I have become a lot better at doing this and getting a person's attention before starting to talk, but it is something that doesn't come easy to me. My theory is that it has something to do with direct confrontation and what Donna Williams termed "exposure anxiety", maybe saying someone's name makes you too aware and too exposed and then unable to speak.
I do still have a lot of trouble with starting conversations correctly, more often than not I will start talking and the other person is confused because I haven't shared the context of what I am talking about, in my head I have had a thought process and come to the point where I need to ask someone a question, but I keep forgetting the other person doesn't have that knowledge and won't necessarily know what I am referring to.
eric76 wrote:
I think it is related to the prosopagnosia. Since I frequently can't recognize people I should know, in many cases I don't actually know who I'm greeting. It's better to not try to call them by name than to do so and get the name wrong.
This too may play a role here, but I have some of the same issues with being comfortable to say someone's name with people where I definitely 100% know who they are.