Rapport Building Statements and Questions in Coaching with Examples List

Posted on the 25 November 2020 by Lifecoachbloggers


Life Skills > Interpersonal Intelligence > 
To build rapport is one of the vital life skills and develop it you need both intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. It is useful both during selling and empathy building

Rapport Building Statements Examples

Rapport Building Definition

Building a trustful and understanding relationship during any conversation is called Rapport Building.
Rapport building skills can be broadly divided into Two Types: Making statements and asking questions are the two most commonly used rapport building techniques during selling.
Some of the basic rapport building phrases can be
summarized using a simple mnemonic, PASTE:-
  • Please
  • Agree
  • I'm Sorry
  • Thank You
  • Excuse Me

Common Rapport Building Statements Include:


  1. Good morning Mr. ___, thank you for your query over the phone, it is my pleasure to talk to you about the benefits of the product.
  2. Your suggestions are always welcome Ms. ___.
  3. That is a very interesting question Mr. ____.
  4. Thanks for bringing that issue to notice Mr. ____.
  5. Thanks a lot for participating in our market survey Ms. ____.
  6. I appreciate your curiosity about our offering Mr. ____.
  7. You are my first client who have given a descriptive feedback about our product. that you so much Mr. ____. (this rapport building phrase must be used genuinely)
  8. Your cooperation helped me to explain the benefits of the product more effectively.

One word Rapport Phrases:

  1. Mr/Ms. ____ (use of client's name can build strong rapport during a sales presentation)
  2. Really?
  3. Thanks
  4. Hello
  5. Wonderful
  6. Interesting
  7. Brilliant (and many other adjectives can do the wonder)

Two Word Phrases

  1. Thank you
  2. Of course
  3. Yes, Indeed
  4. My Pleasure

Three Word Phrases

  1. You are welcome
  2. I am Sorry

Four Word Phrases:

  1. It is my pleasure
  2. You are right

Rapport Building Sentences:-

  1. Our goal is your complete satisfaction
  2. Let me clarify all your questions

How to Build Rapport 

You can build rapport by using transition statements, empathy statements, persuasive statements, enhancing your prosody of speech, 

When do you Build Rapport

You can build rapport when you:
  • deliver persuasive presentations or conducting training sessions
  • give compliments to others
  • like to communicate assertively
  • persuade or negotiate with someone
  • want to politely say, "No" to others
  • giving constructive feedback
  • resolving interpersonal conflicts
  • tell about yourself in an interview
  • grab attention of the audience

What to avoid when Building Rapport

Mother tongue influence (MTI), negative words, verbal fillers in speech, judgmental statements, redundant statements, generalizations,  
Effective language usage is one of the eight vital elements of persuasion. Establishing good rapport is one of the essential interpersonal communication skills during a sales conversation with clients. Every sales professional should know how to build rapport with their clients, life coaching, selling and counseling and should take conscious efforts. Using a simple mnemonic.

See Also

Empathy StatementsLEAP Mnemonic: Listen, Express, Ask, Pause
List of Roles People Play in LifePRICE Mnemonic: Professional, Relative, Inner self, Citizen, Emphatic friend
List of Judgmental WordsVAK Mnemonic: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic
List of Redundant Words: End result, Free gift. (End and Result are redundant)
Assertive, Aggressive and Passive Statements: I'm OK, You're OK Sales Transition Words: 4C Mnemonic: Compare, Contrast, Cause, Consequence
List of Empathy Questions: PRODUCTION Mnemonic: Probe, Rhetoric, Open, Declarative, Unutter, Close, Tag, Imaginative, One-word, Negative