"It's not that you forget the name — it's that you don't remember it in the first place," says Harry Lorayne, a memory-training specialist in New York City and coauthor of The Memory Book ($11, www.amazon.com). Lorayne, who went on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 22 times and memorized the names of everyone in the audience, says the key to locking in a name is to associate it with a picture.

"Take the last name Bentavegna," Lorayne says. "It has no English meaning whatsoever; it's a conglomeration of sound. But think of something the name reminds you of — say, a bent weather vane. Then focus on an outstanding feature on Mr. Bentavegna's face — say, a big nose. And as you're shaking hands with him, instead of his big nose, picture a large bent weather vane. It's silly, but it forces you to really listen."