People want to be understood and accepted, so you want to be empathetic to them and their experiences as best as you can. Finding commonalities is key to developing emotional connections:
Don’t over-share or ask questions that are too personal.
Ask them how they feel about things or what they care about in life.
Drop the facades and show vulnerability.
Show humility, and try to be agreeable without going against your own beliefs.
Building new relationships with people you barely know can be a real challenge. But in business, quickly building relationships with someone you've just met--a co-worker, a prospective customer, a supplier--is an especially important skill to have. So how exactly do you break the ice when you meet someone for the first time?
Although focusing on shallow topics to start--such as the weather or sports or your favorite new film--makes breaking the ice easier, your goal should be to move on to deeper topics as you gain familiarity with the other person.
... an anecdote, or a well-timed story in order to show other people that you understand them.
Perhaps it's a connection about a mutual friend at work or a common breakfast spot you shared growing up. It's the one spark that ends up transforming the interaction from being acquaintance-like to a true friendship.
Think about something you're having a hard time getting started on, something important to you. Maybe it's a particular kind of work - like writing a proposal or crafting a particularly delicate email. Maybe it's an important conversation you know you need to have with someone that you haven't had.
Start with willpower. Willpower in a moment is much more reliable than willpower over long stretches of time (In some cases you just need to force yourself through a moment to get to the other side).
Commit to repetition. Even if your mind starts protesting, ignore it and keep going.
Benefit from adaptability. The mental and physical challenges will be so diminished, that you'll no longer experienced the transition as pain.
Identify something important to you that you want to move ahead with.
Identify the transition point to working on it. Examples of transition points are: Pick up the phone and dial (for a conversation); ask a question and then stop talking (for receiving feedback).
Make the decision — set a time and place where you will get started (transition).
Prime your emotional courage. Starting something hard will bring up feelings of discomfort and you will need to be prepared to feel things to move through it without stopping.
Most of us have come across them at some point - the kind of people who can walk into a room full of strangers but then leave with 10 new friends, a lunch date for the next day, and the promise of an introduction to an industry insider. Charmers.
A happier face conveys trustworthiness. People will consider a smiling face as more trustworthy, warmer and sociable.
Not all is lost if your first impression has not been as good as you hoped. If you can impress someone afterwards, they will often not remember their first impression of you.