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By Lediati Tan
SORRY, what did you say your name was?
If you have to ask people this immediately after you've been introduced, don't blame your bad memory.
It all boils down to your lack of interest and attention, says memory guru Eran Katz.
Mr Katz, 44, an Israeli, was in town earlier this week to impart techniques on how people can improve their memory - for studies or for everyday things like numbers and passwords.
"Most people complain about their memory as they age but it's not necessarily a neurological problem. They just think it is," he said.
"Usually the reason old people complain about their memory is because as they grow older, they lose enthusiasm, and they're not really interested in things. That's why they don't remember them."
To remember people's names more efficiently, MrKatz suggested techniques such as asking them what their names mean. (By the way, "Eran" roughly translates into "the awakened" in Hebrew.) Repeat, repeat
You can also try repeating their names frequently during the conversation (but don't overdo it), or associating them with certain distinguishing features they have, like their likeness to someone you know, or even their unique hairstyles or moustaches.
What about complicated passwords for our many e-mail, Facebook and other networking accounts? Use abbreviation, he said.
For example, the password "pmBJ3k5" can be remembered as "please make Big John 3 glasses of k5 (a cocktail)".
"You will remember the password because it's a sentence that makes sense," he said, adding that the more bizarre the association, the better you'll remember it.
It not only makes remembering everyday things easier, it is also fun to come up with creative ways to remember things, he said.
With the integrated resorts opening soon, does he have any techniques to memorise playing cards?
No, said Mr Katz.
He explained that memorising cards are no longer relevant as casinos now reshuffle the deck in the middle of the game.
"It's all luck," he said.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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