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What is Rapport?
Rapport is a process of building a sustaining
relationship of mutual trust, harmony and understanding. It
is essentially meeting individuals in their model of the world. This happens through matching the accessing
cues from words, eye movements and
body language.
Rapport is the ability to be on the same wavelength and to connect mentally
and emotionally. It is the ability to join people where they are in order to
build a climate of trust and respect. Having rapport does not mean that you
have to agree, but that you understand where the other person or people are
coming from.
Rapport – the Key to
Building Trust
Rapport is achieved when two people can see the
other person's viewpoint, appreciate each other's feelings, and be on the
same wavelength. We all have different
maps of reality – ways in
which we
perceive the world – and "we can only really trust people who look
at the world the way we do.
Same Reality, Different Perceptions
4 NLP Perceptual Positions
If we feel understood, we give people our trust
and open up to them more easily."2 Taking the other person's
perceptual position will help
you achieve rapport and
build trust.
Rapport – the Key to
Influence
Yin-Yang of Influencing People
Rapport is the key to
influence. It starts with acceptance
of the other person's point of view, their state and their
style of communication.
To influence you have to be able to appreciate and understand the other
person's standpoint.
Understand EGA of Your Audience
And these work both ways:
I cannot influence you without being open to influence myself.
Yin-Yang of Effective Listening
Rapport as a
Philosophy
"Rapport works best when it is a
philosophy – a way of dealing with people and a way of doing business at all
times – in contrast to doing rapport as a technique in a sales meeting or
when there is
a problem."4 Having rapport as a foundation for the
relationship means that when there are
issues to discuss, you already have a culture in place that makes it easier
to talk them through and thus to prevent issues from developing into
complaints, objections or
problems.
Understand Cultural
Differences
Creating Rapport
"To create rapport, it is important to
mirror, match, and pace the person or persons with whom you are
communicating."3
In order to do so, it is important for you to open your sensory channels.
You can train yourself to build and refine this operational skill. Opening
your sensory channels "provides you with the ability to see, hear, and sense
external changes (minimal cues, both verbal and nonverbal) presented by
individuals with whom you are
communicating. This is the first step to eliminating an internal
response and mind reading."3 |
