Most of us enjoy talking more then listening to the people we are talking to. Sometimes we even catch ourselves allready starting to think about our answer or our own experience after the person we talk to just started to speak. A speaker I know very well lately told me he reminds himself to listen using the [...]
Most of us enjoy talking more then listening to the people we are talking to. Sometimes we even catch ourselves allready starting to think about our answer or our own experience after the person we talk to just started to speak.
A speaker I know very well lately told me he reminds himself to listen using the “WAIT“-formula – meaning: Why am I talking .
When you answer the following questions, you can find out whether you are a good
listener or not:
1. Are you eager to learn?
2. Do you have the desire to learn about other people, places and things?
3. Do you want to know about your skills to listen from your employees?
4. Are you trying to pick out the main points of what you hear?
5. Are you careful not to interrupt your conversation partner?
6. Can you resist the temptation to finish the sentences of your conversation partner?
7. Are you open not only to the words but also the feelings of your conversation partner?
8. Are you trying to expand out over your own position, if you form an opinion about something?
If you have answered all or most of these questions with no, your ability in this area still needs to be developed.
The Greek philosopher Epictetus, was a good observer and put it like this :
“God has given us two ears, but only one mouth, so we listen twice as much as talking. “
The source of these questions is the excellent book of Dorothy Leeds “Smart Questions” found on the webpage of Vera Birkenbihl (german).
2 your learning success,
Dirk
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