Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been talking to someone for a while, then forget their name within five minutes of the conversation?
Theta Chi Fraternity had a successful rush this semester with over 50 new members accepting their bids; and I remember how it was when I was a new member trying to remember names. With over 100 brothers in the fraternity, it took me a while before I knew the their names by heart.
Well, remembering brothers’ name is one thing, but being Greek made me realize how bad I am at remembering people’s names in general. It’s been almost two years, and I’m just now starting to remember people’s name. I know it looks bad especially when you’ve talked to someone at your socials and/or tailgates for several times and still have to ask the dreaded, "What’s your name again?" A sister from Gamma Phi called me out one night at library and I looked at her like a deer in the headlights. Obviously she knew me because she said my first name, which no one ever does. So I was surprised I could not remember her name. Sad part was that I realized after that we are friends on Facebook. Found out later that she remembered me when I came into her chapter running for SGA Vice President. I’m an honest person, so I often admit to people that I will forget their name the next time I see them. It took me about five times to remember Kelsey Crawford, a Tri Delta, before she became our fraternity’s dream girl. At first, I thought it was just me, but I soon realized that many of my brothers and friends also have this problem.
In Greek Life, just like in a networking event, you are going to meet new people and make new connections in various settings, which can make it hard to figure out where or how you met the person. Well, if you are like me and have a hard time remembering people’s name, here are some ways to get around not remembering people’s name.
1) Introductions
If you can avoid introducing someone that you don’t know their name, avoid it and find out their name later. However, sometimes the situation may require you to introduce the person to your friends or you’ll just seem rude if you disregard the person until you finish the conversation with your friends. When this happens, ask your friends to introduce themselves to the person. In the case where you are with two people where you don’t remember either names, you may be in a tough situation, but you can have both people introduce themselves.
2) Being physical or personal
I tend to hug a person the second time I see them even though I do not remember their name. The purpose to this is to create some type of bond or closeness with the person to cover up that you don’t know their name.
3) Getting their attention
When you’re about to pass the person, make eye contact and say hi to the person to get their attention. Maybe they also forgot your name too, or maybe they don’t know you at all, and think they met you somewhere. Now, you just made another new friend that you have to remember their name. In the case where you want to get someone’s attention, but they are not close enough to you, just say “hey” real loud. Hopefully they’ll see you.
4) Reminder
Have a brother or sister remind you of the person’s name when you see them at a bar, tailgate, or social.
5) NEVER Guess!
In no circumstance should you ever guess. I learned this recently. However, this situation was a little different because I did know the girl’s name that I said incorrectly; but in my defense I only had three hours of sleep and woke up early for class in the morning. It’s one thing to ask the person to say their name again and another to call them someone else’s name. In the end, she corrected me and forgave me, but imagine how that would be if it was someone I barely knew at a bar or social?
