There are myriad horrors that can plague you at a Christmas party.
Getting off with someone you shouldn’t is probably the most commonly spoken about, as well as photocopying bums and throwing up in the vicinity of the boss.
Even if you’re on your best behaviour, though, there’s one social faux pas that you might fall victim to – forgetting people’s names.
Because Christmas is full of friends-of-friends, meeting people’s partners, and having to hang around with work colleagues you don’t really know, it’s a minefield.
Chester Santos is a world leading memory skills expert, speaker and author, and US memory champion.
Some of his feats include being able to recall a random 100-plus digit sequence in five minutes, and naming every U.S. congressperson’s state and district number off the top of his head.
Often called the ‘International Man of Memory’, Chester has some tips for the rest of us on how to improve our memories in the most social time of the year, and not end up having to utter the phrase ‘hello… you?’
1. Use your imagination
According to Chester, the first thing you should do when you learn someone’s name is associate it with an image. And, he says, the wackier the better.
He tells Metro.co.uk: ‘For example, if you meet someone named Alice and you notice she has beautiful hair, you might imagine a white rabbit (from Alice in Wonderland) tangled in her hair. Or Jane might become a chain because it rhymes. Paul might become St Paul’s Cathedral.’
2. Build a story
From here, you take the original image, and connect it with other things that you learned about this person through your conversation.
‘So, you meet Alice with beautiful blonde hair and learn that she lives in London, works in advertising, and has a dog called Rolo,’ says Chester.
‘Imagine a white rabbit tangled in Alice’s blonde hair, then picture her reading a billboard advert for The Tower of London, next to the billboard is a dog eating a chocolate Rolo off the pavement.
‘Run through this story one more time and see it like a cartoon playing out in your head. Now try and recite all the info about Alice that you want to remember by going through the story in your mind.’
3. Involve additional senses
This one may seem a little tricky, given you’ve already got the cogs of your mind creating a story about the person.
It works on the premise, though, that you’ll remember more about somebody if you can use more senses to associate them with something. Just think about how you still remember your teenage boyfriend as soon as you smell Lynx Africa. It works.
Chester says: ‘The more senses that you involve, the more of your brain you’ll be using and that means you’re creating more connections in your mind.
‘Try bringing the cartoon you’ve created in your mind to life with sounds or even smells, and it will all be much easier to remember.’
4. Focus
‘It may seem obvious,’ says Chester.
‘But you do need to pay attention to people. Focus on one thing at a time and try to shut off from distraction to remember the most information effectively.’
That means no scoping out the canapes or looking for your office crush. Talk to one person at a time (or a small group) and really listen. After that, you shouldn’t forget them as easily.
5. Take them to bed
‘Not literally, of course,’ assures Chester.
Instead, this tip is about using sleep to process the memories you’ve just made, so that you don’t end up losing all your hard work.
He advises to ‘take a moment to run through all the important information in your mind just before you go to sleep.
‘Sleep is an opportunity for your brain to organise and ‘file away’ your thoughts, and you’ll wake up the next morning being able to access the information you need much better than you did the day before.’
6. Use it or lose it
‘Your brain is like a muscle that gets stronger with practice. You’re not going to turn into a memory champion overnight, but the more you try and remember names, facts and details about people in different contexts, the easier it will become,’ says Chester.
This also means you probably shouldn’t drink a full bottle of Advocaat on an empty stomach before meeting your grandma’s new boyfriend or a brand new intern who’s daddy is high up in your company.
Keep your wits about you, and do your bit to remember people’s names in the moment. You’re more than welcome to let loose after you’ve done that.
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