How can you show respect to your peers when communicating?

1 Listen actively

Listening is more than just hearing what your peers say. It requires paying attention to their tone, body language, and emotions in order to show that you care and respect their views, even if you don't agree with them. To listen actively, ask open-ended questions to encourage your peers to share more and clarify their points. Make reflective statements to summarize and check your understanding of what they say, as well as use empathic statements to acknowledge and validate their feelings and experiences. Additionally, give affirmations to praise and support your peers' strengths and efforts, but avoid interrupting, judging, or giving advice unless asked for it.

3 Be honest and respectful

Honesty and respect are essential for building trust and credibility with your peers. To be honest and respectful, you can express your thoughts and feelings using "I" statements, share constructive feedback without criticism or attack, use positive language to focus on solutions and opportunities, and show interest and appreciation with respectful gestures. Additionally, it's important to avoid lying, exaggerating, or hiding information from your peers, as well as using sarcasm, insults, or threats.

4 Be open and flexible

Openness and flexibility are key to learning and growing with your peers. To be open and flexible, use curiosity to explore and understand others' perspectives without imposing your own. Self-awareness is also important for recognizing and managing your own biases, assumptions, and emotions without letting them interfere with communication. Additionally, collaboration can help you work with others towards a common goal without competing or dominating them. Compromise is also important for finding a middle ground between your needs and preferences with those of your peers, without sacrificing or resenting them. Lastly, it's important to avoid dismissing, rejecting, or ignoring others' input or feedback as well as being stubborn, argumentative, or closed-minded.

5 Be supportive and empowering

Support and empowerment are the core values of peer support, as they help your peers overcome their challenges and achieve their goals. To show respect to your peers when communicating, you should use encouragement to motivate and inspire them, without pressuring or manipulating them. Additionally, it's important to help your peers discover and use their own strengths and resources, without doing things for them or taking over their decisions. You also want to celebrate and appreciate their achievements and progress, without comparing or diminishing them. Furthermore, you can help your peers access and navigate the services and systems they need, without speaking for them or taking away their choices. However, it's important to avoid being overprotective, overinvolved, or overbearing with your peers. Moreover, you should avoid being dismissive, discouraging, or disempowering with your peers. Communication is a skill that you can improve with practice and feedback; by following these tips, you can enhance your peer support relationships and outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?