Part 7

Mental operation becomes habitual and such practice will help the child form the habit of close observation of faces. The more difficulty he has in accomplishing this the more it shows his need of just such mental training. Let a week or so elapse and then go back to this same group of pictures and try the same exercise again, urge the child to look away once or twice and to make a real effort to build up his mind's eye picture.

Have several sets of pictures of faces so that this exercise can be continued as often as possible.

Progress by Practice

To recognize people accurately and to be able to call by name is a wonderful asset in business or in social life. Your children can have this advantage if you will see to it that they realize its importance and make a deliberate effort while young. They will easily form the habit and thank you for it all their lives.

The ideas and principles in this chapter should be studied by the parent and imparted to the child as he advances in years and becomes able to use them. Do not make the common error of waiting too long or expecting the child to get this for himself. We all like to have children remember our names as well as to have elders do so. The pictures which appear on the preceding pages were for the purpose of practice and should be learned.

The Name Game

Take the same pictures used in the Face Game, on page 116, and put the names of each on the back. Now learn the name of five, making good strong name pictures, use every idea suggested in the chapter. Review the five and learn five new ones, now review the ten, and follow this plan until you have learned not less than twenty names.

Take the twenty learned and shuffle them and lay them one at a time on a table in front of you. Try to name the person instantly; wait only a moment and if you do not recall his name, place the card in a pile by itself. Go through the twenty and see how many you can name; do this often for practice. Use this group every day until you are familiar with all. Enlarge the group by learning ten new ones each day. When possible have some one hold the pictures for you. Try always to improve the score and also to decrease the time necessary to name the group. If there is more than one person learning the names, make a game of the idea, each taking the picture which he names first, seeing who can get the largest number.

The Game for Quick Naming

After several persons have learned the names of the pictures shuffle the cards and deal equally to the players. The one to the right of the dealer lays a picture in front of the player on his right and immediately starts counting slowly from one to ten. The person on his right must name the picture before the other counts ten. If he succeeds in doing so he takes the card and starts a pile in front of him on the table face down. If he fails, the one on his right has an opportunity to name the face while the one showing the card again counts ten. The opportunity to name this card passes on to all players, the first one giving the correct name keeping the card and continuing the play by showing one of the dealt cards to the person on his right. If no one succeeds in naming the card, the one playing it tells the name and adds the card to his pile on the table and shows another. The play continues as long as any one has any of the cards dealt. When all are out each counts his pile on the table, secured by properly naming them, and the one having the largest number wins.

The Game of Introductions

Take a group of strange pictures and have someone show five or more to you and name them as if you were being introduced to strangers. Use your knowledge of how to impress the faces and names upon your mind. Do not pass them too quickly; take time to be sure. Just this practice which you are now doing will make it possible for you to go more rapidly and at the same time to be accurate.

After you have been introduced to the group of pictures, let the person hold up any one, you naming it, and so on through the group. Keep at this Introduction Game until you have become able to meet ten strangers and later name each.

Think what this ability will mean to you in business and in winning the favorable attention of your fellow men. Carry a few small pictures in your pocket, using odd moments in which to practice with them. Paste them on cards and use them while riding on the street car. Practice for profit.

Suggestions to Travelers

Traveling salesmen or others whose work takes them back to a city occasionally will find great help in keeping a written list of the names of those whom they have met in each city. Carry the book with you and as you are traveling towards the city, exercise your mind by going over the list and making a visual review of the faces and names of those whom you may expect to meet when attending to your business in this city. It will prove to be valuable to refresh your memory from time to time.

Same Principles Involved

The problem of remembering names is the same as remembering anything else and can be solved by the use of the same general principles. Attention and concentration are necessary and produced by the visual picture. To recall this name at will you take advantage of the Law of Association, and hitch the Name Picture to the Face Picture. The face becomes our Hitching Post and when you see it you see with it the mind's eye picture of the name.

Name should become permanent knowledge and this is accomplished by an occasional review until you have made a permanent impression.

Remembering the Initial

It is sometimes necessary to remember the initial as well as the name. Often it is as hard to remember initials as it is figures, because they have no definite meaning. An inquiry as to the names which the initials stand for, will be very helpful. It is much easier to remember George Henry than the initials G. H.

Initials which occur in alphabetical sequence are easily remembered and many times you will find that the first letter of the name continues the sequence, as: R. S. Thompson; F. G. Hibbard; D. E. Ferris.

Sometimes you will find the initials spelling a single word, as E. D. which can be taken to represent the given name "Ed", which is short for Edward. You will find many cases where the initials will spell a simple word such as:

R. A. Gunn (Rag). P. A. Scott (Pas-s). R. I. Pitt (Rip). J. A. Marks (Jam).

At other times the initials will be those of names which are familiar to you because of historical, political or other well known associations, as:

S. A. Burke--will remind you of Samuel Adams Burke.

W. J. Casper--will suggest William Jennings Casper.

There are many initials which will represent titles or well known ideas such as the names of lodges and societies:

D. A. Rasmussen can easily be associated with the D. A. R.--Daughters of the American Revolution.

C. E., Christian Endeavor or Civil Engineer.

D. R., Doctor.

A. D., Anno Domini.

P. M., Post Master.

N. W., North West.

Make Initials Into Words

Another helpful idea is to make words beginning with the initial, either descriptive words, or those that can be associated with the business. You meet a Mr. R. E. Pasley in a real estate business--R. E. Pasley, Real Estate Pasley.

R. I. Sterns (a printer)--Red Ink Sterns.

H. R. Paul (hat dealer)--Hat Retailer Paul.

Both Initials In One Word

In many cases the two initials can be formed into the same word, the first letter of the word being the first initial and the last letter the last initial. The following are some examples:

H. R. Gray. His hair is gray which helps to remember his name and the initials can be made into the word HaiR--HaiR Gray.

L. T. Robinson, LighT Robinson. (Mr. Robinson is a light blond.)

M. L. Harber, MilL Harber.

C. D. Dauchy, CarD Dauchy.

The Price Must Be Paid

You realize full well the value of the ability to call people by name. You have often wished that you had this ability. It is one of the priceless assets in a successful business career, and to attain it is to reach one of the high principles of mental development.

=The ability to remember proper names is not an exceptional gift, but is an acquired faculty based upon the use of simple means and of personal effort.=

Knowledge is power, but only when applied. All the knowledge in the world is of no value to its possessor unless used. You are successful in life just in proportion as you are using the knowledge which you have.

A dependable memory for names as well as faces is within your grasp. The knowledge imparted in this lesson, simple as it may seem, has been used by thousands of business men to develop reliable memories for Names and Faces.

You will have many opportunities to prove it in the next few days. Be true to the method. Make a deliberate attempt in each case. Force your mind to wake up and get on the job. Do not be content until you have a definite association which you are going to use to remember each particular name.

Under no circumstances allow yourself to neglect the review. Each review adds new strength to the impression. Only strong impressions can be recalled at will. Make it a part of your business to remember the names of the people to whom you are introduced. Know every customer; if the list is a long one, do not expect to learn them all in a week, but do not let a day pass without fixing definitely in your mind the names of several. Children should learn the names of every scholar in the room and of all the teachers in the school.

The persistent use of this definite knowledge will accomplish results that now seem impossible. It is the use of the knowledge that will bring progress.

="He who learns and learns and acts not what he knows is like the man who plows and plows and never sows."=

You may feel yourself handicapped in life because of a poor memory. This shortcoming can reasonably be charged to a lack of right knowledge.

You cannot say as much for your children now. What will you do to help them form the Memory Habit early in life? Do not wait for them to do this for themselves; it should be done now. You are the child's guide--you are largely his will power. The responsibility is squarely up to you.

Nature's rewards are ample. You will both be fully repaid for every bit of effort.

Nature's rewards are just. You or your children will never reap the reward of a good memory until both have paid the price of effort.

Your child WILL grow--he cannot stand still or wait for your convenience.

He will form the Habit of Remembering or the Habit of Forgetting--which shall it be?

You can multiply the profits of his life by helping him to master his Memory--otherwise it will master him.

Practice is the great need. Play the games and develop the brain.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

Italicized words are surrounded with underscores: _italics_ Emboldened words are surrounded with equals signs: =bold=

There are inconsistencies in the Table of Contents regarding chapters and sections, as well as incorrect page references. The Table of Contents is presented as it appears in the original with page references corrected.

Obvious spelling and punctuation errors have been standardized.