The circumstances under which you meet a stranger may easily lead you to a strong association which will impress the face and name strongly upon your mind.
To meet—
Mr. Dombville (dumbbell) in a gymnasium suggests a good picture.
Mr. Long—keeps you a long time talking, and you easily remember the name when you meet him again.
Mr. Pugh (pew) you may meet at church.
Vocational Hints
Something about a man's business or the things he sells may help you. When you meet a man and find difficulty in picturing his name ask him what business he is in; this is well to know and may be helpful in remembering the name. All the examples given in this lesson are actual circumstances, not flights of imagination. This vocational idea is helpful because it starts you thinking about the name. Thought is the important factor. If you will learn to think intently you will remember.
Mr. McCash—is employed in a bank.
Messrs. Puls & Puls—are dentists.
Mr. Caution—is a banker.
Mr. Kamerer—sells Kodaks (cameras).
The Thought Channels
The law of association is wonderful in its operations, and the principles upon which it operates can be relied upon to help in cases where it seems almost impossible to make a picture impression. The thoughts you think when you see the face will return when you see it again, just as the conversation and other circumstances do. In trying to remember names that are difficult to picture, think intently about them, silently ask and answer questions about the person or his name, think of the peculiarity and just how it is spelled. See the name spelled in large letters, clear and definite. The Law of Association will tend to recall these impressions when you see the face, and by their aid you will in most cases be able to recall the peculiar and difficult name.
Because a name is difficult few remember it, and its possessor is "bored to death" by continually repeating and spelling it. Here is your greatest opportunity; to remember this name will make a greater impression than if it were an easy one. When you feel that you cannot do anything else with a name think intently about it, make your mind active, become interested, stimulate some strong feeling of pleasure at meeting him, give the impression a strong stimulus.