There are various ways of communication. While communicating, we use words and phrases such as, “It is clear to me,” “I feel it,” or “It sounds great.” All of these expressions have a similar meaning. However, they represent a different sense. The first is the sense of sight, the second – feeling, the third – hearing. When most people speak, they predominantly use one of them. When at the particular moment they are more visual in their talking, you will find words like: “clear,” “simple,” “I can see,” “a perspective.” In the case of a person using more of a sense of feeling, there may be words like: “I feel,” “hard,” “hold,” “smoothly,” “touch,” etc. When it comes to sensory perceptions, there are three main types you can gather from a person, depending on the way the person uses language to communicate with others:
- Visual – People whose sensory perception is visual would tend to use “seeing” phrases such as “my vision is clear,” “I see what you mean,” “your future is bright,” and words such as “view,” “imagine,” “color,” “hazy,” “clear,” “foresee,” “appear,” or “outlook.” They also tend to describe things in terms of “seeing” such as “small,” “light,” “brown,” “rectangular,” etc.
- Hearing – People whose sensory perception is auditory would tend to use “hearing” phrases such as “I hear you,” “she scratched the floor,” “his voice was sharp,” “I am listening to you,” and words such as “listen,” “talk,” “discuss,” “hear,” “sound,” “call,” etc. They also tend to describe form in terms of “hearing” such as “loud,” “noisy,” “beeping,” “ticking,” etc.
- Kinesthetic – People whose sensory perception is kinesthetic tend to use “feeling” phrases such as “I feel that is the best way to do it,” “My feelings do not support this,” “She was warmly welcoming,” “I feel that,” “I can’t grasp that” or “I fear that,” and words such as “touch,” “feel,” “afraid,” “fear,” “warm,” “cool,” “rough,” “smooth,” “wet,” etc.
Pay attention to these details and learn to adjust your style of speaking accordingly. First, you can practice creating longer sentences having a characteristic of each type of sensory perception above, so it becomes easy and natural for you to use them during real conversations. Pick one of those rapport-building techniques and use it in your next conversation. Then try another one and test how it works for you. Every time focus on just one element, teaching your brain exactly what it should catch in the other person’s speaking. Thanks to this, you will learn the ability step-by-step and will soon be able to use it automatically. Then, being able to adjust yourself through all of these ways at once, you will become a significantly better communicator.