How we communicate with other individuals has a great impact on what we experience and where we go in life. The connection that we establish with others can help us build and strengthen relationships, go forward in our chosen careers and achieve our goals. It’s also an extraordinary tool for self-improvement.
There’s more to building a connection than just verbal communication, although it plays a very important role too.
So whether you want to connect with a crush, your next-door neighbor, a target business-partner or whoever, these 5 tips will help you with that.
1. Make eye contact.
Direct and genuine eye contact means a lot more than whatever comes out from your mouth. It’s a subtle cue that our subconscious mind sees. When you look away for longer than a few seconds during your conversation, it makes the person feel as if you are not interested to talk at all. It will immediately sabotage the connection. So if you want to get the conversation rolling or spark an instant connection, make sure to maintain a smile and an eye contact.
2. Listen and pay attention.
A conversation is a two-way street. So if you want to make a good connection with anyone, remember that it’s not all about you. Let the person talk. Don’t interrupt even though you are going to relate it to his or her story (a common mistake a lot do, thinking that this will build the connection even more). Let him/her have the stage and listen well. If you are genuine about making a connection and getting to know the person more, you will invest time in learning about what he/she is like based on what he/she is talking about.
3. Offer help.
By listening to them attentively, you are most likely gonna learn about something they might need help with. If you spot that, take time to offer sincere help.
4. Give complements.
Honest and real compliments help a lot in building good rapport and instant connections. Make sure to give a flattering but NOT CREEPY compliment. Choose the words you use, make sure they are positive.
5. Never be boastful.
If you feel like impressing your boss or the girl sitting on the bar is a good idea, then you are wrong. As much as you want to show how educated, skillful or rich you are, most of the time, these things leave a negative impression. If you really want to spark a connection, make the other person feel valued and being humble is a must when it comes to that.
