Tips on building rapport with others

I recently bumped into an old friend who was telling me about how things have been going in her life. From what I knew about her personality, I always thought that she was one who would do very well in terms of building relationship with people, be it professionally or personally. And true enough, she was promoted within a year to Human Resource Manager in a top firm and is in a wonderful relationship with the man of her dreams.

People who find it diffcult to build strong and meaningful realtionship with people would find it puzzling how others seem to do it so well. They might be wondering if there are any secret formula or steps that they could take to improve relationship on all fronts to get ahead in their lives, because let's face it, no matter how good your are at performing in your career on your own, everyone needs that human touch or human relationship to lead more meaningful lives. It is just the way we humans are made. Great news. No matter how shy you might be or how diffcult your colleagues might seem to be, there are always some techniques that you could use to help build rapport with someone.

So for today I thought that it would be great to provide some tips on building rapport with people, be it your colleagues or that special someone.

1.) Be a good listener
Yes, it's a simple tip but people often forget to do it! People like others that listen to them. One very good way to show people that you are listening to them is to paraphrase what they had just said. Another way is to nod occasionally and/or say 'I see' or 'That's great'. Show people that you care about what they say and they will in turn care about what you have to say as well.

2.) Mirror their body language

Mirroring is a very powerful subconscious technique to build rapport with anyone. When communicating with someone, wait 10 seconds, and then copy the body language gesture of the other person. For example, use the same hand gestures they use, but only when it’s your turn to talk. Match their facial expressions instantly. If they raise their eyebrows, raise yours to acknowledge their emotion.When they nod their head, nod yours instantly to signal agreement or affirmation.

3.) Match their speed and tone of voice
This is a great way to build rapport with someone over the phone. If you are a talking to someone that speaks faster and louder than you, speed up your speech and increase the volume of your voice a little to at least come closer to matching theirs.

4.) Smile
Yes, everyone looks their best when they smile. Smiling makes you look more approachable and friendly. Perhaps if you are dealing with someone that you do not really like but need to put on a friendly, smiling face, take some time and think fo something funny first before going to interact with this person. 
 
 
Please feel free to email me any questions and comments at bodypulse@ymail.com. Have a great day!