The memory is such an important tool that is used every day, yet so many people take it for granted. However, without a working memory, even the most basic of functions would desert you. After all, the very fact that you have the alphabet and how to use it stored in your memory is allowing you to read this very article now! Imagine how the loss of such a simple notion would affect you. Sadly, for many people, using their memory to the best of their ability is not so easy.

There are many suggestions as to why some people can store more information than others, and why they can recall that information at any given time, whereas other people take an age, or don’t even recall it at all. The most widely accepted explanation is that the memory is broken down into two key areas:

· Short Term Memory

· Long Term Memory

With short-term memory, you tend to store the most recent events and information. This is the most common memory that people tend to forget, as newer information replaces older information and over a set period of time, that older information is dislodged from your memory altogether. Newer information can also interfere with older details, thus creating a mish-mash of information where it’s difficult to recall the original details.

Long-term memory, on the other hand, can simply be forgotten with either lack of use, or decay through age. As we get older, our capacity for storing information shrinks, and as we use our brain less, so we lose the information that is stored there. We can also lose information via the same kind of interference that short term memory suffers from, when there are new pieces of information fighting to share the same space with older stuff. However, there are ways to both expand your memory and use certain methods to enable you to recall information effortlessly.

One of the most common losses of memory is when we are trying to out a name to a face. We’ve all been there – you’re walking down the street, or you pop into a bar for a drink after work, and someone approaches you and shakes your hand warmly, calls you by your name and asks how you’ve been. Immediately they look familiar but you can’t for the life of you recall who they are. This is a frequent occurrence amongst many people, but there are ways you can overcome this.

There are many ways that you can do this. Word association is one of the most popular and easiest to use. Not only will this give you aliases to use to remember a person’s name, but it will also give you a mental image that is both easily stored and recalled at a later date. Since it has been academically proven that most people will remember a picture but not a wordy description, it makes sense that this method is so successful.

All that is required is to use the association in the first place, and you should find that you are able to bring back their details to the forefront of your memory, regardless of how long it has been since you last met. It’s similar to the way you were taught how to remember the months of the year at school (the “thirty days” rhyme).

For instance, if you were to meet someone called Sean, you could associate this with a sheep that has no wool, as in shear. If you were to meet a man called Oliver, then you could tell yourself that he is like a piece of liver shaped like the letter “O”. Although they may seem pretty straightforward examples, they have been proven to be hugely successful when trying to remember names. There are many versions and replacements for names, so there is bound to be at least one that you will be comfortable with.

Another way to help you remember the name of someone that you have only just met for the first time is to use his or her name frequently throughout the conversation.

Not only will this help store the name into your subconscious, it will also give you the air of being a friendly and approachable person, and make you all the more likable to the person you are speaking to. This will often lead them to converse with you longer, allowing you extra time to build an image around them.

One way that many people have agreed has helped their memory when it comes to recollecting names is by linking a prominent feature on the person and then attaching that to their name. For example, if you met someone called Tom Baker, you could associate the mental image of a scruffy tomcat in the white outfit of a baker, making some fresh bread. Although this might sound fairly ridiculous, its success rate in improving would suggest otherwise.

Like anything, the memory is only as good as how its owner allows it to be. Just like a motorbike will ride better if it is frequently serviced and looked after, so will your memory function better if you exercise it and not allow it to become lazy, and by using association techniques, not only will you improve your current memory, but you’ll have some fun along the way.memory remembering names