I hear you… but I’m not listening

Effective listening is not a passive occupation!  It requires considerable mental effort, not only to comprehend but also to sift the words for further use.  Many people think hearing is enough.  It isn’t!

Hearing does not mean listening. Hearing is only the first stage in the listening process.

Hearing does not mean listening - there is a difference!

You can develop your listening skills – try these activities:

  • increase your listening span
  • take time to listen
  • give your full attention
  • don’t “switch off” when you hear something you don’t like
  • don’t fake attention
  • listen between the lines
  • listen for ideas, not facts
  • don’t monopolise
  • adapt your thought speed (we speak at 100 to 150 words per minute and we hear at 400 to 500 words per minute.  Since the brain is not idle while we listen, it is difficult to slow down our thinking speed.  Poor listeners become impatient with the speaker’s progress and their minds wander)

So, why should you listen to your own clients?

You can learn a great deal by listening:

  • it helps with problem-solving
  • it gives you time to think
  • it increases your self-confidence
  • it helps you sell ideas
  • it generates ideas

We have a Listening Skills Quiz for you to test yourself – let us know if you would like a copy!

About Marie

I started Elite Edge at the end of 1999 and I am still as passionate about marketing today as I was then - probably more so because I consider myself very lucky to do a job that I love every day! My area of specialism is strategic planning but like most people these days, I wear many other hats too!
This entry was posted in Communications, Personal Development and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>