Improving Your Listening Skills

Improving Your Listening Skills
Instructor: Dorie Clark
Released: 7/28/2023Course Details
25m
General
Skills Covered
Active Listening
Course Link
Professional Certifications and Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
Project Management Institute – PDUs: 0.25 hour
Just as public speaking is a skill that you can hone through practice, good listeners aren’t in possession of a special, unattainable gift—careful listening is a skill that you can learn. In this course, join career expert Dorie Clark as she helps uncover why it’s hard to listen well, and how to develop the mindset of a good listener. She also provides multiple listening strategies to help you manage when you’re the one not being listened to, how to keep yourself from interrupting, and how to listen to what’s not being said. In addition, she explains how to let others know that they’ve been heard, and how to listen with patience when you don’t feel engaged with someone.

Source: LinkedIN Learning
Laying the Groundwork for Listening

Why do you have a hard time listening?

  1. Distracted
  2. Interrupting
  3. Nervous
  4. Feedback – don’t want to receive feedback, get defensive

What are the signs that you’re not listening?

Learn to monitor ourselves.

  1. Interrupting
  2. Redirecting the conversation
  3. Debating them before they finish talking
  4. Playing with electronic devices
  5. Asking them to repeat things

How to adopt the mindset of listening

  • Get in touch with your motivation.
  • Being a better listener shows you care.
  • Gain a deeper understanding of issues.
  • Embrace your curiosity.
  • Recognize the consequences.
    • They stop trying
    • They resent you
    • They become less effective

What to do when you’re not being listened to

  • “Do they think I’m boring?”
  • Get their attention back.
    • Go softer (not louder)
  • Silence and pauses are good
  • Say something
  • Offer other times to talk

How to set the stage for high-stakes conversdations

  • Identify the right time and schedule it
  • Finding the right location.
  • Be physically ready.
  • Have other people present.
Listening Well, Even When It’s Hard

The structure of meaningful listening

  • Silence and space
  • Eye contact
  • Watch body language
  • Share information
  • Ask open-ended questions
  • “Help me understand”

How to listen for what’s not being said

  • Watch for emotions.
  • Look for microexpressions.
  • Tone of voice.
  • Eye contact.
  • Energy level.

How to keep yourself from interrupting

  • Take notes.
  • Focus on your breathing.
  • Pretend you are interviewing someone.
  • You gain nothing by interrupting.

How to let them know you’ve heard them

  • Accessing better information.
  • Connecting with people.
  • Restate information in your own words.
  • Pay attention to the words they use.
  • Ask them to elaborate.
  • Demonstrate a willingness to go deeper.
  • Ask for their ideas.

Listening with patience

  • Gently redirect the conversation to connect.
    • How did you get interested in this?
    • What makes you love this field?
  • Determine if you did anything to upset them.
  • Restate the situation
    • Express empathy
    • Share the plan to remedy.
  • Why would they think that?
Remember!
To experience the full benefit of this guide, I highly recommend you watch the full training session.

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