By Denise Zonca Dz Marketing ConsultsCreator of Build.Brand.Marketing

Listening, It’s a Skill

Are You as Good a Listener as you Think?

Listening is the most important skill you have

How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness and relationshipsNot the same as hearingMindtools.com/activelistening

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Communicating

Listening Speaking

How Much Time is Spent Listening?

Based on the research of: Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L. and Proctor, R. (2001) Interplay: the process of interpersonal communicating (8th edn), Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt

Listening is a skill. Like athletes, musicians, teachers, salespeople and speakers who work on their skills; is not a benefit to work on listening skills to improve relationships and be successful?

What gets in the way?

Some Road Blocks to Listening

Halikudeck.com

• Interrupting- impatience with an intent to reply• Not interested in the

conversation or speaker• Distracted• Bring in preconceived

ideas or biased opinions• Advising• Asking Why ?’s putting

speaker on the defenseskillsyouneed.com

• Good listening does more than stay silent- two way dialog • Good listening interactions

builds self-esteem- more supportive, a positive experience.• Good listening tended to make

suggestions- feedback more open to accept alternatives• Good listening is cooperative-

smooth flow, questions and not waiting to identify an error setting up a debate or argument

Skills of What Good Listeners Do

Hbr.org/study what good listeners actually do using 360 feedback assessments in almost 3,500 participants

• Stop Talking, be patient• Be focused and relaxed• Summarize what they say• Use questions to clarify

what you heard• Use effectively silence and

pause observing body language• Listen for ideas/thoughts

How to Improve on Listening Skills

“We have two ears, one mouth so we can listen twice as much”

Epicetetus

From Build.Brand.Marketing