This Networking Trick Will Make You Instantly Likeable

According to Gretchen Rubin, author of "The Happiness Project," the key to winning friends and making connections is actually quite simple: Help the people around you feel good about themselves.

When you make someone else feel smart, they'll feel good about you, too. In a recent post on LinkedIn, she suggests several ways you can go about this. Here are some of our favorites:

• Refer back to a comment the person made. One way to prove to someone that you've been listening is to make a reference to something they said earlier in the conversation.
• Sprinkle in the person's name. Addressing someone by name too often can be patronizing, but there is some truth to the notion that people like to hear the sound of their name. Once in a while, it's a nice touch.
• Acknowledge the person's strengths. Rubin says that whenever someone mentions a fact from the past, her father tends to remark, "You've got a good memory." She says the comment is "surprisingly gratifying."
• Ask for advice. People love giving advice - it makes them feel smarter.

Click here to check out Rubin's full post on LinkedIn.