Match People With Famous Doppelgängers

Quick Win

The next time you meet someone new, think about their celebrity look-alike. It may help you remember their face and name when you run into them again.

Try This Today

1. Pay attention. When you meet someone new whose face (and name) you’d like to remember, be sure to pay attention. After all, you can’t hope to remember a face if you’re distracted by other thoughts.
2. Do a quick scan. Once you’re paying attention, scan the person’s face to identify a feature or characteristic that stands out. Do they have red hair, a tooth gap or a prominent nose? Pick a feature to focus on.
3. Focus on that one feature. Ask yourself, does that feature remind me of a famous person? For example, you might associate red hair with Julianne Moore, and a tooth gap with Elton John. And the prominent nose? You might connect that with actor Adrien Brody. Whichever feature you focus on, go with your initial associations, even if they seem far-fetched to other people.
4. Share your idea (when appropriate). To make the memory stick even better, share the association with the person you’re meeting. You might say, “Your smile reminds me of Julia Roberts,” or “You have eyes like David Bowie.” Of course, only mention the association if it’s flattering.

Why

Have you ever met someone new and thought, Say, that person reminds me of ______ (insert name of a famous celebrity)? Perhaps you even discovered that you were able to recognize that individual more easily when you crossed paths again. If so, there’s a good reason. The secret lies in making associations. “Associating new information to something we already know facilitates learning and helps anchor that information to preexisting memories,” says Gary Small, M.D., chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center and coauthor of The Memory Bible. In other words, connecting that new face with Tom Cruise will make it easier to remember the face when you see the person again.