Four Common Rapport Building Mistakes and How to Fix Them

1. Pretending You Are Interested When You Are Notpeople keep your focus on your real goal. Deal
Do yourself a favor and be honest with yourself andeffectively with the individual and maintain your own
the people you spend time with. If you are really notemotional state regardless of how upset the other
interested in the topic of conversation say so.person is.
If possible change the subject or simply postpone thatPay attention to your emotional state when dealing
particular conversation until another time.with negative people, manipulative people and others
Obviously if there is a danger of offending the otherwho will drain your energy. With these people rely
person you will have to be less direct. In thesemore on the weakest element of rapport - words.
situations it helps to find out right away what the otherAnd manage your body language without following
person wants or expects from you. Ask!their lead.
The conversation will right away become very4. Not Speaking Their Language
relevant to you and maintaining interest is a lot easier.We all have one primary sense whether it be visual,
2. Disliking The Other Personauditory or feelings based that dominates our
If you do not like the person you are talking to it willperception of the world.
come across at some level. Ask yourself -- whatYou need to get good at spotting which modality other
could I like about this person? This will help put you in apeople use and match their world to get rapport
better frame of mind.quickly and easily.
And look for things you have in common by askingIf someone is in a visual mode their words will be
yourself - how is this person like me?dominated by words that express what they see. For
We all have something in common and commonalityexample the car is red with a white soft top and a
builds rapport. Look for it and you will find it.huge back seat.
If you mechanically attempt to get rapport with peopleWhereas the auditory person describes the car in a
while secretly disliking them you will never get thatdifferent way: it sounds like a lion roaring when you
deep rapport you are aiming for. In fact if your focus isstart the engine and the CD player fills the car with
on how much you dislike the person you will not evendeep, rich sounds that dance around your ears.
want rapport and instead you will be setting yourselfFinally the person most attuned to their feelings notices
up for conflict.the smooth soft sensation of the leather seats and the
3. Wanting Rapport With Everyone You Meetwarm firm feeling when they hold the steering wheel.
I made this mistake when I first learned advancedIf you use the wrong modality for the person you are
communication skills.talking to it makes it harder for him to understand you.
All of a sudden, for the first time, I was able to getYou have to work harder to get rapport.
rapport with anyone I met. So I did.And when you speak to several people at once make
And I recommend you do the same to a point. Withsure you use visual, auditory and feeling words to
one exception. There are some people you do notmake sure you appeal to everyone.
want to be getting deep rapport with.Make a point of paying attention to the dominant
Take someone who is like a raging bull with a deepmodality your friends and family use. And you may
resentment and hate for themselves and other people.have a breakthrough when you finally discover why
Do you really want to feel the same way? If you getyou are not getting deep rapport with some of them
deep rapport you will feel some of the same feelings.while more easily getting along with other people.
While you may need to be effective around such