What To Do When You Forget Someone’s Name
It’s happened to all of us – you know you know someone’s name but you can’t remember it at the moment. What do you do?! Of course, you don’t want to disrespect them or embarrass yourself by asking them for their name, again. But here are some tips from the Huffington Post on how you can handle awkward situations.
Consider a subtle approach first. If appropriate, re-introduce yourself again to the person. “Hey, I’m XXX, remember me from that meeting/party/event?”
Discretely ask someone else. This may be your best bet, as long as you can quietly whisper to someone in the vicinity without the person noticing you’re asking about them.
Ask them directly, and apologize. Rather than trying to be sly, owning up to it a lot of the time will be your best bet. Especially if it is the first time that it’s happened with that specific person, they should be understanding.
Don’t minimize your actions. If you do own up to it, don’t make a comment like “I do this all the time.”
But also, don’t make it too big of a deal. Apologize once, and that’s it.
Whenever possible, write down names after meeting someone and try to say the person’s name when you first meet them. These are two tricks to help you remember, for the future.
Source: Huffington Post
