As a leader of safety sensory acuity is essential for training our ability to see and listen more effectively and consciously in reading non-verbal communications.
Sensory acuity refers to the ability to notice, monitor, and make sense of the external cues we receive from the people we are interacting with. When communicating, people constantly send out unconscious external signals which reflect some of their internal processing and the state they are in.
The development of our own sensory acuity skills allows us to "read" those cues. Given that a majority of communication messages presented to us are ‘non-verbal’, developing our sensory acuity skills becomes essential to being a truly accomplished communicator. This is because these non-verbal areas of communication provide us with a fuller picture of communication. This fuller picture enables us to build and maintain rapport at deeper levels, levels that usually operate unconsciously for the sender.
Developing our sensory acuity skills enables us to recognize if the other person has congruency between what they are verbalising and what their ‘non-verbal’ cues are indicating. If we identify incongruency we can use the rapport that has been built in order to explore this incongruence.
Developing sensory acuity skills requires time and practice. As you allow
yourself to believe that you will develop these skills as you continue to practice
them on a daily basis, you will find yourself surprised at times at seeing,
hearing, and sensing parts/details of the communication process that previously
went unnoticed.
Here are five crucial areas to practice developing your sensory acuity. You might decide to focus on one a week or focus on one until you start to recognise the different patterns and what they are indicating for a person.
1. Breathing
2. Colour changes in skin tone
3. Minute muscle changes in the face
4. Lower lip changes
5. Voice sounds/tones
To give you an idea of what to sense with just breathing here are some indicators to watch and listen for:
Breathing. A person's breathing patterns tells a great deal about them.
A change in breathing usually indicates a change in internal state. As you
begin to observe the variety in people's breathing, notice:
* where they breathe. Do they breathe in their chest or from their stomach?
* the tempo of breathing.
* Notice the pattern of breathing while in conversation. If, while conversing, the other person's breathing changes, seek to identify what thought-feeling shifted within them. A change in breathing usually indicates a change in state.
Once we understand a person’s breathing pattern we can also match it (when this is appropriate). Matching will also assist with gaining and maintaining rapport.
Have fun with developing your sensory acuity skills. You (and others) will be surprised at how much they reveal!