5 Ways to Connect With Someone Immediately

Listen: Be Your Best You.

When you can connect, you can achieve.

How we communicate with other people will greatly determine our life experiences. Every relationship we have helps or hinders our goals. We become limited in achieving success if we aren’t able to communicate properly. If we can get over the hill of getting over our nerves to get up and meet someone, ask for a favor or a deal, or even ask for a promotion, we set ourselves up for higher levels of success.

These five tips will help you connect with someone immediately, and leave a strong and lasting impression.

1. The brain picks up on subtle cues

When you to speak to someone, your subconscious is looking to see if people are interested in what you have to say. It picks up on cues from body language, facial gestures, to the words in response to what you have to say. If you are listening to someone, don’t be looking away for longer than a few seconds. Don’t look at screens, especially your phone. This makes you look incredibly rude and it’s an indication that what the person is saying is not important.

2. Don’t relate everything to you

If you are in a conversation with someone, let them talk when they are sharing their side or story. When you interrupt to talk to someone else, it makes it clear that you aren’t actually listening to what they have to say, you are just listening for a good time to chime in and talk about yourself. You are thinking of what you are going to say instead of the speaker. The person speaking will also be reluctant to speak in the future.

3. Watch for filler comments

Don’t comment when someone is speaking so that it seems like you aren’t interested in what they are saying. It shows that you obviously have stopped listening and don’t care about the subject of the conversation. Several filler comments include words such as “yeah,” “oh cool,” and “gotcha.” In order to connect with someone while they are speaking, avoid these filler comments and listen to others the same way you expect to be listened to.

4. Don’t pretend like you know everything

When we want to try to impress others, we often like to demonstrate that we are educated and knowledgeable. It might be hard for someone to ask “what’s that?” when dealing with someone for the first time. However, if we are meeting someone for the first time, we want them to feel valued, and what they are saying is just as important. If we act like we know all about everything they are going to say, they will find you thinking that you believe yourself to be superior. Stop your ego before it becomes a challenge.

5. Plan ahead

If you are the type of person to freeze up or get nervous during conversations, prepare what you are going to say in advance. Prepare some questions that aren’t too invasive, but will spark natural conversations.