Empathetic communication is essential in building strong connections with others, especially for neurodivergent individuals who may struggle with understanding social cues. In this video, Shola Kaye shares her insights on using mirroring techniques to enhance empathy and better relate to the people around you. Discover how harnessing the power of mirroring can enhance your communication and deepen your relationships with others.

Transcript – Unlocking the Power of Body Language: A Neurodiversity Perspective

Moderator: We had a couple of very similar questions in regards to body language. Reading up someone else’s body language and monitoring your own body language for those who may be neurodivergent and struggle with that. Struggle with that. So they wanted any advice in that respect.

Shola Kaye: Right, absolutely. I think, especially if you’re neurodivergent, I think what you can do is use mirroring to help you. So in what’s it called? NLP neuro, I haven’t had to say the fill it out for a long time. Someone pop in the chat. What does NLP stand for? Neuro linguistic programming, right. So it sounds really fancy, but all it is, is around using language to make changes happen. And one of the things that we can do is we can mirror other people. So, as I said before, if there’s somebody that’s talking to you and they’re in a depleted state and you can see their body language is kind of low, then it’s a simple thing. Even if you’re not getting the full gist of what they’re saying from their language, their words, you can see the body language. And so you don’t want to be wildly different than their body language if you’re trying to be empathetic, because literally the act or even things like breathing at the same pace as somebody else can help you to be in sync in terms of your moods. And if you’re trying to understand the other person, it’s really your job to be in sync with them. So you can start by just watching them physically mirroring their body language, even mirroring, as I say, their rates, the speed of breathing and then that will hopefully get you to the same kind of mental state or state of feelings that they’re in. Okay? And you can even try this without somebody speaking. If you’ve got somebody you can play around with on this, just try it without anyone saying a word. And then at the end of the game, you can say, well, what were you feeling? What were you feeling in that moment? And then you do it and have them follow you. So just something to try there. Because this is then moving away from culture and moving away from which country you’re in, what body language do you use? And it’s just simply mirroring other people.

---

Hi, I’m Shola and I help you create a people-first culture. My work sits at the intersection of Inclusion, Communication & Emotional Intelligence.

My keynote talks and workshops help your leaders and employees create high-performing work environments where people feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety. Sessions are high energy, interactive, and every participant walks away with at least one practical framework for connecting and collaborating more effectively.

Sound good to you? Please reach out and let’s discuss your next event! 🙂🎤✨