Being able to build rapport with your audience, whether
it is one person or a thousand, is an important skill for
any performer. Being in rapport with your audience basically
means that your audience will be far more involved with your
performance.
The essence of rapport could be summarised in the sentence
'people who are like you, like you'. Everyone has had the
experience of being at a party and mingling with people until
they find someone with a common interest, at which point the
conversation flows as rapport has been formed.
NLP offers some powerful techniques to gain rapport quickly
and easily with people. One important method to gain rapport
is through the process of matching and mirroring. Essentially
this is 'being like' the other person, although it can be
achieved through physiology as well as conversation.
If you ever notice two people who are in a close relationship
sitting in a restaurant, you probably have noticed that they
have similar postures to each other. When one person leans
forwards, the other person tends to as well, if one has crossed
legs the other person often will also. When we are with people
we like, we often naturally assume a similar posture to them.
This is an example of the process of matching and mirroring.
There are a range of different things that you can match
- some of the main physiological things are:
- Posture
- Head tilt
- Gestures
- Breathing
- Blinking
To match someone else in any areas above, you really want
to copy these aspects of their physiology, however clearly
you want to be subtle and avoid overt mimicry, which could
clearly be misinterpreted. For example, if someone is talking
to you and gesturing at the same time, you clearly wouldn't
gesture at the same time - this would seem a little odd. However
when it is your turn to talk, you could yourself use similar
gestures and this would help to build rapport.
Breathing is another key area that you can match - in fact
this can be a very powerful technique. I know students of
mine who have practiced matching people's breathing on the
underground and have struck up conversations and even built
friendships.
You can also match a person's voice, which is another great
way to build rapport.
When you build rapport with your audience, they sometimes
will feel like they have known you for years, and they will
certainly remember your performance.
|