The Meeting Where Everyone Introduced Themselves Over and Over | Lateral Thinking Puzzles

3 Levels of Hints

Take it little by little, just as much as you need.

Hint 1

The person you identify yourself to isn’t necessarily one of the three people right in front of you.

Hint 2

What’s obvious inside the room isn’t necessarily clear to people outside.

Hint 3

They needed to distinguish who was speaking without seeing them.

The truth behind this mystery

The discussion was recorded without video.

Later, the person tasked with transcribing the meeting from the audio recording could not distinguish between the four voices. By stating their names before speaking, they made it possible to identify who said what from the audio alone.

The four were not introducing themselves to one another; they were stating their names for the benefit of the person who would listen to the recording later.

If you notice this, you’ve got it right

They stated their names so that someone listening only to the audio could identify speakers whose voices they could not distinguish.

You do not need to identify the specific purpose of making meeting minutes. Audio broadcasts or audio-only remote participation also count as correct solutions if the reason for stating names is to distinguish the speakers.

Suggested questions and answers for group play

Did all four of them actually know each other?: Yes.
Were they able to see each other’s faces at the time?: Yes.
Was this an exercise to help them remember each other’s names?: No.
Did anyone who wasn’t present listen to the discussion later?: Yes.
Was the discussion recorded?: Yes.
Were the people listening to the recording also given the video of the meeting?: No.
Was the listener unable to tell the four speakers apart by their voices alone?: Yes.
Did they state their names so it would be clear who was speaking?: Yes.