What Was the Question, Again?
Someone writes a comment, sends you IM, or walks up to you at a trade show and makes it clear he’s met you before. He’s acting like you’re the best of friends. But you have no clue who the guy is.
Been there . . .
Do You Need a Memory Upgrade?
Does that mean we’re losing our memory? It’s probably not memory loss, but it could be sure sign that we need a memory upgrade. Forgetting people and information can be a seriously liability to success these days.
Relationships are build on experiences that went before. We have to remember the experiences for the relationships to move forward in a good way.
Here are three ways we forget . . .
- Fading: We meet someone and forget his or her name seconds later. That’s called fading. We didn’t move the name from short-term memory into “working memory.”
- Interference: New information can interfere with old information. Old information can also mix up with new information.
- Distortion: When we have vivid recollections of events only to find later that the events happened differently.
Ten Ways to Upgrade Your Personal Memory Bank
We all have the power to rebuild our memories by doing simple things when we’re learning new information.
- Think about what you’re learning and be sure you’re clear on it. Try to restate when you know in other words
- Associate new information with something you already know. “Oh Joe, you’re a friend of Joanna Young! So is Bob Hruzek!”
- Being fully present when you lrarn new things to keep old information separate from what you’re learning. Don’t be playing on Twitter the first time you use Plurk.
- Break big blocks of information into smaller chunks. Practice one point on this list until you have it as a habit.
- Involve as many modalities — visual, auditory, kinesthetic — as you can. See things. Talk about them. Touch them while you’re at it.
- Overlearn things by teaching someone else.
- Apply the information quickly. When you’re introduced, use the person’s name immediately.
- Repeat things that you think you might forget. 2+3=5, 2+3=5, 2+3=5 . . .
- Debrief and retell important events with people who were part of them as soon as you are able. That was a fabulous podcast! Let’s debrief on what happened!
- Blog your experience. Last night I met Eric Benderoff at the blogger meetup hosted by Gas Pedal.
Doing what you can to “defrag” your brain is also a great idea.
First impressions are important as ever, but they sure lose their glow if on the second go we can’t place the person we met.
Having a great memory is powerful way to demonstrate we value relationships. Everyone likes to be remembered. Nothing beats a second meeting that easily moves the first meeting forward. People respond when we invest in them — they invest back.
How do you keep your memory fast and functioning?
Click for more information on Memory and Information Processing.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Buy the ebook and find out the secret.
