Here are some simple techniques to ensure you’re communicating effectively in order to create that respect and love you’re looking for:
1. Become genuinely interested in other people. Ask questions about their life and their interests. Genuine interest comes across as warm and friendly, a great way to start. It shows that you care, and are more interested in meeting their needs than your own. It’s a superb way to build a friendship!
2. Smile, nothing says a happy and warm hello like a smile. It crosses all cultures (okay, 99 per cent) and all boundaries and has broken more ice than the Titanic. Try it today and watch it work miracles. You never know the impact of your smile. I like to think that each time I smile I’m actually touching someone’s heart and fulfilling part of their need to be accepted.
3. Remember a person’s name; it is the sweetest and most important sound in any language to that person. The more often you use it, the easier it is to remember it and we all love to be remembered. A few tricks include:
a. Once you’ve heard it said, repeat it aloud, and then use it in a sentence. The other person will be flattered that it’s important to you!
b. Ask them something specific about their lives or business that will assist you to link it with their name. For example, I meet Bob, and am interested in what he does. I ask, ‘What does your business specialise in?’, and Bob replies … ‘Building.’ (I bet no one could see that coming.) So now I can easily remember Bob the Builder ….
c. Create an image of the person’s face and link it in your mind to their name, or to their occupation, then to their name. Do this three or four times to make sure it’s sunk in.
4. Be a great listener, encourage others to talk about themselves, and listen intently. Paraphrase to show your understanding, and ask questions to show you are genuine. Some of the best conversations I’ve had I’ve hardly spoken a word, and the other person has left feeling elated about our ‘talk’. Giving people a free and safe space to talk is one of the most important aspects for creating a relationship and building trust and respect.
5. Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely. Were appropriate, give genuine compliments and praise that person’s achievement publicly. Each of us grow as we receive compliments, they cost nothing to give but provide the other person with self worth, confidence, reassurance and pride. A very powerful gift indeed!
With these new tools to try out I’m sure you will be making new friends and amazing connections right away. Please don’t keep them for new associates, go home and try them out on your family. Really listen to them, compliment them and smile as much as you possible can and watch the world begin to change around you! Remember, to use them effectively it must be done with good intentions and genuine interest.
If you’re really ready to step up and start living life and need a little assistance to get started, please give me a call on 0409 224 303 and we can work on it together.
Everyone, on some level, wants to be loved and respected. Some make it more obvious and others try to hide it for a fear for appearng needy. Being loved and feeling accepted by your peers, family and associates is one of the six basic needs we all have in life.