When you want to connect with someone, don’t have your device in your hand.
When you want to show you’re a good listener, don’t have your device in your hand.
This may sound pretty obvious but in practice, we are not always mindful of this.
We check our devices a lot so the chances are high that when someone is approaching you, you have your smartphone in your hand.
Try to be mindful of this and place your phone in your pocket when this happens.
Having your phone in your hand sends out the wrong signal.
When you keep your phone in your hand and you’re engaged in a conversation, you show the person the phone is allowed to interrupt the conversation any minute.
You show the person that he or she is important and that you’re listening, but when a notification comes in….then yeah you will have to pause in order to check where the notification comes from!
It’s obvious that you don’t want to convey such messages when you’re in a conversation.
You want to make the person feel comfortable while knowing your attention is placed on him or her.
Even when there is a notification and you check it but you tell the person it is not important…that STILL shows that you’re waiting for something more important than that person.
That means that there could have been a notification that IS more important than the conversation you are having in the offline world.
Again, that is not the message you want to send out.
So….when you are engaging in a conversation, put your phone away.
Don’t put it (flipsided) on the table in front of you, but in your pocket.
When you put the phone away you show you want to fully dedicate your attention and focus on that person.
People will simply start to like you more.
People will feel more comfortable with opening up because they know you take them seriously.
Learn to give your phone some rest when you’re connecting in the offline world.
Listening and acknowledging the other person is great, but showing you care about his or her story so much that you’re willing to put your phone away is much more powerful.