The ideas and principles in this chapter should be studied by the parent and imparted to the child as he advances in years and becomes able to use them. Do not make the common error of waiting too long or expecting the child to get this for himself. We all like to have children remember our names as well as to have elders do so. The pictures which appear on the preceding pages were for the purpose of practice and should be learned.
The Name Game
Take the same pictures used in the Face Game, on page 116, and put the names of each on the back. Now learn the name of five, making good strong name pictures, use every idea suggested in the chapter. Review the five and learn five new ones, now review the ten, and follow this plan until you have learned not less than twenty names.
Take the twenty learned and shuffle them and lay them one at a time on a table in front of you. Try to name the person instantly; wait only a moment and if you do not recall his name, place the card in a pile by itself. Go through the twenty and see how many you can name; do this often for practice. Use this group every day until you are familiar with all. Enlarge the group by learning ten new ones each day. When possible have some one hold the pictures for you. Try always to improve the score and also to decrease the time necessary to name the group. If there is more than one person learning the names, make a game of the idea, each taking the picture which he names first, seeing who can get the largest number.
The Game for Quick Naming
After several persons have learned the names of the pictures shuffle the cards and deal equally to the players. The one to the right of the dealer lays a picture in front of the player on his right and immediately starts counting slowly from one to ten. The person on his right must name the picture before the other counts ten. If he succeeds in doing so he takes the card and starts a pile in front of him on the table face down. If he fails, the one on his right has an opportunity to name the face while the one showing the card again counts ten. The opportunity to name this card passes on to all players, the first one giving the correct name keeping the card and continuing the play by showing one of the dealt cards to the person on his right. If no one succeeds in naming the card, the one playing it tells the name and adds the card to his pile on the table and shows another. The play continues as long as any one has any of the cards dealt. When all are out each counts his pile on the table, secured by properly naming them, and the one having the largest number wins.
The Game of Introductions
Take a group of strange pictures and have someone show five or more to you and name them as if you were being introduced to strangers. Use your knowledge of how to impress the faces and names upon your mind. Do not pass them too quickly; take time to be sure. Just this practice which you are now doing will make it possible for you to go more rapidly and at the same time to be accurate.
After you have been introduced to the group of pictures, let the person hold up any one, you naming it, and so on through the group. Keep at this Introduction Game until you have become able to meet ten strangers and later name each.
Think what this ability will mean to you in business and in winning the favorable attention of your fellow men. Carry a few small pictures in your pocket, using odd moments in which to practice with them. Paste them on cards and use them while riding on the street car. Practice for profit.