Describe a Person's Physical Appearance

If you had to describe somebody could you? Or meet someone who impressed you, but when asked found yourself unable to describe them? Perhaps you have trouble remembering faces. Well, fear not, there is hope for you. If you follow these instructions, you'll improve your memory and who knows what else you might think of!

Steps

The Quick Once Over

  1. Take in the whole person. Start with the big stuff, the things that are easy to describe. Are they tall, short, wide, thin, young or old? Take a quick look at the picture below, then describe what you see.
    • You can tell with just the silhouette that they are:
      • Young
      • Average height
      • Short hair
      • Male
      • Casually dressed
      • Musician
      • Bonus points if you recognized he's playing an electric guitar.
    • Don't over analyze—your first impression is what you're looking for here, and this whole process should only take a few seconds from start to finish. You should try to to look past obvious distractions, and notice as much as you can. If a guy has a massive tattoo on his forearm, or a girl is wearing a revealing top, that's great—note it in passing and take in the whole image. You can stare later!
  2. Take it from the top. Look at your person of interest's hair, and make a quick mental snapshot. Long, shoulder-length, or short? Blonde, brunette, or redhead? Does this person wear a distinct hairstyle? Do they even have hair? Take a look at the picture below, briefly, then describe everything you remember about her hair.
    • This one might have been a little harder than the silhouette, as there were a couple of distractions added in. Still, you should have remembered a few things about her from that brief glance:
      • She's blonde.
      • Her hair is on the long side
      • It's slightly wavy
      • Her hair is probably pinned up.
      • Bonus points if you noted she has blue eyes.
  3. Check out the body. Confirm your initial impression of body shape, and pick out a few more points—are they muscular, well-fed, thick, busty, or thin? What color is their shirt or blouse? What color are their pants or skirt? Again, don't go for too much detail, just the overall impression. Take a look at the picture below for no more than 5 seconds, then see if you can answer the questions that follow.
    • Male or female? OK, no peeking! Try to do this without referring to the picture.
    • What color is his hair?
    • What is his body type?
    • What color shirt is he wearing?
    • What color are the frames of his sunglasses.
    • Bonus points: turn away from the screen, then describe the blurry figure in the foreground. How close were you?
  4. Legs are easy. The guy in Bermuda shorts may have legs that are whiter than the background of this article, or that woman in the short skirt may have legs that keep you from noticing anything else, but unless they're really unusual for some reason—an amputation, they are unusually thick or thin, or covered in tattoos—there's not much to legs. In fact, if you do notice a person's legs, it's more likely something else is attracting your attention to them. For example, take a look at this picture briefly:
    • Describe what you saw. Chances are what you remember is not their legs, but what they were wearing.
    • Bonus points: how many of the models were wearing shoes or boots? That’s right—just one.
  5. Shoes are good to notice. Are they new, old, well-cared-for or beat up? Knowing this will not only help you recall this person later, it's a good way to learn a little bit about them.
    • What kind of shoes is she wearing? Bonus points if you don't look back at the picture! Sorry, that was a trick question—you can't see her shoes. The most noticeable thing was the fact that the groom is wearing tennis shoes with his suit, and it may have distracted you from taking in the whole picture. More bonus points if you can recall:
      • What color is her hair?
      • Is his hair long or short?
      • What color is his tie?
      • What color is his belt buckle?
  6. Repeat in reverse. Start from the feet, and work your way back up. What you're doing is taking those first impressions, and solidifying them into a memory by repetition. If you have the time and can do it without seeming creepy, take a second look.

The Main Event

  1. Get specific. You have got the basics down, so now it's time focus on the details.
  2. Look at the person's face. Even identical twins have facial differences that make every face on earth completely unique.
  3. The eyes have it. Are their eyebrows thick or thin, light or dark? Do they have small eyes or large eyes? Are they deep-set or bulgy? Are they almond-shaped or round? Do they have long, thick, curly lashes, or are they sparse, straight or short? Look at the picture for 3 seconds, look away, and describe his eyes.
    • Look again. How did you do?
  4. Nose. The person's nose can be almost any shape or size. Is it long or short, turned up or hooked? Is it wide or narrow? The nose carries a lot of the weight of how the face looks, and it matters whether you're looking from the front or from the side.
    • Bonus points if you can describe the nose of the man with the eyes, above. Mega bonus points if you can describe the nose of the woman with blond hair at the top of the page.
  5. The mouth. Arguably the most expressive part of a person's face, this is the hardest to pin down. If the person's laughing, or angry, or shouting, they all change the shape of the mouth. Still, no matter what else is going on, there are a couple things you can pick out. Is the mouth wide or small? Does the person have full lips or thin lips, and is their cupid's-bow on top very defined?
  6. Take note of any other distinctive features. Such things as a mole or birthmark, scars, or tattoos are all fair game for recollection. If you see them, make note.
    • Turn away from the monitor, and sketch her tattoo. While you're there, earn some bonus points and describe everything else you remember about her.
  7. Notice the person's movement. Ask yourself: Is it rapid, is it slow? Is the person clumsy and staggering, or confident with heads high up?

Mnemonic Devices

  1. Still having a hard time? People sometimes use word and image associations to remember things about people. Here are some examples:
  2. Outstanding in her field. Here we have a woman with very long blonde hair. If that were not memorable enough, add in her surroundings: a field of long, golden grasses.
    • Think "long golden grasses, long golden tresses." You have associated two images together, each of which will shore up the other.
  3. Hard as a rock. In this example, there's not a lot there, but there's certainly enough to form a mental connection to the surroundings. In the background, a solid brick wall. In the foreground, a guy who's about as solid, smooth, and hard as that concrete wall. Think "hard as concrete," and you'll have a mental image that won't soon go away.
  4. Eyes as deep and wide as the ocean. The same thing applies here: pick out something in the surroundings that fit the image, and marry the two together. There are a couple obvious mnemonics with the image below:
    • What color are her eyes? In fourteen-hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue! Her eyes, of course, are now ocean blue.
    • What about her hair? The sand in this picture happens to be very light, so use that. Sandy colored hair. Blonde hair.
  5. Try it out. Tomorrow, when you get up, ask yourself, "what color were the eyes and hair of the woman in the last picture?" You will surprise yourself when you know the answer without even blinking an eyelid!
  6. Now go practice. Take a walk downtown, and pick a random person on the street. Give yourself about 5 seconds to lock in everything you can about them. If it's possible, take a picture.
    • Break it down like we showed you in the first section, top to bottom.
    • Add in mnemonics like we showed you in the second section.
    • When you get home, write down everything you remember about them, no matter how obvious or how trivial. Now, take a look at the picture you took. How close were you?
    • Repeat this exercise regularly, and you'll find you'll soon be able to describe not just the stranger you picked out, but the people around them as well.

Tips

  • Be consistent with what order you notice features and you will remember them more easily.
  • Try to notice the person's most outstanding quality. Take a step back and acknowledge the first thing you noticed about them: this may be brightly colored hair, a particular height, or something they wore that you found odd. Determine that one thing and that will make it easier to pick this person out of a crowd later.
  • Be subtle about looking at a person because staring is rude, and a long up-and-down could start a fight. Especially if there's a significant other who's as observant as you!
  • Include color. The color of clothes, shoes, eyes, hair, skin, etc., can help aid the memory.

Warnings

  • Any excessive looking, whether it be glances or stares, could be misconstrued as aggressive. Take your time, and not only will you be safer, you'll remember more easily.
  • Take care not to add details that aren't actually part of this person.

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