2 Keys to Help You Connect Emotionally With Others

3 minutes

Last update: 10 September, 2020

Interpersonal relationships enrich our lives. Getting along well with others, feeling important, and having special relationships make our existence worthwhile. Unfortunately, we’re not born with this skill. In this article, you’ll find some tips on how to connect emotionally with others.

We can learn how to nurture the relationships we have with our loved ones. We can all become charismatic people. If you want to improve this aspect of your life, read on. This article is for you!

1. Connect emotionally with others by practicing active listening

One of the ways to connect emotionally with others is to make them feel heard. During a conversation, distraction generally competes with our attention. Also, we may be thinking about what we’re going to say next. Has this happened to you?

Friends having a conversation practicing active listening.

Giving your undivided attention to the person you’re talking to nurtures a bond that binds you together. The key to doing this is focusing on the present moment. It may be complicated sometimes, but practicing techniques such as mindfulness is a good idea. In addition, there are several things that may help you:

Avoid judging the other person.
Interrupt only when it’s strictly necessary. If you interrupt, the speaker may feel that you aren’t interested in what they’re saying. When you have to interrupt, make sure to keep it short.
Instead of giving advice, just listen. Oftentimes, when we give advice, we’re only projecting our beliefs onto the other person.

2. Change your body language

Some studies say that our body language represents 80% of what we communicate. Thus, it’s clear that mastering nonverbal communication is one of the best ways to connect emotionally with others.

We’re usually not aware of our body movements when we talk. Our attention is so focused on what we’re saying that we forget our body movements.

You may be able to divert some of your attention to your movements by using the following tips:

Relax. If you look stressed, the speaker will know that you’re uncomfortable. Your mirror neurons will send a message that there’s an imminent danger which will make it more difficult to open up emotionally.
Adopt an open body language. Keeping your arms crossed or having your back towards the other person shows that you’re uncomfortable with them. If you want to improve your connection, try to adopt a posture that shows that you’re comfortable.
Keep good eye contact. Our eyes are the most expressive parts of our bodies. Keeping good eye contact is really important because it makes the other person know you’re interested. To do this, look at the person in the eye 80% of the time while they’re talking to you.
Create rapport. Using rapport is a very useful technique that can help you connect emotionally with others. It consists of imitating a person’s body language in a subtle way. Doing this makes their brain get the message that they’re safe with you and that they can trust you.

Two co-workers maintaining eye contact while talking.

These two keys that will help you connect emotionally with others may set you on the path towards mastering your conversation skills. However, there are still many other useful keys. Do some research and try out some new techniques today!