5 Simple Tips to Becoming a Better Listener
Whether in your business life, or your personal life, listening is a critical skill to acquire.
You can find lots of books out there on the topic of listening. But don’t wait until you finish reading a book to start working on your listening skills. Start today!
Here are five tips that will make a difference, and that you can implement immediately:
Make eye contact. It’s the first step, and is a signal to the other person that you really are listening. It’s much harder to tune out and let your eyes glaze over if you are focused on the other person. It also builds trust.
Pay attention. Boy, does this sound basic, but how many times have we been guilty of tuning out. Asking others to repeat themselves is just one sign that you aren’t really paying attention.
Don’t interrupt. Be other focused when you are listening, instead of focusing on yourself and what you have to say. Besides that, interrupting is just plain rude.
Avoid fidgeting. Playing with your hair, bouncing your foot, or jiggling change in your pocket sends the message that you’re bored and not interested in listening.
Echo the message. At appropriate intervals, echo back the information that you are receiving to make sure you that you understand the message. It’s a sign that you are committed to, and involved with, the conversation.
To read more about the art and skill of listening, I’d recommend:
- Listening by Madelyn Burley-Allen
- Effective Listening Skills by Art James & Dennis Kratz
- Effective Listening and Feedback (downloadable)
- Listening Leaders by Lyman K. Steil & Richard K. Bommelie
Photo credit: flickr
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5 opinions for 5 Simple Tips to Becoming a Better Listener
Creating a Better Life » The Personal Development Carnival - September 10, 2006
Sep 10, 2006 at 5:43 am
[...] Mary Jo Manzanares presents 5 Simple Tips to Becoming a Better Listener posted at Leadership Turn. [...]
Carnival of Personal Development - 9/10/06 Edition - Practical Spirituality - Balanced Life Center
Sep 21, 2006 at 11:06 pm
[...] 5 Simple Tips to Becoming a Better Listener - I’ve heard these tips many times before. However, I need some help in the listening department so the reminder was great. It’s short and sweet. [...]
Leadership Turn » Do you really listen?
Dec 21, 2006 at 1:13 pm
[...] MJ has this post on 5 simple tips to becoming a better listener. I remembered this article I read more than a year ago about a study conducted by a group of people on listening skills. If my memory serves me right, there are only less than 5 percent of the people studied considered as good listeners. Are you? The study is fairly accurate because I began to pay attention to how many people are really listening to me when I say something and noticed that most of the time people would not even remember what you told them or would ask the same question twice or even more. [...]
The Baldchemist
Sep 11, 2007 at 12:50 pm
It’s one thing to listen, the other thing to know is, what to do with the information you heard.
What are the essentials? What was the punter telling me? How do I interpret and ask the pertinent questions? this is what we all need to learn. How to comprehend the information.
Become A Better Listener » client k
Jan 6, 2008 at 2:10 am
[...] great post on 5 Simple Tips To Become A Better Listener including Paying Attention (that means shutting off [...]
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