How to be Relatable: Boost Your Influence and Impact Today
Relatability is key to building trust and rapport in personal and professional relationships.
We often see people trying to gain influence by being different, unique, or by trying to be larger than life:
i.e. Elon Musk, Trump, Rihanna, Serena Williams, the list goes on.
While being bombastic and even ruffling feathers around you can garner attention, it doesn’t often lead to connection.
Think about it: how connected do you actually feel on a human level to Trump? To Novak Djokovic? Or to Beyoncé?
Being able to connect and relate with others on a deep human level is the most pivotal skill you can develop.
Effective communication and influence all hinge upon your ability to build rapport and appear relatable to the people you seek to communicate and connect with.
When you can relate to others, you establish trust and goodwill from the get-go. You demonstrate your shared humanity, and people the feel intuitively understood and “seen” by you. This fosters connection and your message gains a receptive audience. In turn, you seem more authentic, credible and likable.
That relatability is the difference between people’s eyes glazing over and becoming actively engaged in the conversation with you.
When we relate, influence naturally follows.
Building Relatability
So how can you become a more relatable – and therefore more influential – communicator? Here are a few tips:
- Be genuine and transparent. Don’t try too hard to be “relatable.” Just be your true self and take an authentic interest in connecting with others.
- Give people an unfiltered glimpse into your life. Get comfortable sharing your vulnerabilities and quirks in a genuine way.
- When people sense your honesty, they open up in return.
Find common ground
Make a conscious effort to discover shared experiences, interests and values when conversing.
- Start by asking open-ended questions to uncover commonalities and find points of relatability.
- Look for common threads in stories the other person shares.
- When you establish rapport, you will “click” more easily.
Use personal examples and stories
Instead of making broad, platitude-esque statements, share concrete, specific examples from your own life that illustrate your perspective.
- Anecdotes, metaphors and analogies help people visualize and relate to your meaning in a tangible way.
- Personal stories draw people in and make you seem more human.
Adapt your language and style
Matching others’ word choice, pacing and communication style helps you “get on their wavelength.”
- It signifies you understand how they process information.
- Relatable communication requires some stylistic flexibility and accommodation to connect across differences.
Keep it light yet grounded.
Aim for a conversational, easygoing tone that avoids being lofty, pedantic or preachy.
- A little humor and sarcasm goes a long way toward making a point stick in people’s minds.
- But be careful not to veer into crass or irreverent territory.
- Stay grounded in empathy and mutual understanding.
Listen deeply and reflect back
The most relatable influencers are also the best listeners.
- They pay careful attention to what others share, then accurately reflect that meaning back in their own words.
- This demonstrates you “got” the other person at a soul level.
Truly listening well is the cornerstone of all relational influence.
The Powerful Effects of Being Relatable
When you’ve gained someone’s relate-ability, you unlock a whole new level of influence. People naturally gravitate toward relatable figures and want to listen to their ideas and suggestions. They’re more likely to:
- Follow your lead. When you connect on a human level, others come to see you as “one of us” – worthy of being emulated and followed. They grant you “influencer status” in their lives.
- Implement your ideas. Ideas packaged in relatable, story-driven language stick better and are more likely to inspire action. People identify with your perspective and want to bring it to life themselves.
- Buy your products. Customers prefer buying from brands they can relate to on some level. They feel a greater sense of identity congruence and affiliation.
- Vote for your causes. Relatable political candidates and social causes resonate more deeply and create grassroots momentum. People feel represented by – and wish to represent – a relatable agenda.
- Share your message. The more relatable a meme, video or post is, the more likely people are to pass it on and amplify your message. Relatability increases contagion and goes viral.
If you’re hoping to get a large project over the line, write a book, or launch a campaign of some type, prioritise the skill of relating.
Develop a genuine knack for connecting with different kinds of people. Find common ground where you least expect it. Adapt your style when needed. And most importantly, just be yourself – transparency, empathy and authenticity go a long way.
- Acting superhuman = Being unrelatable = no influence
- Acting human = being relatable = more influence
Influence will follow almost effortlessly once you’ve learned the art of relatability.
Because in essence, becoming a more relatable communicator means stepping more fully into shared experiences – and there’s nothing more innately influential than that.
If you’re interested in learning more about connecting with others, check this out:
