3 Practical Tips To Help People Understand You Better

We always desire to be heard and understood. Here are three ways you can speak with more awareness, and help people understand you better.

3 practical tips to help people understand you better

# 1: Use “I” statements

An “I” statement reflects YOUR feelings, perceptions, and experiences. Using the word “YOU” during conflict has the opposite effect: it points fingers at the other person. When that happens, the other person is naturally drawn to defend themselves, rather than listen to us.

#2: Focus on the issue and not the person

When we are in an emotionally loaded conversation, it can be easy to attack the person. The more that happens, it can feel like a personal attack. Instead talking about the issue can move in the direction of problem solving.

# 3. Don’t hit below the belt

Often when we are hurt, we try to hurt the other person by hitting where it hurts the most! These raw spots can escalate conflict if we don’t control what is said. Instead, we can prevent conflict from worsening by speaking with respect and compassion.

How we talk to others in our relationships, determines how effectively the relationship problems are resolved. If we want to change other people’s behaviour towards us, we need to start by changing our behaviour towards them.