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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to use name tags unless you are one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent sure that everyone in a group knows each

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Speaker 1: other's names. Name tags make interactions less awkward. They ultimately

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Speaker 1: help people learn names better, and that in turn puts

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Speaker 1: everyone at ease. It is remarkable how often groups get

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Speaker 1: to gather without any structured way to communicate who is who.

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Speaker 1: No name tags, no name plates, no introductions, no roster.

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Speaker 1: The people convening the gathering may know everyone's names, but

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Speaker 1: everyone else. Maybe the hosts assume attendees know each other,

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Speaker 1: but that is not always a safe assumption. Even if

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Speaker 1: someone said their name at the beginning, if the group

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Speaker 1: has been gathering for a while, names may have been forgotten,

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Speaker 1: which is problematic because as time goes on, it gets

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Speaker 1: more and more awkward to ask. Name tags provide an

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Speaker 1: easy way to remind people about who is who. If

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Speaker 1: you are convening a group that will meet regularly, just

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Speaker 1: have name tags there at the beginning and keep providing them.

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Speaker 1: Maybe after half a dozen meetings or so you can

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Speaker 1: stop the practice. But if you've got new members coming

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Speaker 1: in or visitors, those name tags should come back out.

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Speaker 1: If you have been meeting for a while and haven't

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Speaker 1: been providing name tags, a new member or a joint

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Speaker 1: meeting with another group could all provide a nudge to

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Speaker 1: make this happen, and then you can just keep providing

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Speaker 1: the name tags without making a big deal of it.

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Speaker 1: If you are organizing a one off volunteer event where

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Speaker 1: volunteers may need to interact with each other or with

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Speaker 1: the people they're serving, the name tags become even more important.

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Speaker 1: It is much more comfortable to say, Hey, Dan, could

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Speaker 1: I borrow that ladder to paint the trim around the door,

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Speaker 1: rather than excuse me, sir hello, As you try to

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Speaker 1: get someone's attention and then give up and walk away

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Speaker 1: with the ladder that they may have been about to use.

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Speaker 1: Name tags don't take the place of introductions. Certainly, if

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Speaker 1: you are teaching a class at your house of worship

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Speaker 1: or a cooking class at a community center, it would

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Speaker 1: be nice to create time for people to share something

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Speaker 1: about themselves. But even if you do that, you still

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Speaker 1: want the name tags. Someone might have missed the first meeting,

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Speaker 1: or you can miss hear a name which is just

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Speaker 1: awkward for everyone. Later, I know someone who has been

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Speaker 1: calling me Lauren for a while, and I just don't

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Speaker 1: know if I'm ever going to correct it at this point.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes people forget. Some people are very skilled at remembering names,

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Speaker 1: which is a testament to their character. Some people are

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Speaker 1: not so good at remembering names. An introduction might not

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Speaker 1: do it, so best to provide the reminder. Frankly, even

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Speaker 1: if it is unclear if name tags might be called for,

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Speaker 1: it could be good to have them. Lots of people

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Speaker 1: go to exercise classes or play places with their kids

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Speaker 1: in part to make friends. Name tags remove at least

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Speaker 1: one awkward step and make connecting easier. They don't need

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Speaker 1: to be required. If you make them available, some people

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Speaker 1: will take them and some won't, since perhaps some people

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Speaker 1: like to be anonymous at spin class or at the

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Speaker 1: little gym. But it does set the tone that you

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Speaker 1: want people to get to know each other, so why

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Speaker 1: not offer them. This is especially true given that providing

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Speaker 1: name tags is not exactly difficult. Every office supply store

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Speaker 1: carries them. Grab a few markers and you're good. You

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Speaker 1: have spent a few dollars and you've helped people get

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Speaker 1: to know each other better. This is a small thing

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Speaker 1: that truly does make a big difference in the meantime.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia

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Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to

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Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Gett