fairly early in your meeting, see the head from the
side and will be surprised at how many different shapes heads
seen from this view can take:
a. square
b. rectangular
c. oval
d. broad
e. narrow
f. round
g. flat at the front
h. flat on top
i. flat at the back
j. domed at the back
k. face angled with jutting chin and slanted
forehead
1. face angled with receding chin and prominent
forehead
2. The Hair
In earlier days, when hairstyles used to be more consistent
and lasting, hair served as a better memory hook than it does
now. The advent of dyes, sprays, wigs, and almost infinitely
varied styles makes identification by this feature a somewha
tricky business! Some of the more basic characteristics
however, can be listed as follows:
Men a. thick
b. fine
c. wavy
d. straight
e. parted
f. receding
g. bald
h. cropped
i. medium
j. long
k. frizzy
1. colour (only in notable cases)
Women a. thick
b. thin
c. fine
Because of the variability in women's hairstyles it is not
advisable to try to remember them from this characteristic!
3. Forehead
Foreheads can be generally divided into the following
categories:
a. high
b. wide
c. narrow between hairline and eyebrows
d. narrow between temple and temple
e. smooth
f. lined horizontally
g. lined vertically
4. Eyebrows
a. thick
b. thin
c. long
d. short
e. meeting at the middle
f. spaced apart
g. flat
h. arched
i. winged
j. tapered
5. Eyelashes
a. thick
b. thin
c. long
d. short
e. curled
f. straight
6. Eyes
a. large
b. small
c. protruding
d. deep-seated
e. close together
f. spaced apart
g. slanted outwards
h. slanted inwards
i. coloured
j. iris—entire circle seen
k. iris—circle covered partly by upper and/or
lower lid
Attention may also be paid in some cases to the lid above
and the bag below the eye, both of which can be large or small,
smooth or wrinkled, and puffy or firm.
7. The Nose
When seen from the front:
a. large
b. small
c. narrow
d. medium
e. wide
When seen from the side:
a. straight
b. flat
c. pointed
d. blunt
e. snub or upturned
f. Roman or aquiline
g. Greek, forming straight line with forehead
h. concave (caved in)
The base of the nose can also vary considerably in relation
to the nostrils:
a. lower
b. level
c. a little higher
The nostrils themselves can also vary:
a. straight
b. curved down
c. flaring
d. wide
e. narrow
f. hairy
8. Cheekbones
Cheekbones are often linked very closely with the character
istics of the face when seen front-on, but the following thre
characteristics may often be worth noting:
a. high
b. prominent
c. obscured
9. Ears
Ears are a part of the face that few people pay attention to
and yet their individuality can be greater than any othe
feature. They may be:
a. large
b. small
c. gnarled
d. smooth
e. round
f. oblong
g. triangular
h. flat against the head
i. protruding
j. hairy
k. large lobed
1. no lobe
This feature is of course more appropriate as a memory
hook with men than with women, because the latter usually
cover their ears with hair.
10. Lips
a. Long upper lip
b. short upper lip
c. small
d. thick (bee-stung)
e. wide
f. thin
g. upturned
h. downturned
i. Cupid's bow (U Thant)
j. well-shaped
k. ill-defined
11. Chin
When seen straight on the chin may be:
a. long
b. short
c. pointed
d. square
e. round
f. double (or multiple)
g. cleft,
h. dimpled
When seen from the side it will be either:
a. jutting
b. straight
c. receding
12. Skin
Finally the skin should be observed. It may be:
a. smooth
b. rough
c. dark
d. fair
e. blemished or marked in some way
f. oily
g. dry
h. blotchy
i. doughy
j. wrinkled
k. furrowed
Other characteristics of faces, specially men's, include the
various and varied growth of facial hair ranging from short
sideburns to the full-blooded and face-concealing beard with
moustache. There is no point in listing all the variations. It
should suffice to note that these hirsute phenomena do exist,
but that they, like hairstyles and colours, can change dramatic-
ally overnight!
Having acquired all this information about the face, how do
we make use of it? You may be surprised to learn that the
answer is contained in the earlier chapters of the book! To put
it briefly all that we have to do is the following:
1. Make a definite note of the name of the person.
2. Examine his face very carefully noting the characteristics
that have been enumerated in the preceding pages.
3. Look for characteristics which are unusual, extra-
ordinary, or unique.
4. Mentally reconstruct the person's face, exaggerating in
the way that a caricaturist does these noteworthy features.
5. Link, using exaggeration and movement etc, where possi-
ble, these outstanding features to the name of the person.
The best way for you to learn the application of these
methods is to practise them, so following I have doubled the
number of faces and names you were asked to remember in
your original test, have given suggestions for linking them,
and then have rearranged the faces without names for you to
test your new skills.
'An impossible task!' you might say. But before you actually
test yourself on these names let's look at each person separ-
ately to see what kind of associations we can make between the
face and the name.
Mrs. Ruff. Mrs. Ruff has a fairly distinct hairstyle which it is
unlikely that a woman such as she would change. It doesn't
take much imagination to change her hair into an Elizabethan
ruff—the frilled neck collar common to that age.
Mr. Hind has enormous jowls! As a matter of fact they look
a little bit like a person's posterior! BeHind!
Mr. Pickett. The outstanding feature of Mr. Pickett's face
is it's overall rectangular quality and its straight neck. An
image can conveniently be made using the type of placard
that people on strike who are picketing their employers carry.
To make the image more complete, you might even imagine
the word 'picket' being written on the placard.
Mr. Rolls is perhaps one of the easiest. His triple chin
bulging in rolls beneath his face makes no other image neces-
sary.
Miss Shute. Attractive though she may be, Miss Shute has
one of those characteristically in-curved noses, a little similar
to a certain famous comedian. We can exaggerate this variously
imagining a giant coal-chute, or a fairground shoot-the-chute.
Mr. Sawyer. The outstanding characteristic on this man's
face is his large, straight and shaggy eyebrow. With a quick
mental twist we convert this into a large saw, the shaggy
sections of the eyebrow representing the teeth of the saw.
Mrs. Knapp. Mrs. Knapp is noticeable for the fairly large
bags beneath her eyes. Concentrate on this aspect and imagine
that these were caused by a lack of sleep. In other words they
might go away if she were more often able to take a nap.
Mr. Marshall. Fairly obviously Mr. Marshall would be
noticed for his large protruding ears. To link them with his
name is not as difficult as it might appear: Imagine that each
ear is a gun holster!
Mr. Callis. A number of features might be picked for Mr.
Callis, but probably the best is his rough pock-marked skin.
Our link here is the word 'callous', which refers to a hardened
or rough area on the body's surface.
Miss Hammant. Two features should immediately strike you
about Miss Hammant. First her beefy, strong face, and second
her rather small nose. The caricature is easy: make the beef
into a large ham; make the small nose into an ant crawling over
the ham.
Mr. Dockerill. Mr Dockerill is slightly more difficult than
Miss Hammant, but he is not impossible! To begin with he is
a large man, which fits in with the general impression of a
docker. Add to this his large eyes (like harbours !) and the first
part of his name—Docker—is easily remembered. Further
more he does look a little run down, many of his features
tending to either droop or sag. We thus arrive at 'ill' and the
complete Dockerill.
Mrs. Nash. One of the most noticeable characteristics of Mrs.
Nash is her upper lip which is drawn back, leaving her upper
front teeth slightly uncovered. To remember her name we
concentrate on the teeth rather than on the lip, thinking of the
gnashing of teeth.
Mr. Swallow. Mr. Swallow is an ideal subject! For those
people to whom the word swallow immediately brings to mind
images of eating or drinking he has a prominent adam's apple
which can be exaggerated with ease. For those who are more
inclined to ornithology his fine arched eyebrows look very
much like a swallow in flight!
Mrs. Cirkell. Again an easy one! With this face we need not
be concerned with particular characteristics—simply the
overall shape which is circular circle—Cirkell.
Mr. Lynch. In remembering Mr. Lynch let us try a different
approach. We will think first of a lynching, realising that it
concentrates on the neck! Next we will link this image with our
man. Mr. Lynch has a particularly thick neck so we imagine an
especially strong rope being needed to complete the job!
Mrs. Paukowski. Of Mrs. Paukowski's major features, one
of the most outstanding is her large, sloping forehead. To
remember her name we convert this into an enormous ski-
slope, and imagine (here we have to get really ridiculous, which
is good!) a poverty striken cow skiing or attempting to ski
down the slope: poor-cow-ski!
Mr. Fieldwick. Another person whose memory-feature is
to be the forehead. Mr. Fieldwick's forehead is noticeable not
for its size or shape, but for the wrinkles and creases upon
it. Imagine it therefore as a ploughed field. His tufty hair
can be likened to a candle-wick. A field above which there is a
wick.
Mr. Ray. This young man is noticeable not so much for any
particular feature, but for the general quality that emanates
from his face. It seems almost to glow. A quick mental trip
takes us from 'glow' to 'gleam' to 'ray'.
Miss Sheriton. Miss Sheriton is made even more attractive
than she would otherwise be by the large dimple in her chin.
Think of the dimple as a large cherry, so large that it weighs a
ton. A slight slurring of the 'ch' gives us 'sh' Sheriton.
Mr. Newell. As with Mrs. Paukowski Mr. Newell's memory-
feature is his nose, although in his case we are interested in the
fact that it is slightly shiny and flared at the nostril. The shiny
quality can easily be interpreted as newness, and the flared
nostril can be likened to a well.
Mrs. Carstairs. Rather than attempting to combine two
images here we will concentrate on Mrs. Carstairs eyes which
are noticeably round. The image is of a car's headlights. We
need not imagine stairs, as the round eyes themselves stare. In
other words we imagine: car stares!
Mr. Dombrower. This intelligent looking gentleman is
characteristic of the 'intellectual' or 'highbrow' look because of
his large, domed forehead or brow. The link is easy: dome-
brow.
Mrs. Heyburn. Mrs. Heyburn has lank, straight hair.
Imagine it as cut hay, and then set the lot on fire!
Miss Jazcolt. Miss Jazcolt has pouting lips which can quite
easily be imagined playing an instrument such as the trumpet—
jazz! She is also 'frisky' in appearance. just like a colt. Miss
Jazzcolt.
That completes our list of 24 names. Before proceeding to
the following pages in which you will be testing your memory
of these names, quickly run back over the list and the associa-
tions, fixing them firmly in your mind.
You should by now be quite an expert at remembering
names and faces! Before this chapter comes to an end, how-
ever, we shall quickly cover the memorisation of facts related
to the names and faces we wish to remember.
Now that you have basically grasped the link system and
the remembering of names and faces, this next step will be
quite simple. All you have to do is to add another link to the
face-name picture you already have.
For example, if Mrs. Ruff were a typist, you would imagine
either: a typewriter within the Elizabethan ruff; typing on an
Elizabethan ruff; or a typewriter sitting on Mrs. Ruff's head!
If Mr. Sawyer were a college professor you could imagine
him standing in front of his class sawing his desk or lecturn in
two!
If Mr. Swallow were an apprentice plumber you could
imagine him swallowing his employer's tools, and so on!
One other point about remembering people is the following:
if you are certain that you will be meeting this person only once
and that you are not concerned with long-term memory, it is
often useful to use an outstanding item of clothing that the
person might be wearing. This method of course is no good
for long-term memory, as the person may not be wearing the
same clothes next time.
Another general pointer concerns names that are common,
such as Smith and Jones. To remember people with names
like these, establish a 'Smith-chain' and a 'Jones-chain' etc. To
do this pick a 'basic Smith' or Jones and use that person's
face as a link with any other person having the same name. You
will find that the more people you have on the chain, the
easier remembering becomes.
And finally, how did my professor perform his amazing feat?
By now the answer should be fairly apparent: firstly he used
one of the basic list systems to remember the names in the
proper order, obviously making extravagant associations with
the memory word and the name to be remembered. The
numbers and addresses he remembered by a system with
which I will be dealing in a later chapter. Once he had called
our names and we had identified ourselves, the rest was easy.
He linked the names with the very motley collection of faces in
the class!