11 Brilliant Phrases That Make People Instantly Trust You, According To Psychology
Making people feel seen and heard starts with intentionality in conversations.
Fizkes | Shutterstock.com Whether you’re a leader in a professional space trying to cultivate respect within your team or an individual hoping to build a long-lasting intimate connection with a potential partner, finding ways to develop trust is the most important step for successful and fulfilling connections. When we commit to helping other people feel heard, valued, and understood in conversations, we also help to build trust — laying a solid foundation for our relationships.
While there are certainly larger, more profound ways to gain trust in your relationships, there’s also many brilliant phrases that make people instantly trust you, according to psychology. Saying these things can ensure you’re leading with compassion and confidence in even the most mundane daily conversations.
Here are 11 brilliant phrases that make people instantly trust you, according to psychology
1. ‘I’d love to hear more about your experience’
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According to leadership expert Kristin Bledsoe, being able to find compromises and shared experiences with others bolsters an important sense of belonging in all kinds of relationships — from individual interactions to community building.
When we decide to focus on what’s similar between us, intentionally pointing to our shared experiences, we break down barriers that might otherwise cause disconnection.
Acting as an empowering and uplifting means of building trust, finding and acknowledging shared experiences with others can protect us from the consequences of isolation by leveraging social connections in profoundly healthy and fulfilling ways.
2. ‘I completely understand where you’re coming from’
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By removing your own ego and overwhelming self-interests from conversations, you can learn to lead with empathy in ways that are mutually beneficial in your relationships.
Rather than waiting for your turn to speak or providing unsolicited advice, use phrases like this that support and make space for others to share. Doing this allows them to trust you because they know they’ll always feel heard when you’re around.
When you’re less worried about how others will perceive you in conversations, you let go of anxiety that leads you to people-please or try to take control, helping to create a sense of shared understanding and trust.
3. ‘What can I do to help support you?’
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When we help people to feel valued and supported in conversations, we can promote a sense of security that allows them to feel closer to us, both physically and emotionally.
By showing genuine concern for their struggles as you listen, they’ll learn to trust you as a pillar of respect in their lives — whether it’s a professional setting or an intimate relationship.
Through small acts of kindness and a prioritization of authenticity in passing conversations, the trust you build not only fulfills our own social belonging and connection, but develops trust for future relationships rooted in shared understanding and support.
4. ‘I appreciate this about you’
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By leading with empathy and kindness in all of your conversations, you can subconsciously learn to incorporate brilliant phrases that make people instantly trust you into your routine.
Doing this promotes healthier, happier, and more fulfilling relationships.
April Litchford, Extension Assistant Professor at Utah State University noted that the more kindness and compassion you express in your life, the more you get in return.
Not only will you be more likely to live an emotionally regulated and happier life than people who struggle to lead with empathy, you will consistently build trust with the people you regularly interact with.
5. ‘You did a great job navigating that situation’
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In addition to being a motivating force of encouragement, giving out praise and positive reinforcement to other people in our lives can help to cultivate a healthy sense of trust.
By giving intentional compliments and sincere praise, we help to ensure the people we love feel appreciated and understood, even if it’s through a passing comment in conversation or a nonverbal gesture.
When we feel heard by someone, we believe we can trust them to have our best intentions in mind. When we feel loved, understood, and valued, we are more likely to trust the person we’re dealing with.
6. ‘Can I be honest with you?’
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Honesty is the foundation of trusting connections, as explained by Jim Clemmer, the Canadian strategic partner of Zenger Folkman, an award-winning firm best known for its unique evidence-driven, strengths-based system for developing extraordinary leaders and demonstrating the performance impact they have on organizations.
By offering honest and thoughtful feedback in a transparent way and being a consistent listening ear for the people in your life, you let them know they can count on you for your authentic takes and reactions.
Find ways to listen, keep your commitments, and lead with honesty when you enter into conversations of any kind, whether they’re intentionally vulnerable and emotional or not, in order to build better connections and relationships with others. Otherwise, you’re simply passing the time with mindless chatter.
7. ‘Let’s try looking at this from a different perspective’
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Many egotistical people, whether at work or in their personal relationships, struggle with an inflated sense of self-worth that overtakes their conversations and sabotages their ability to cultivate trust in connections.
Rather than taking an open-minded approach to problem-solving or cultivating space for other people’s vulnerability and emotional expression, they control the conversation — pushing it into spaces that are beneficial for their voice, opinions, and thoughts only.
By committing to creativity and collaboration rather than reactivity and self-indulgence, you can ensure you’re creating space for everyone to feel important and valued in conversations — whether there’s a problem to be solved or not.
8. ‘I need some space to think about this’
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While it might seem counterintuitive to present connection to assume that trust is built through a phrase like “I need some space to think about this,” which at first glance causes intentional disconnection, the truth is that there is power in setting boundaries and communicating your needs to others.
By taking space to think about what you want, need, and feel, you can return to your relationships and interactions from a more balanced perspective — advocating for yourself and others in healthier ways.
When you take care of yourself by not speaking further until you feel more confident in your communication skills and emotions regulation, other people will be more willing and likely to trust you.
9. ‘I’ll take full responsibility for that’
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Whether it’s in regard to hurtful comments you made or another type of grievance, being secure enough to take accountability can genuinely help other people to feel more comfortable around you and trust you more.
People who possess the self-awareness necessary to understand that their words and actions have consequences don’t rely on blame-shifting behaviors to make themselves feel better at the expense of their relationships.
Letting the other person know you’re taking accountability by saying “I’ll take full responsibility for that” can ensure people feel comfortable and secure around you, as opposed to insecure and anxious that you’ll blame or judge them for your own actions.
10. ‘I respect your privacy’
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According to a study published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal, consistency and reliability in relationships are two of the most important influences on trust, even when it comes to passing conversations with the people in our lives.
When we help other people to feel secure and valued by keeping their secrets and prioritizing our commitments with them, they build a sense of trust in our connections with them.
Trust thrives when it’s practiced. Find ways to ensure other people feel comfortable around you rather than fearful or anxious about a last-minute cancellation or a refusal to listen.
11. ‘What do you need from me right now?’
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Rather than offering unsolicited advice or feedback you assume to be helpful, practice cultivating trust in your relationships by asking people what they need. Whether it’s emotional support, a listening ear, or something entirely different, prioritizing open communication in our relationships is what ensures they remain healthy and long-lasting.
Even if the person you’re talking to isn’t sure what they need in that specific moment, being open to suggestions and making them feel heard in expressing their emotions can ensure both of you feel secure and comfortable in conversation.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.