The Karma of Connections
The Karma of Connections
When you are in rapport with someone, you can disagree with what they say and still relate respectfully with him or her. The important point to remember is to acknowledge other people for the unique individuals that they are. Rapport can be described, as 'when two people are like each other, they like each other!' Rapport builds trust and without basic trust communication can become stilted.
When communication between two or more individuals reaches its optimum it's said that a perfect rapport has been established. On the other hand, when communicating with a customer or prospect is hard the situation becomes rapport-less. Some people we meet may inspire an instant connection and immediate trust, while another person can be very polite and charming yet we don't feel any connection with them and our communication feels unnatural. When two or more people meet they immediately start an automatic process of comparison with the other. If the outcome of this process is judged that the other person is similar in some way then rapport is established. When people are in a state of rapport they tend to respond easier to our instructions, suggestions and influence. Rapport is often seen as the foundation of all good communications.
We have an inbuilt tendency to conform to the other person's behaviours and if we instinctively feel that conforming is possible, then we will start the process of building rapport. As people this process happens instinctively and can be evidenced by sharing the same mannerisms, voice qualities and gestures. This means that when two people are in rapport they show a tendency toward a behavioral compromise. It's easy to spot two close friends who share similar gestures, facial expressions, verbal expressions, and postures, to such a degree that they could be mistaken as being closely related. This is due to the fact that the long-term mutual rapport creates a strong behavioral bond. Even when these two friends disagree on something, they manage to keep rapport alive.
The process we use unconsciously to build rapport can be replicated with conscious awareness that is a useful skill for a Sales person to learn. This process can be likened to matching and mirroring a person's behavior to create a perceived likeness. When we match a person's mood, their gestures, facial expressions, we are better equipped to start experiencing how they feel at any given moment. Doing so, we obtain that the person observing us will find mirrored in us their emotional state, their way of living at that moment, and all this will increase the chances that they will see in us someone that they can trust.
If we have built sufficient rapport it then becomes possible to lead a person towards where we would like them to go, or what we would like them to do. At an unconscious level they will know that by refusing it (shown by not matching or mirroring you) they will be refusing to build rapport, with themselves. Through unconscious identification they are already convinced that you are experiencing what they are experiencing, therefore anything you will manage to do they will feel that it's something they can do as well.
There are a number of suggestions that can help your rapport-building skills:
➢ The quickest way to build rapport is to match the other person's rate of breathing
➢ By matching a person's breathing, you'll find it easier to match their voice qualities
➢ If you use peripheral vision (expanded awareness, similar to the one used when driving a car) you become more sensory aware of the smallest details about the other person
➢ You don't necessarily need to match each gesture exactly, you can match a pen tapping movement with a foot tapping movement at the same pace
➢ Never match regional accents and if you are female, some male postures may not look appropriate to match
➢ Paying attention to the other person really helps build rapport because the more you notice, the more you can match
➢ Take a genuine interest in getting to know what's important to the other person. Start to understand them rather than expecting them to understand you first
➢ Pick up on their key words, favourite phrases and way of speaking and build these subtly into your own conversation
➢ Notice how someone likes to handle information. Do they like lots of details or just the big picture? As you speak, feed back information in this same portion size
The Karma of Connections - To learn more about this author, visit Nikki Owen's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Classic research by Robert Birdwhistle looked at how face-to-face communication was received and responded to. His figures suggest that your impact depends on three factors - how you look, how you sound, and what you say. His research broke it down: 55 per cent body language, 38 per cent quality of the voice and 7 per cent actual words spoken. Rapport involves being able to see eye-to-eye with other people, connecting on their wavelength. So much (93 per cent) of the perception of your sincerity comes not from what you say but how you say it and how you show an appreciation for the other person's thoughts and feelings.
When you are in rapport with someone, you can disagree with what they say and still relate respectfully with him or her. The important point to remember is to acknowledge other people for the unique individuals that they are. Rapport can be described, as 'when two people are like each other, they like each other!' Rapport builds trust and without basic trust communication can become stilted.
When communication between two or more individuals reaches its optimum it's said that a perfect rapport has been established. On the other hand, when communicating with a customer or prospect is hard the situation becomes rapport-less. Some people we meet may inspire an instant connection and immediate trust, while another person can be very polite and charming yet we don't feel any connection with them and our communication feels unnatural. When two or more people meet they immediately start an automatic process of comparison with the other. If the outcome of this process is judged that the other person is similar in some way then rapport is established. When people are in a state of rapport they tend to respond easier to our instructions, suggestions and influence. Rapport is often seen as the foundation of all good communications.
We have an inbuilt tendency to conform to the other person's behaviours and if we instinctively feel that conforming is possible, then we will start the process of building rapport. As people this process happens instinctively and can be evidenced by sharing the same mannerisms, voice qualities and gestures. This means that when two people are in rapport they show a tendency toward a behavioral compromise. It's easy to spot two close friends who share similar gestures, facial expressions, verbal expressions, and postures, to such a degree that they could be mistaken as being closely related. This is due to the fact that the long-term mutual rapport creates a strong behavioral bond. Even when these two friends disagree on something, they manage to keep rapport alive.
The process we use unconsciously to build rapport can be replicated with conscious awareness that is a useful skill for a Sales person to learn. This process can be likened to matching and mirroring a person's behavior to create a perceived likeness. When we match a person's mood, their gestures, facial expressions, we are better equipped to start experiencing how they feel at any given moment. Doing so, we obtain that the person observing us will find mirrored in us their emotional state, their way of living at that moment, and all this will increase the chances that they will see in us someone that they can trust.
If we have built sufficient rapport it then becomes possible to lead a person towards where we would like them to go, or what we would like them to do. At an unconscious level they will know that by refusing it (shown by not matching or mirroring you) they will be refusing to build rapport, with themselves. Through unconscious identification they are already convinced that you are experiencing what they are experiencing, therefore anything you will manage to do they will feel that it's something they can do as well.
There are a number of suggestions that can help your rapport-building skills:
➢ The quickest way to build rapport is to match the other person's rate of breathing
➢ By matching a person's breathing, you'll find it easier to match their voice qualities
➢ If you use peripheral vision (expanded awareness, similar to the one used when driving a car) you become more sensory aware of the smallest details about the other person
➢ You don't necessarily need to match each gesture exactly, you can match a pen tapping movement with a foot tapping movement at the same pace
➢ Never match regional accents and if you are female, some male postures may not look appropriate to match
➢ Paying attention to the other person really helps build rapport because the more you notice, the more you can match
➢ Take a genuine interest in getting to know what's important to the other person. Start to understand them rather than expecting them to understand you first
➢ Pick up on their key words, favourite phrases and way of speaking and build these subtly into your own conversation
➢ Notice how someone likes to handle information. Do they like lots of details or just the big picture? As you speak, feed back information in this same portion size
The Karma of Connections - To learn more about this author, visit Nikki Owen's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. |
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Nikki's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Top Author Mistakes Why New Businesses Fail Pro-Forma Template Leadership 2.0 Marketing Effectiveness |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||