Assume no one remembers names. As a courtesy, reintroduce yourself by name even to those you have previously met: “Hi, I’m Kevin.”

# You have to name it before you can claim it.

Now I am here - now read me - give me a name.

Before I begin speaking, there is something I would like to say

Why do so many people start their messages with, "It's me"? Of course it is you. We all know that. But who the hell ARE you?

Lemony Snicket: (narrating) When you are invited to dine, particularly with people you do not know very well, it always helps to have a conversational opener, a phrase which here means "an interesting sentence to say out loud in order to get people talking." Although lately, it has become more and more difficult to attend dinner parties without the evening ending in gunfire or tapioca, I keep a list of good and bad conversational openers in my commonplace book in order to avoid awkward pauses at the dinner table. "Who would like to see an assortment of photographs taken while I was on vacation?" for instance, is a very poor conversational opener because it is likely to make your fellow diners shudder instead of talk, whereas good conversational openers are sentences such as "What would drive a man to commit arson?," "Why do so many stories of true love end in tragedy and despair?," and "Madam DeLustrio, I believe I've discovered your true identity!" all of which are likely to provoke discussions, arguments, and accusations, thus making the dinner party much more entertaining.

Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name? Hello, I love you, let me jump in your game.

"Hello, what's your name?" "My name is Mr. Fischer, what's your name?" "Bush. I'm Mr. Bush."

if need arises for holding converse with men, do not shun having witnesses, and let your conversation be marked with such confidence that the entry of a third person shall neither startle you nor make you blush.

Let us begin this letter, this prelude to an encounter, formally, as a declaration, in the old-fashioned way: I love you. You do not know me (although you have seen me, smiled at me). I know you (although not so well as I would like. I want to be there when your eyes flutter open in the morning, and you see me, and you smile. Surely this would be paradise enough?). So I do declare myself to you now, with pen set to paper. I declare it again: I love you.

How to break in: with a name, a statement.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

You must name a thing before you can note it on your hand drawn map.

Let someone know you remembered their name and they won’t ever forget yours. To help remember their name, repeat it on first hearing.