Use these trust builders in your conversations to strengthen any relationship.
Are you struggling to convince your clients to purchase your products and services? Or are you a leader trying to encourage your team members to perform their tasks?
Trust is the most important yet challenging quality to develop in any relationship. Trust is indispensable in business to influence and convince your clients and customers. If people don’t trust you, they will not engage in business with you. Likewise, trust between leaders and team members drives the organization forward in organizations. That is why learning how to build trust with others is necessary.
Building Trust Through Conversations
Using Conversations as Trust Builders: The 7-38-55% Rule
Conversations with other people are your best opportunity to win their trust. You can guide conversations to gain the speaker’s confidence in your favor by giving you the power to influence.
How Conversations Can Be Used to Win Trust: The 7-38-55% Rule
In the late 1900s, Professor Albert Mehrabian gave his communication model in which he claimed that any communication that takes place is overwhelmingly influenced by body language and tone of voice rather than the words being spoken. Through his studies, Mehrabian established that the non-verbal part steers 93% of the conversation. In comparison, only 7% rely on verbal content. The distribution of weights in any conversation is as follows:
- Body language– makes up 55% of communication. It includes facial expressions, body language, gestures, posture, eye contact, nods, and smiles.
- The vocal tone– weighs 38% of the conversation. It consists of the tone, pitch, volume, and intensity of the voice.
- Words spoken– matter only 7%. They are the actual content being said by the speaker.
After analyzing several conversations, Mehrabian found that the most essential communication element was not what was being said but HOW it was being said. The body language and vocal tone were the most focused parts of any conversation.
If the words you say disagree with your tone of voice, the person you’re talking to is more likely to believe the tone of voice.
Trust Builders: The Matching Techniques
Body language matching technique for trust building
Humans are essentially tribal creatures. We feel comfortable with people who are similar to us.
If you want to gain the trust of and influence someone, you have to seem like them. How can you do that? By matching and mimicking.
Studies have found that matching that person’s style makes you likable to them when communicating with someone, as you come off as similar to them.
Use The Mehrabian Model With The Matching Techniques as Trust Builder
You can apply the Mehrabian model to your matching technique to gain the speaker’s trust. When a client is telling you their requirements, or when an employee is expressing their needs to you, you must use these trust builder techniques to gain their confidence and use it to influence them.
- Give the Speaking Person All Your Attention
If you want to build rapport and gain the other person’s trust, you should give them your full attention while they’re speaking. People want to be heard and feel validated when they speak. Make the other person feel you’re attending to them by actively listening to them and showing your interest.
People like people who pay them attention.
- Match Them Physically and Vocally
This technique is a powerful trust builder. Try to match the non-verbal language of the person. Mimic their tone, body language, their posture, and gestures from time to time. Talk low if they’re speaking in low volume. Place your arms and feet the way the other person is doing. Match your facial expressions to what they are saying. All these gestures convey that you are engaged with the speaker and that you are similar to them.
- Repeat Their Words and Phrases Back to Them
Another approach for matching is reverberating what the other person is speaking. Now, this does not mean you start repeating entire sentences being spoken; you only need to repeat key phrases and expressions. A pro tip is to repeat the last phrase of what the other person has said. This makes the other person feel they’re being heard and understood.
Example of Repeating Words
For instance, look at the following conversation:
Person 1: I’m moving to a new city. The place I currently live in is too quiet and dull. I want somewhere lively.
Person 2: You want somewhere lively!
Person 1: Yeah, I like places that are crowded and just buzzing with life where you can socialize with people and make friends. I find peaceful places boring.
Person 2: Peaceful places are boring?! Well, it’s the opposite for me. I prefer peaceful and quiet neighborhoods where I can relax.
Notice how Person 2 repeats the end phrases being said by Person 1. Another benefit of this technique is that it keeps the conversation smooth and prevents it from drying up quickly.
- Use Slight Encouragers and Supportive Remarks
Your face and head will be the center of your speaker’s attention. It would help if you expressed interest by moving your head in nods or facial expressions such as smiling and raising eyebrows.
Showing interest in conversations is a powerful trust builder
- Lean Forward Facing the Speaker
Another key point is to position yourself towards the person speaking to show you’re listening. When you lean forward, facing the speaker, you draw all your speaker’s attention towards yourself. Also, it signals to the speaker you are attentive toward them and are not trying to get away.
- Maintain an Open Body Posture
When talking to another person, you must be mindful of your body posture as it can be a major trust builder. Keep an open body posture with your arms and legs uncrossed. A crossed legs and arms signal you are not open and receptive to the person’s thoughts and needs.
- Be Vocally Responsive
Above all, refrain from being a passive listener to what the client has to say. Engage actively by chipping in vocal responses such as ohs, ahhs, and mmhms. Alter your voice pitch, loudness, and tone appropriate to what is being said. A single monotonous response would suggest you are not really listening.
