How to Remember Names: Bob Ross

Hi Steemit, this is my first post in a series of how to remember names. I will concentrate on one celebrity in each post and create a little info graphic for you about how you could memorize their names.

We will start with a funny character some of you might remember from 80's TV:

Bob Ross - Mr. 30 Minute Painting

The first thing we need to do is have an image of his face in our mind. You probably remember his curly perm he used to have. Here is a picture of him:

Now we need to encode his name into something more meaningful to us. Because names are generally abstract and meaningless we tend to forget them quickly. We should always look for something that reminds us of the name and can be visualized by us. The visualization is key for the memorizing. In my experience, phonetically similar words are the best images we can find, as long as they are concrete objects or at least easy to visualize. So something abstract like love can easily imagined with a heart or a kissing couple.

Let us look at both his names seperately and find our keywords:

Bob

This reminds me of a bobsled. The name is basically identical even though the bobsled is a bit longer. Since this is a concrete object, it is easy to imagine.

Ross

This is a bit more tricky but not much. There are several words that come to mind. The one I settled for is rose. It is close enough in spelling and phonectis to help the memory with the correct name.

Out of that I created this sweet info card:

Now, you still need to do the memory magic: Like always with memory techniques, we need to connect A with B. In this case we actually connect A with B and C. A is our person, where we usually focus on the face. Try to find something memorable in his face. I think the most memorable bit of him is his perm. So I will use his famous perm as an anchor for the two keywords. Now create a memorable story, which is funny, crazy, full of movement and/or emotional. Usually one of these concepts alone makes already a good story. Everyone should make their own stories but here is an example of what I imagine: Bob sitting in a bobsled with three more Bob's and biting on a huge rose, while shooting down the bob run.

Pretty funny, right? Repeat that story a few times and visualize it, to make it stick. That's it.

follow me

Thanks @organiccacao. Keep theese steps in mind:

Realize you are about to meet a new person and activate your memory mindset. Usually we don't pay enough attention.
Listen carefully. Ask if you didn't hear the name clearly.
Use the name right away and several times in the next few minutes. Be careful to not overdue it as this might come along a bit strange.
Create a memory story. Translate the names into something more meaningful, like images. Connect these images with that person. Use unique features of that person and weave them into your story. Keep it short and simple. Visualize the story.
Repeat, repeat, repeat. Ask yourself several times in the next minutes what that persons name was. Remember your story.