Three Tips for Active Listening

Effective communication is not just about clearly communicating your message, it's also about being receptive to the thoughts and ideas of others. Particularly if you are in a senior role, it's crucial that you are able to take on board information and opinions that others have to give you.

However, there is a fundamental paradox at work in preventing us from listening to others as well as we should, and it is this: we are all able to listen and comprehend speech that is much faster than others are able to speak it. What does this mean? It means that while others are speaking, our minds, if unchecked, often wander away from what is being said. Often they wander onto what we are going to say next, or even onto something entirely unrelated to what is being said. Don't allow this to happen, as it ruins your ability to fully take on board what is being communicated. Instead, try to be an 'active' listener. Here we present three tips to help improve your active listening skills:

1)Talk less, listen more

Keynote motivational speaker seems to follow policy of Talk less, listen more.
Especially if you are in a senior position, people will defer to you if you want to speak, but don't abuse this. Ask yourself how much of the speaking you do is really necessary in order to communicate your ideas, and how much of it is just because you like the sound of your own voice, or want to say something that you think sounds clever. Think before you speak - you are nearly always better off if you speak less and listen more.

2) Answer questions

Questions are an incredibly important part of communication. If someone asks a question of you, take the time to listen to it and answer it fully and completely. Give it the attention it deserves, rather than sidestepping it and running off with what you want to say, or (even worse) answering a question with a question.

3) Do not interrupt

There's nothing people hate more than being interrupted, and there's almost never a good reason to do it. Interrupting others will often give them a bad feeling towards you, and besides which, if you interrupt someone, you won't get to hear the full form of what they want to communicate. Especially early on in a conversation, allow people to talk as much as they want to. There will be plenty of time for you to have your say when they are finished. Speaker motivational connect the spectators and share best practices, experiences and life lessons while at the similar time amusing their audiences.

Zander Smith

Site Representative

Member of Speaker motivational group