A people smart person, or someone with a developed interpersonal intelligence, builds healthy, positive and effective relationships, uses diplomacy and tact, and can ease the atmosphere even in very tense conflict situations.

For this, a person with high interpersonal intelligence must have the capacity to understand others and to know how to express their feelings, opinions and desires in an assertive manner that does not offend others.

But there is more to being a people smart person.

Let’s find out how many of the following traits match yours:

  1. Your intuition about other people is never wrong

When we meet/see someone, we get to sense their emotional energy and based on it, we know whether we like them or not. However, sometimes we may be wrong and we misjudge people’s personalities or intentions.

If in your case your gut reaction is always accurate, then it is a sign that you can see through people at the first glance.

  1. You understand someone’s emotions just by looking at them

80% of our time, we communicate through our facial expressions and non-verbal signs. But not everyone can easily understand what and why we feel the way we do.

If on the other hand, you precisely guess someone’s mood and emotional state, you are able to be in their mind and see the situation from their perspective.

  1. You can predict

Not that you would be a psychic, but due to your ability to see a situation from many angles, you can predict the course of a story or event. This gives you the chance to either protect yourself from inconvenient moments or recognize an opportunity you have been waiting for.

  1. You can easily detect lies

Another important trait of someone who is people smart is the advanced ability to read body language. You are aware of the slightest changes in someone’s attitude or behaviour and as such, you can tell when someone is lying and is trying to fool you.

  1. You give great advice

When someone talks to you about their personal problems, you don’t offer clichés and standard solutions. Instead, you try to understand their situation from the inside and find the best solution that matches their personality.

  1. People like being in your presence

You have a different way of connecting with people – you are relaxed, always supportive and have great listening skills. That is because you believe that every individual is interesting in their own way.

Sometimes you do this because of your empathy and love for other human beings, and sometimes you are driven by your curiosity. You want to know what motivates people to do certain things, you want to understand their deepest fears and secrets of happiness. But regardless of the reasons why you play the role of a ‘counselor’ in your social circle, people always count on you.

How to Develop Your Interpersonal Intelligence

Now, whether you have all the above interpersonal skills or only some of them, you should know that you can do more as a people smart person and here is how:

  1. Be flexible

One of the key components of interpersonal intelligence is being able to see a situation from other people’s perspective. Understand that not everyone has the same personality, values and views like you. Everyone sees things in their own way and just because their perception is different, it does not mean they are wrong.

  1. Control your non-verbal language

People with interpersonal intelligence give you the impression that they are open and relaxed. They smile, they are calm, they keep eye contact and nod their head when the other speaks. They have an open posture and they speak with a pleasant and harmonious tone.

If you want to be a people smart person and an effective communicator, avoid talking too fast or intense.

  1. Be neutral

We do not always talk with people that we admire or appreciate. So if the circumstances force you to interact with unpleasant people, you should not let your emotions rule your conversation. Be non-judgmental, avoid criticism and ask more questions if you would like to understand the root of someone’s thinking.

  1. Get to know yourself more and better

The best way to understand others is by understanding yourself. If you know what you want, you know your beliefs and values, you know which way you want to go, you get a bigger self-confidence. When you discover yourself, you know when to say “Yes” and when to say “No”.

When you know who you are, you will find it easier to support others in finding themselves and your interpersonal relationships will be smoother.

  1. Pay attention to people’s behaviour

Decipher the body language and the gestures of people around you. It all depends on the way in which others send verbal and nonverbal messages through movements, gestures, facial expressions or actions.

  1. Spend more time with people

If you want to learn the secrets of other people’s behaviour, spend as much time as you can in their company. Only then will you be able to know the way each one thinks and figure out the pattern of their reactions in certain situations.

For example, parents know their own children better and know how they react in different situations. When parents cannot anticipate the thoughts or reactions of the little ones, it means that they do not spend enough time with them. The same applies to couples or friendships.

Are you a people smart person? Can you relate to the traits described in this article? Please let us know in the comments.

References:

  1. https://www.utmb.edu
  2. https://www.wikihow.com

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This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Sunil Singh

    Point 4 and 6 adverse of each other, In context of knowing others, Please make it little more clear, more precisely if one wants to know in term of social animal’s behaviour where should he pay attantion to be alone or find his ownself among the people

    1. Andreea Vaduva

      Dear Sunil, the first step is to understand yourself, by being alone. It is essential to be in touch with your own feelings and understand your soul’s and mind’s needs. Once you do that, you move to the next step which is to learn people’s behaviours. By knowing yourself more, you will find it easier to understand people’s challenges.I hope my idea is clearer now.

  2. Gary Hynous

    Try spending more time with people and note how you react to their comments and how they react to yours. We are usually much to critical of ourselves and our self talk can be either positive in nature or negative. Fact is we are often to judgmental of ourselves and others. We are, in the final analysis all one.

    1. Andreea Vaduva

      Dear Gary, you are right! We certainly are judgemental and usually because humans (whether we accept it or not) try to reach perfection! But trust me, some me-time usually helps us identify our needs, our flaws and what we truly need to become better.
      Thank you for your time to read my article and for sharing your idea. Peace and love 🙂

  3. Brianna Florian

    This entire article was relatedable and accurate. Thank you.

    1. Andreea Vaduva

      Dear Brianna, thank you for your time and appreciation. I am sincerely glad you enjoyed reading it. Peace and love 🙂

  4. Dennis Zamudio Flores

    Really love to read to this article; specific,accurate and factual

    1. Andreea Vaduva

      Dear Dennis, thank you for your time to read my article and for your appreciation. It is always a joy when readers find the answer they need. Peace and love 🙂

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