In movies and fictional books, we come across characters who can read minds.
Most of us crave for this power. A husband craves for this power to read his wife’s mind, an employee craves to read his boss’s mind, while a Marketer tries to read his Customer’s mind!
Of course, we will never be able to read anyone’s mind completely, but what we can do, is make an attempt to develop empathy towards the person with whom we are talking.
Anyway, here is the simple exercise –
Whenever the other person is telling you something, your natural tendency might be to react to what she is saying. You might want to agree, disagree or share some story of your own. But wait, be mindful of that temptation.
Just ask yourself a simple question – “Why is the other person telling this to you?”
With enough practice, you would be able to figure out the right answers to these questions. Your answers will get better. The level of conversation will get elevated. Connections will be formed.
Let’s take an example.
A friend tells you that one of her close friends, with whom she hadn’t spoken for a long time, just messaged her.
Your natural response might be –
- Oh, what a coincidence! My friends also did the same yesterday! (You are making the conversation about yourself)
- The Internet is really bringing the world closer, isn’t it? (You are making the conversation about the internet)
- You have so many friends. (You are making the conversation about your friend, yes… but it’s still not what she wants to talk about)
So if you apply the above principle and ask yourself, “Why is my friend telling me about how she was re-connected with her friend?”
She is telling you this because she wanted to share the happiness that she experienced when her friend messaged her.
If you understand this and then participate in the conversation, it will be a much enriching conversation for both.