Making friends and keeping friends is all about rapport – how well you get on with someone. There are some children who can start talking to another child and just hit it off. They are comfortable talking about any subject and can slot into many conversations. There is no awkwardness at all. They are able to find things in common quite quickly and so making friends is easy. For some children this comes naturally and for others it doesn’t. If your child finds it difficult building rapport with others you can help them in the following ways:
- Get them to listen to what the other person is saying and look for shared experiences or circumstances – perhaps they also go to cubs or live near you.
- Teach them to avoid talking too much about themselves and avoid asking direct questions about the other person.
- Help them to be conscious of their body language and their non-verbal communication. They need to use eye contact frequently and show they are listening. Nodding their head is always a good one.
- Teach them to inject an element of humour into the conversation. Laughing together creates harmony. Your child could make a joke about themselves or a situation but make sure they don’t make jokes about their new friend.
- Get them to use empathy and show that they understand the other person’s point of view. Rapport is all about finding similarities and being on the same wavelength as somebody else.
Building Rapport With Others Requires Confidence
There are so many ways to build rapport including humour and taking a joke, however, the first thing to do is to build up their confidence so they are able to interact with others and talk to them. The second thing is that they have a healthy self-esteem so they feel good about who they are and are able to feel able and strong. Would you add anything else? How have you helped your child build rapport?
If you would like some help for your child in building rapport with others and friendships in general please get in touch.
Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
