EDITORIAL FEATURE
Networking Using Memory
By Gail Stolzenburg
I
n Dale Carnegie’s famous book, “How
to Win Friends and Influence People“,
he wrote, “Remember that a person’s
name is to that person the sweetest
and most important sound in any language”. Do you see how remembering
a person’s name would be so very important in networking? What if you also
remembered their industry, company
name, position, duration of position, and
previous position? Would it add even
more value if you remembered information about their family, hobbies, and
vision? You can be assured that remembering information like this will build
your credibility and strengthen your relationships.
Would you agree that business is all
about building relationships? Previous
articles in Small Business Today Magazine have addressed questions that could
be beneficial in building relationships.
How would you like to be able to remember the answers you were given for the
next time you encounter that person?
In his book, “Super Memory”, Douglas
Hermann, Ph.D. points out that practice
alone can improve global memory and
substantially boost recall in certain areas of your life. He stated, “When you
practice specific memory tasks, you can
produce spectacular results.” Of course,
that does require dedication and a time
commitment.
Do you have poor memory or maybe
it is just untrained. Most people have
about the same amount of memory. The
difference is the ability to recall information. The mind recalls information more
easily when the images are symbols, col-
orful, pleasant, three dimensional, multisensory, humorous, or ridiculous.
For instance, to remember a name
such as Gail Stolzenburg, you might
think of a big block of ice with a bottle
of the Russian vodka Stolichnaya, nicknamed Stoli, on top. So “Stoli” on an ice
“berg” becomes Stoliburg (Stolzenburg)
and there is a gust of wind blowing the
vodka bottle, so strong you might even
call it a gale (Gail). Include eyes that are
blue like the iceberg, grey hair like frost
on the iceberg, and a smile after drinking
the Stoli to help with facial recognition.
For many years, before he gave a presentation, Bob Burg, author of “Endless
Referrals” and “The Go-Giver”, would
meet each member of the audience,
sometimes over 200 people, and when
he began to talk he would point to the
person and call out their name. Is that
impressive? How do you think those
people felt?
Ron White, a memory expert, spent
two minutes underwater with a deck
of cards and when he came out of the
water, he recited each of the cards in
sequence. It may be difficult for you to
recall facts and figures but it is much
easier when they are attached to a story.
One of the top memory trainers, Harold
Schultz, teaches how to use parts of an
automobile or room fixtures to remember the story.
A great technique for sharing information without referring to notes is the pegboard system. Never use this when you
first meet people because too much information turns people off. This is used
36 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ AUGUST 2015 ]
in subsequent meetings when someone
has asked for more information. In the
pegboard system, a number is associated with a picture by linking, merging, rotating them around each other, or making them collide.
For example: The number one looks
like a spindle, two is a swan swimming in
a lake, three is a 3-tined fork, and four is
a flag on a golf course. You can use this
system by attaching each paragraph title
to a number. The information could be
shared in sequence if it works best, or any
sequence because you remember it all.
Do you believe your memory gets
worse as you age? Just like your muscles,
if you don’t use it you are going to lose
it! After formal education stops, people
tend to neglect intensive use of memory. Memory is just linking information.
So the more facts you process, the better
your long term memory will be. Leadership is a lifelong learning process and
age is not a deterrent to improving one’s
memory or achieving success in life.
Start practicing now about the techniques just mentioned. When you attend the next networking event, see if
you can commit to memory and easily
recall the people you meet and remember how you can be helpful to them in
business or life. By doing so, you will be
more effective in building relationships
and have more fun in the process. SBT
Gail “The Connector” Stolzenburg’s new book, “CONNECTIONS:
Contacts to Clients”, was just released. For more information,
Gail can be contacted by phone at 281-493-1955, by email at
[email protected], or visit his website at www.GailStolzenburg.com.