I had a conversation with someone recently in which the person addressed me by name repeatedly. Every time he did it, I snapped to attention. I even started to feel self-conscious.
I was being called by name, and it changed the nature of our conversation. It changed me–from some vague entity on the other end of a chat line into a human being with a name.
Try this in your conversations today. At least once in every conversation, address the person you’re speaking to by name. See what it does for them.
I bet it will be good.
(h/t to Ashley Goff and God of The Sparrow)
YoRocko! 
when people do that, I feel manipulated. It’s such an old-school sales tactic.
http://changingminds.org/techniques/conversation/name/using_name.htm
Obviously the effect that sales people are aiming for is one that is effective for you, and probably a lot of other people as well
I usually don’t like it either, but for some reason this conversation didn’t feel manipulated
I read that link. Just because something valuable is used by seedy people for disingenuous ends doesn’t mean it isn’t still valuable, right Murphy?
Tone and context when they say your name is important too. My favorite is when people evoke my name in a sentence like this: “Jesus Jude, blah, blah blah…” it used to really bother me that I was apparently such an irritating person to so very many people, but now I rather enjoy being paired up with Jesus.
I read to much because I cannot recall the author of a column on this subject. He advised that using someone’s name, especially a stranger in a service setting, makes them human and provides dignity to people we usually encounter as anonymous and interchangeable. I have worked hard in the past year or so to call each food service worker, retail clerk or phone center person I speak to by their name, particularly near the end of the conversation. It takes most of them by surprise and I feel better.
It certainly caught me by surprise. 🙂
Great idea! Thank you for the challenge! I know that doing this we can make more people feel loved every day.