I recently picked up a friend at the airport, and he enthusiastically told me, “I just met the nicest woman on the planet on my plane!”
“Awesome”, I responded. “What was her name?”
“You know, I’m not sure,” he told me.
“Ok, then,” I continued. “What did she do for a living?”
“I don’t recall,” my friend replied.
I continued to ask questions about this mystery “nicest woman on the planet” until my friend admitted, “Actually, I guess I did most of the talking. Ok, maybe I did just about all of the talking.”
We humans love to talk. Just about all of us would rather talk about ourselves than listen in any given one-on-one social situation. There’s nothing wrong with that, it just is what it is.
Since humans love to talk, if you can focus on listening, truly listening attentively to the person you’re with, that person will adore you.
Even if you don’t say a thing, if you continue to acknowledge that you’re listening, using eye contact and body language and the occasional “Uh-huh” and “I know”, that person will adore you.
The secret to getting people to adore you is to shut up and listen.
via The Secret to Getting People to Adore You | LinkedIn.