October 2023 | VOL.1.1 | HYDERABAD |
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Rapport is a friendly relationship where people understand each other well. It's the foundation for close and harmonious interactions, creating a natural connection between individuals. While trust and rapport often go hand in hand, rapport focuses on building a connection, while trust involves consistency and dependability.
Building rapport is a two-way process, and these six steps can help you achieve it:
1. Analyze Your Appearance: Make a good first impression by dressing appropriately. Dress slightly better than the people you're meeting, and adjust if needed. Your appearance should facilitate communication, not hinder it.
2. Keep the Basics in Mind: Make a good first impression by dressing appropriately. Dress slightly better than the people you're meeting, and adjust if needed. Your appearance should facilitate communication, not hinder it.
3. Find a Point of Agreement: Discover common ground through small talk. People enjoy discussing themselves showing genuine interest in their likes and dislikes. Avoid being overly pushy or insincere, as it can damage your credibility.
4. Develop Common Experiences: Create shared experiences, which can be as simple as attending a conference session together or working on a project. Collaborating on challenges and solutions can bring you closer.
5. Show Empathy: Understand others by seeing things from their perspective. Encourage them to express themselves by asking open-ended questions. Balance the conversation so that it's not one-sided.
6. Matching & Mirroring: Utilise mirroring and matching techniques to establish rapport. These techniques involve mimicking the other person's body language, temperament, terminology, and speech patterns. Be subtle to avoid appearing mechanical.
If trust has been broken, take time to rebuild rapport. Reflect on what caused the breach, be honest about it, and if necessary, apologise. Make an extra effort, keep your word, and genuinely address the other person's needs to restore trust and rapport.
Building rapport is vital for establishing strong interpersonal relationships, which can open doors in your career. While long-term relationships are ideal, these strategies can help you build rapport quickly when needed.
In summary, rapport involves establishing a natural connection with others and requires mutual effort. These six steps can improve your rapport-building skills and enhance your interpersonal interactions.