# How to remember names at networking events
Most people who say they are bad with names never heard the name properly in the first place. The fix is a handful of small habits, and the last one happens after the conversation ends.
- Category: Networking playbook
- Reading time: 9 min read
- HTML: https://stage.connectmachine.ai/blog/how-to-remember-names/
To remember names at a networking event, make sure you actually catch the name, then recall it yourself a few times at growing intervals: during the conversation, as you leave, and again an hour later. Tie the name to something meaningful about the person, and write down who they are and why you talked within minutes of walking away.
Repetition alone helps less than people think. Memory research on name learning points to retrieval, pulling the name back out of your head after a gap, as the method that works best in real social settings. Imagery tricks work in the lab but are hard to run mid-conversation.
Below are seven techniques in the order you use them at an event, what the research says about each, and what to do when a name is gone anyway.
## Why names are so hard to remember
Names are harder to recall than almost anything else you learn about a person. In a 1987 study, people shown faces with surnames and jobs recalled the jobs far more often than the names. It is easier to remember that someone is a baker than that someone is called Baker. Researchers call it the Baker-baker paradox. A job connects to everything else you know. A name is an arbitrary label with nothing attached.
The second problem happens before memory even starts. When people take turns introducing themselves, they remember least about what was said just before their own turn. Psychologists named it the next-in-line effect in 1973. At a networking event you are rehearsing your own introduction while the other person says their name, so the name never gets stored.
So most forgetting is a capture problem first and a memory problem second. The techniques below deal with each.
## 1. Catch the name before you try to keep it
Have your own introduction ready before you walk up, so you are not rehearsing it while they talk. Then put all your attention on the moment they say their name.
- If you did not hear it clearly, ask straight away. "Sorry, was that Mara or Myra?" is normal in the first ten seconds and awkward after ten minutes.
- Confirm the form they use. Robert or Rob, Aleksandr or Sasha.
- For an unfamiliar name, ask how it is spelled or where it comes from. You get a second hearing and something to attach it to.
Name badges help here. A 2022 study found people recalled names better when they both heard the name and saw it written on a name tag. If you are running the event, a badge with a large, readable first name does part of this work for every guest.
## 2. Recall it at growing gaps, don't just repeat it
This is the technique with the strongest evidence. Instead of saying the name over and over, let a little time pass, then try to pull it back up. Then let a bit more time pass and do it again.
### Part 1: Right after the introduction
Say it once in your head while they keep talking. "Daniel."
### Part 2: A minute or two later
Recall it again without looking at the badge.
### Part 3: As you leave
Use it in your goodbye. "Good to meet you, Daniel."
### Part 4: Ten minutes and an hour later
Scan the room and name the people you have met so far.
In a 2005 study by Morris and colleagues, people who practised recalling names got 42 percent right on a later test, against 17 percent for people who were simply shown the names again. The researchers then tried it at a real 40-minute party. The group using expanding recall did best the next day, ahead of both an imagery group and a control group. Serge Brédart's 2019 review of name-learning strategies reaches the same conclusion: spaced retrieval beats imagery and holds up in real settings.
One caveat. Saying a name out loud does not, on its own, seem to help. A 2016 experiment found no benefit from speaking names aloud. What helps is the effort of recalling. Using the name in your goodbye counts because you have to retrieve it to say it.
## 3. Attach the name to something that means something
The Baker-baker paradox also points to the fix. Give the bare name some meaning. In the same 2005 study, people who made a meaningful link before practising recall did better than people who only practised recall, 70 percent against 45.
- Link it to someone you know with the same name. "Priya, like my cousin Priya."
- Link it to what they told you. "Tom, freight software, flew in from Rotterdam."
- Link it to the name's meaning or origin if they shared it.
### What about the vivid-image trick?
Memory books teach turning the name into a picture: Gordon becomes a garden growing on a large nose. It works well in controlled tests. In a 1978 study, people using it recalled about twice as many names as those who did not. At a live event it is harder. Building a strange image while also holding a conversation takes effort, and in the party study the imagery group did no better than the control group. Use it for names that will not stick any other way.
## 4. Use the name once, at the right moment
Some advice says to use a person's name three or four times in a conversation. In practice once in the conversation and once at the end is plenty, and more starts to sound like a sales script. The goodbye is the best place. It is a recall test with a natural gap built in, and it is the last thing they hear from you.
## 5. Write down who they are and why you talked, straight after
This is the step that decides whether the name is still useful next week. Within a few minutes of walking away, before the next conversation starts, note three things:
- Who. Name, company, role.
- Where. The event and anything that places the conversation, such as "by the coffee stand after the AI panel".
- Why. What you talked about and what happens next. "Wants the case study, intro to Lena."
Writing the note is itself a retrieval. You recall the name and the details a few minutes later, which is the spacing that the research above favours. Reading the notes back that evening is the next round.
The note also covers what memory cannot. Six weeks later you will not need their name in the abstract. You will need to know who the logistics person from the September meetup was. Our guide on following up after a networking event covers what to send once you have the note.
> **ConnectMachine: Daniel Okafor, Northwind Freight**
>
> Met at the logistics meetup, by the coffee stand. Wants the Rotterdam case study. Follow up Thursday.
This is the job the ConnectMachine app does. Exchange cards with a QR scan or scan their paper card, add a typed note or a voice memo while you are still in the room, and set a reminder to follow up. Contacts you scan at the same place are grouped into an event, and later you can ask the AI Concierge who you met at last month's meetup and get an answer from your own notes.
## 6. Review your list before you see them again
Before a second day at a conference, or the next session of a regular meetup, read through who you met last time. Two minutes on the train is enough. It is one more retrieval at a longer gap, and it means you walk in already knowing the names of the people you are most likely to see.
## 7. What to do when a name is gone anyway
It happens to everyone. A few ways out that do not hurt the conversation:
- Say it plainly. "I remember our conversation about the Lisbon office, but your name has slipped my mind." Remembering the conversation shows the meeting mattered.
- Introduce them to someone else. "Have you two met?" usually makes both people say their names.
- Offer your own name first. "Hi, Sam, we met at the product summit." Most people answer with theirs.
- Swap contact details. Once they share their card, their name is on your screen.
## Frequently asked questions
### What is the best way to remember someone's name?
Catch the name clearly, then recall it yourself at growing gaps: a minute later, when you say goodbye, and again later that day. Memory research finds that this kind of spaced retrieval works better than repetition or imagery in real social settings. Write a short note about the person right after the conversation.
### Why do I forget names right after hearing them?
Usually the name was never stored. People pay least attention to what is said just before their own turn to speak, so if you are planning your introduction you miss their name. Names also carry no meaning on their own, which makes them harder to recall than someone's job or hometown.
### Does repeating a name help you remember it?
Less than people think. An experiment found that saying names aloud gave no memory benefit by itself. What helps is recalling the name after a gap, so use it in your goodbye rather than repeating it straight away.
### How do you remember names at a networking event with lots of people?
Treat each conversation separately. Catch the name, recall it at the goodbye, and write a one-line note before the next conversation. Every so often, look around the room and name the people you have met. Read the notes back that evening.
### What should I say if I forget someone's name?
Be direct and show you remember the conversation, for example: I remember our talk about the Lisbon office, but your name has slipped my mind. Or introduce them to someone else, which usually gets both people to say their names.
### Is it rude to look at someone's name badge?
No. That is what the badge is for. A quick glance at the start of the conversation is normal. Staring at it mid-sentence is what feels awkward, so read it once and then recall it from memory.
## Keep the name and the reason you met together.
ConnectMachine saves each new contact with a note or voice memo about where you met, groups them by event, and reminds you to follow up. Free to start.
[Get ConnectMachine free](/download-app)