Rapport and Body Language: Suggestions and Exercises

Exercise Suggestions and Tips

This section provides a series of exercise suggestions and tips to help practically apply what has been explained theoretically.

The purpose of the exercises is to give you the opportunity to deepen and integrate what you have learned. In many peer groups, people tend to talk for hours before realizing the time is running out and they hastily rush through a format. I strongly urge you to avoid this! Set a specific time period and then train. Postpone the – also – interesting conversations for later.

It’s best to take notes shortly after a process and then discuss them in the group. You can work through the questions together, but still, rephrase the answer in your own words. The same applies when you seek help from literature to answer the questions. It’s perfectly fine, but please use your own wording.

Theory questions should be answered as briefly as possible. Process descriptions should be as detailed as possible! If you are short on time, then work through only part of the tasks. This is better than not engaging with the material at all. Muscles only grow stronger when you use and train them regularly. The same goes for NLP. Knowledge alone will not change your life – it’s the ACTION that counts!

Theory Questions on Rapport and Body Language

1. What does "calibrating" mean?
2. What is meant by "rapport" and why is it useful to establish rapport?
3. What ways do you know to establish rapport?
4. What is meant by "cross-paced"?
5. Which names play a significant role in the history of NLP?
6. What directions are hidden behind these names?
7. What is the fundamental idea of NLP?

Practical Tasks

1. Observe whether rapport exists between people on the street, in restaurants, at public events, and wherever you are in the near future.
2. Mirror the body movements of others and build rapport with them.
3. Call a friend and pace their speaking speed and volume over the phone.

Also, pay attention to their favorite phrases.

4. Pace the mood of another person and then shift their mood to a better one.
5. If you are intimate with your partner, pace their breathing.
6. Practice the pacing rhythm: Pacing, Pacing, Leading!