^Tutorial 5 - Associating Names and Faces\

Having learned how to picture >any\ person's name using Substitute Words and
Phrases, the next step is to associate that picture with the person's face.

First of all, you need to look at the person's face and select one
outstanding feature, such as a high forehead, large or small nose,
spectacles, moustache, beard, narrow or wide-set eyes, large or small ears,
thin or thick lips, thin or bushy eyebrows, dimples, freckles, warts -
$anything\ which is at all memorable.

First impressions are, more often than not, lasting impressions, and
whatever seems outstanding to you now will usualy still seem outstanding
when you next meet that person.  What's more important is that by looking
closely at a face, you are %concentrating\ on it, and etching the details on
your memory.

Having decided on the outstanding feature of a person's face, you then
simply associate the Substitute Word or Phrase you've invented for that
person's name. If you make a strong enough association, it will be almost
like having the person's name written on his or her face !#
For example, suppose you've just met %Mr Ball\, and want to be sure that you
remember his name.  The name %Ball\ might suggest to you a football, or a
rugby ball, or perhaps a golf ball.  Let's also suppose you have decided
that the outstanding feature of his face is his red, curly hair.  Now, you
look at that hair and picture millions of golf balls springing out of it,
and bouncing around everywhere.  Or, picture a football with Mr Ball's red
curly hair growing out of it - the football is on his shoulders in place of
his head.

Remember the rules of association, and make your mental picture as
|ludicrous\ and |exaggerated\ as possible.  If you >really\ see that image
clearly in your mind's eye, you will know Mr. Ball's name the next time you
meet him.

Imagine next you meet a >Mr Carrington\, who has large ears.  Use the
Substitute Phrase >Carry Ton\ to help you picture the name, and associate
that picture to those unusually large ears.  Imagine him >carrying\ a <ton\
weight on his head.  His head is being flattened by the weight, pushing his
ears out at right angles to his head.  This image is the sort of picture you
might see in a 'Tom and Jerry' cartoon, and in fact the ridiculous pictures
you see in children's cartoons are exactly the sort of zany images you need
to create to make the pictures memorable.#

Although these pictures take a little while to describe in text, they can
actually be pictured in your mind in a fraction of a second.  Many 'Memory
Man' stage performers throughout the world use this system to remember the
names of five hundred or more people in an audience, after hearing the names
just once ! This is an extremely impressive stunt when seen on television or
in a theatre, but is actually based solely on the simple system described
above.

Of course, you will need some practice before you can memorise five hundred
names in quick succession, but you can benefit from the system after a very
small amount of practice.

Try it now, with ten example names.  For the moment, as you're trying it
without real people or faces, just see the features themselves, and the
(ludicrous) associations.

First on the list is ^Mrs Lambert\, who has a long, pointed nose.  You might
use ^lamb butt\ to help you picture the name ^Lambert\.  Picture a ^lamb\
jumping up and ^butt\ing that long pointed nose.  Not a pleasant picture,
but you're sure to remember it.#

Next is $Mr Biggs\, who has a bushy beard.  Picture millions of $big\ letter
'$S\'s dropping out of the bushy beard onto the floor, or see that beard
gradually uncurling into a $big 'S'\ shape.  Choose one of those pictures,
or one of your own, and reallly see that image in your mind's eye.

Third on the list is %Miss Fortescue\, who has silver-white hair tied up in
a bun.  You might see a %Fort Askew\ (lopsided) on top of that bun of white
hair.  Remember, the crazier the picure the better.

Fourth comes <Mr Whitelaw\, who has a noticeable gap in his front teeth.
Associate Whitelaw (perhaps <white law\ - a policeman covered from head to
toe in white paint) to that gap in his teeth.  You could picture a policeman
covered in white paint trying to crawl out of Mr.  Whitelaw's mouth through
the gap in his front teeth.  A ridiculous, illogical picture which is sure
to remind you of the outstanding feature of Mr Whitelaw's face.

Next on the list is >Mr Pontin\, who has a high forehead.  Picture that high
forehead and see a hand, with one finger outstretched, shooting out of the
forehead and >pointing\ at you.  Make you you see the picture >clearly\,
just for a split second.#
|Miss Webb\ comes next, and she has very long blond hair, right down to her
waist.  Picture that hair covered in masses of cob|webs\, with spiders
crawling all over it.

Seventh on our list of fictitious people is ^Mr Cleese\, who has very bushy
eyebrows.  A good Substitute Word to help you picture ^Cleese\ might be
^cheese\.  Picture those bushy eyebrows covered in ^cheese\, which is
melting, and dripping everywhere.

Next we have $Mrs Green\, who has a mole on her right cheek.  Picture that
mole gradually turning $green\.  It gets $greener\ and $greener\, until it
is really bright and luminous.

Ninth on the list is <Mr Hetherington\, who has long ginger sideburns.  You
might use <heather in ton\ to help you picture this surname.  Visualise tons
of heather suddenly sprouting out of those sideburns, until it covers his
face.

Finally comes >Mr Price\, whose outstanding facial feature is a large dimple
in his chin.  Picture that dimple with millions of >price\ tags stuck to it.
If you prefer to use a crazy picture of your own, then you will probably
remember it even more clearly.~