ABSTRACT
'Connecting' is the first checkpoint to make for in the consultation. This means systematically establishing rapport with the patient, getting on the same wavelength and achieving empathy. This chapter also includes material, carefully sequenced and structured to involve both left and right hemispheres, which will draw out from the practitioner intrinsic abilities to relate to other people and help the practitioner enhance them in the professional setting. These 'rapport-building skills' provide means of transport to the Connecting checkpoint. The chapter discusses two exercises in order to guarantee the practitioner's effectiveness as a builder of rapport. The first is a consciousness-raising exercise, and the second a way of practising matching. In practice, connecting turns out that the most effective cues to match are: body and limb postures; speed, volume and modulation of speech; and predicates and imagery: use the patient's own favourite metaphors and descriptions.
