David Coffil with Memory Dynamics
It’s one of the most uncomfortable social situations we face, and it happens over and over again—we see someone we’ve met once or twice but can’t recall the person’s name.
That can be especially detrimental to people like Bob Kay, a salesperson at Beaudry RV, who gets about two-thirds of his business from networking. “Getting people to want to do business with me means getting people to like me. And that means having to remember things that are important to them…especially their name.”
We’ve all heard it before. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Dale Carnegie, in his book How to Win Friends & Influence People, says that a person’s own name is the sweetest sound in the world to that person. Even though we know this, we’re forgetting a person’s name as soon as we’re done shaking hands with them. And that can be really embarrassing… and stressful.
Faking it is one solution. Fessing up is another. But a growing number of people are trying something else: Memory Training.
For the past 27 years, David Coffill, who currently resides in northern California, gives more than 200 talks per year and has been teaching people across the world techniques to improve their memory.
Coffill conducts day long workshops to teach people a variety of recall strategies that they can hone for the rest of their lives. “We’ll cover everything from how to never forget where you put your car keys to remembering important lists of information to learning foreign languages all the way up to the ever-elusive challenge of remembering names… and everything in between.” He has taught thousands of people, including people who have had head injuries, brain operations, and strokes and children with attention deficit disorder. “I have students in school who will come up to me after the workshop and tell me how mad they are that they hadn’t learned this sooner.”
Memory Training is not just about convenience. It really does pay to remember. Remembering people’s names can give salespeople a leg up on the competition. Remembering appointments can prevent career-damaging embarrassment. Just remembering day-to-day details can easily help anyone become more effective and less stressed. With a better and more powerful memory, you can literally achieve in 4 or 5 hours what it normally takes you to do in 8.
“It’s not about becoming a super human computer. We all have the most powerful computer right between our ears… it just wasn’t issued with any software. It’s about being more professional. It’s about doing the things that the other person or the competition isn’t doing,” says Dave.
Tom Basile, VP of Marketing at a Title company here in the Valley remarks, “Anyone can say ‘hey you, good to see you again’ when you see a client of yours out one day. Where you really make an impact, though, is when you actually catch them off guard and call them by their name. That’s what makes lasting impressions. And that’s what keeps my customers coming back… not to mention the referrals.”
Whether you want to have more confidence in your professional career or greater efficiency in your personal life, memory is a key part of it.
“Unfortunately, most people aren’t born with a good memory. It’s a skill you need to develop. The good news, though, is that we can help.”
How much you ask? Said Dave, “You’ll have to come to the class and find out for yourself—but I guarantee it will be an experience you’ll never forget.”