Building rapport is an essential condition for a strong and trustworthy relationship between two persons for successful interaction. The perception that other people are like-minded, lowers the barriers and creates trust and mutual understanding. Good interpersonal relations with others are the basic ingredient for a successful career, business, for a teacher to motivate his students, or even creating a beautiful family relationship. Some techniques will help to allow rapport easily to establish strong relations.
The art of Matching/Mirroring
This technique is used to build rapport by subtly imitating other people’s behaviour, body language, posture, words, tone of voice, or gestures. Mirroring creates an empathetic relationship between two persons and strengthens social bonds. This is done by closely observing a person’s body language and imitating his —Posture, gestures, facial expressions, blinking, breathing, and shifting position.
When closely observed we may tell the inner state of the person being observed.
By mirroring someone, we send a message to his brain that we are on the same wavelength, it activates mirror neurons of his brain which fosters empathy, trust, and rapport in his mind. A new class of mirror neurons have been found in monkeys’ brains. These neurons respond in the same way when monkeys perform an action or they observe others, performing that action. Experimental evidence suggests that the same neuron system exists in the human brain.
When our subconscious mind perceives familiarity and similarity with someone, through mirroring, we feel comfortable and open up in conversation. So by mirroring someone we can establish strong connections and build rapport.
How To Mirror Body Language
Body Language conveys more than just words do. Mirroring the body language of a person involves, matching the posture, blinking of eyes, breathing speed, and facial expressions. For example, if the other person crosses the legs, you also cross yours, if he smiles you smile too. But never overdo it and mirror it subtly and naturally. Be cautious of cultural and situational context.
Voice Mirroring
Verbal mirroring can also help to build rapport with another person to make him feel more comfortable and relaxed, more open to sharing his feelings. Matching tone of voice involves matching pitch, volume, intonation and speed. If the other person is talking softly, you should lower your voice, if he is speaking fast, speed up your speech, and use the words. and phrases used by them.
1-Find a common ground trust and like people who are similar to themselves. So finding common links between other persons helps to build rapport, like which place they belong to, their likings and other information about their family helps to create good relations. Find topics of interest of the other party and start your conversation with that.
2-Being Empathetic—Showing empathy makes other people feel. Special. It is all about acknowledging their feelings and creating a sense of validation. It includes:
-Paying attention to what they say
-Listening without interrupting.
-Understanding their feelings.
-Sharing how you feel.
-Being supportive.
-Being a silent listener also helps, or your presence may also prove to be a good support.
-Establishing meaningful relations with people is a beautiful strategy for maximizing achievements in life.
