Tutorial 5 - Associating Names and Faces

                      ^Tutorial 5 - Associating Names and Faces\

Having learned how to picture >any\ person's name using Substitute Words and

Phrases, the next step is to associate that picture with the person's face.

First of all, you need to look at the person's face and select one

outstanding feature, such as a high forehead, large or small nose,

spectacles, moustache, beard, narrow or wide-set eyes, large or small ears,

thin or thick lips, thin or bushy eyebrows, dimples, freckles, warts -

$anything\ which is at all memorable.

First impressions are, more often than not, lasting impressions, and

whatever seems outstanding to you now will usualy still seem outstanding

when you next meet that person.  What's more important is that by looking

closely at a face, you are %concentrating\ on it, and etching the details on

your memory.

Having decided on the outstanding feature of a person's face, you then

simply associate the Substitute Word or Phrase you've invented for that

person's name. If you make a strong enough association, it will be almost

like having the person's name written on his or her face !#

For example, suppose you've just met %Mr Ball\, and want to be sure that you

remember his name.  The name %Ball\ might suggest to you a football, or a

rugby ball, or perhaps a golf ball.  Let's also suppose you have decided

that the outstanding feature of his face is his red, curly hair.  Now, you

look at that hair and picture millions of golf balls springing out of it,

and bouncing around everywhere.  Or, picture a football with Mr Ball's red

curly hair growing out of it - the football is on his shoulders in place of

his head.

Remember the rules of association, and make your mental picture as

|ludicrous\ and |exaggerated\ as possible.  If you >really\ see that image

clearly in your mind's eye, you will know Mr. Ball's name the next time you

meet him.

Imagine next you meet a >Mr Carrington\, who has large ears.  Use the

Substitute Phrase >Carry Ton\ to help you picture the name, and associate

that picture to those unusually large ears.  Imagine him >carrying\ a <ton\

weight on his head.  His head is being flattened by the weight, pushing his

ears out at right angles to his head.  This image is the sort of picture you

might see in a 'Tom and Jerry' cartoon, and in fact the ridiculous pictures

you see in children's cartoons are exactly the sort of zany images you need

to create to make the pictures memorable.#

Although these pictures take a little while to describe in text, they can

actually be pictured in your mind in a fraction of a second.  Many 'Memory

Man' stage performers throughout the world use this system to remember the

names of five hundred or more people in an audience, after hearing the names

just once ! This is an extremely impressive stunt when seen on television or

in a theatre, but is actually based solely on the simple system described

above.

Of course, you will need some practice before you can memorise five hundred

names in quick succession, but you can benefit from the system after a very

small amount of practice.

Try it now, with ten example names.  For the moment, as you're trying it

without real people or faces, just see the features themselves, and the

(ludicrous) associations.

First on the list is ^Mrs Lambert\, who has a long, pointed nose.  You might

use ^lamb butt\ to help you picture the name ^Lambert\.  Picture a ^lamb\

jumping up and ^butt\ing that long pointed nose.  Not a pleasant picture,

but you're sure to remember it.#

Next is $Mr Biggs\, who has a bushy beard.  Picture millions of $big\ letter

'$S\'s dropping out of the bushy beard onto the floor, or see that beard

gradually uncurling into a $big 'S'\ shape.  Choose one of those pictures,

or one of your own, and reallly see that image in your mind's eye.

Third on the list is %Miss Fortescue\, who has silver-white hair tied up in

a bun.  You might see a %Fort Askew\ (lopsided) on top of that bun of white

hair.  Remember, the crazier the picure the better.

Fourth comes <Mr Whitelaw\, who has a noticeable gap in his front teeth.

Associate Whitelaw (perhaps <white law\ - a policeman covered from head to

toe in white paint) to that gap in his teeth.  You could picture a policeman

covered in white paint trying to crawl out of Mr.  Whitelaw's mouth through

the gap in his front teeth.  A ridiculous, illogical picture which is sure

to remind you of the outstanding feature of Mr Whitelaw's face.

Next on the list is >Mr Pontin\, who has a high forehead.  Picture that high

forehead and see a hand, with one finger outstretched, shooting out of the

forehead and >pointing\ at you.  Make you you see the picture >clearly\,

just for a split second.#

|Miss Webb\ comes next, and she has very long blond hair, right down to her

waist.  Picture that hair covered in masses of cob|webs\, with spiders

crawling all over it.

Seventh on our list of fictitious people is ^Mr Cleese\, who has very bushy

eyebrows.  A good Substitute Word to help you picture ^Cleese\ might be

^cheese\.  Picture those bushy eyebrows covered in ^cheese\, which is

melting, and dripping everywhere.

Next we have $Mrs Green\, who has a mole on her right cheek.  Picture that

mole gradually turning $green\.  It gets $greener\ and $greener\, until it

is really bright and luminous.

Ninth on the list is <Mr Hetherington\, who has long ginger sideburns.  You

might use <heather in ton\ to help you picture this surname.  Visualise tons

of heather suddenly sprouting out of those sideburns, until it covers his

face.

Finally comes >Mr Price\, whose outstanding facial feature is a large dimple

in his chin.  Picture that dimple with millions of >price\ tags stuck to it.

If you prefer to use a crazy picture of your own, then you will probably

remember it even more clearly.~