How To Build Rapport With Different Kinds Of People

There are four main classes of people in NLP and we normally refer to them as the "Visuals", the "Auditories", the "Kinesthetics" and the "Digitals".

Each of these groups of people has certain general observable patterns of behaviors. Of course, these models are not meant to be cast into stone and followed like a set of rules. There are some exceptions and combination patterns.

However, we can say that at the point of interaction with the person, you can get clues as to what the other person's representational type is. Finding out this representational type can help you establish rapport with them.

Here's the first category, the "Visual". You will tend to notice that a visual person is someone who tends to sit upright, is well organized and well grouped.

They have a tendency to speak rapidly in quick bursts, have a higher pitch of voice and they tend to visualize images in their minds. They have an active mind that wonders unless you have a good visual presentation. They also tend to look upwards in order to access information.

These are people whom I classify as high frequency people. If you take a look at their breathing patterns, they tend to be breathing high up in their chest. Neurologically, these people operate based on the neuro firing that takes place in their brain. When electrical impulses go off in their head, they generate images more rapidly than any chemical changes released.

To the other extreme, there are people who are much slower in their speech and tend to have deeper, resonant sounding voices. You will also notice that their breathing is much lower and takes place in the stomach area.

These people have difficulty sitting down for long periods of time, and are accustomed to moving around, touching and doing things. There is also a tendency for them to look down to get a feel for the environment around them.

Next are "Kinesthetic" people.

There are two kinds of "Kinesthetic" people.

The first kind tends to be more active. They are usually sports people, who enjoy the outdoors very much. The other kind of kinesthetics person tends to be more of a couch potato, who does not like outdoor activities and prefers to laze around and allow his mind to wonder.

The "Auditory" person is the type of person similar to the DJ we hear on the radio.

They usually have impactful and attractive voices that characteristically have wider variations and articulations. These people love discussions and are able to repeat things to you easily. There is also a tendency for them to lean forward and tilt their ear towards you or their hands might be on their cheek or close to their lips and ears. Their eyes tend to move to the left and right. Most auditory people also tend to be musically inclined.

They also have the ability to tell the difference between sounds, tunes, and melodies. These people tend to breathe in the diaphragm and I would classify them as mid frequency people.

The "Digital" personality is what you might consider a procedure and sequence person. He tends to do things step by step and is a person who loves abstract concepts.

There is plenty of internal dialogue and this person tends to process information logically. The digital personality tends to look downwards and to the left in order to access information. A person from this category exhibits characteristics of the other representational systems as well.

Knowledge of these four representational types will allow you to recognize differences in body language and gestures in order for you to be able to establish rapport with others more effectively.

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