Listen.

No one likes to be interrupted in the middle of a sentence nor does anyone like feeling as if they're not really being heard. Listening is one of the most, if not the most, important tool for effective conversation. When you truly listen to the person you're speaking with, you're locked in and absorb every single piece of information that leaves his or her lips. Through careful listening, you are able to genuinely understand what the other person is conveying and engage in better conversation instead of merely focusing on the next thing you're going to say. By listening, you demonstrate interest and comprehension, and the fact of the matter is, people love to be listened to and understood.

Show sincere interest.

Being fake will only get you so far. For instance, meaningless compliments are easily detectable and very useless in getting people to really like you. If you want to be likeable, you need to be genuine with other people and show that what they have to say and offer matters.

Understand things from a different point of view.

Everyone holds his or her own opinions on a variety of topics. That's completely fine, and you should never feel as if you need to change your views to appeal to others. On the other hand, if you want to gain respect from other people, it's essential that you understand things from different standpoints. You may not necessarily agree with the other person's ideas, but you should be able to accept them.

Give praise.

A compliment never hurts, but offer a compliment not for the sake of just giving a compliment; mean what you say. One way of doing this is by observing a characteristic that you truly admire about someone and sharing it with them. If you like someone's style, tell him or her. This may or may not lead to an extended interaction, but either way, you've already given the other person the impression that you're open to expressing sincere interest and admiration.

Stay humble.

Don't brag, because bragging will get you nowhere. Imagine a person that only talks about himself constantly. It's an incessant monologue about how great he is, what he's accomplished, where he travels to, the kind of car he has, etc. No one likes these types of people, because they only think of themselves. It is impossible for someone who is self-centered to be sincerely liked by other people.