We are all so vain that we love to have our names remembered by those who have met us but once. We exaggerate the talents and virtues of those who can do this, and we are ready to repay their powers with lifelong devotion. The ability to associate in the mind names and faces is a tremendous asset to a politician, and it will prolong the pastorate of any clergyman.

-William Lyons Phelps

Doesn't it make you feel important when someone remembers your name after just one brief meeting? Dale Carnegie reminds us to "remember that a person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language". While most people would agree that remembering names is an important skill, few of us are very good at it.

Here's six steps from Bob Burg, Author of Endless Referrals, to help you make name/face connections effectively.

1. Observe the person's outstanding facial feature.

2. Exaggerate the person's outstanding facial feature.

3. Observe the person's name.

4. Repeat the person's name (to ensure you heard it correctly).

5. Form a mental picture of what the name suggests, or a sound-alike (a similar sound or word that takes something you cannot picture and turns it into something you can picture).

6. Form a ridiculous association between the mental picture suggested by the name and the outstanding facial feature.

Naturally, like any new skill, this technique takes time to master. The next time you are bored at a cocktail party, practice concentrating on making name/face connections. Don't overwhelm yourself, on occasions when you are introduced to several people at once, just concentrate on making one name/face connection and work on the others later.

The more you practice, the better you get and others will appreciate you for it!