Learning how to listen effectively can improve your communication.

Effective Listening

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

How well we listen impacts how well we speak, and how well we perform on the job! Our training in Skillful Listening will teach you to:

Discriminate differences in sounds, syllables, and similar-sounding words

Attend to names, dates, and important facts embedded in a message

Retain information

Read nonverbal language cues crucial to understanding

Understand implicit meaning

Understand explicit meaning

Use silence, questions and comments to facilitate understanding

Feel comfortable in the role of the listener

Listening is a complex skill. It involves our eyes, our ears, our heart and mind, speaker, listener, and environmental factors. It is something many of us do all day long and without a second thought as we listen for information and to share with others their thoughts, concerns and dreams.

How well we listen is impacted by our desire to attend, our preconceptions and prejudices, our critical orientation, emotional temperament, preoocupations and skills. Some of us enjoy listening, and for others of us, listening is a chore.

Many of us have personally experienced the dire effects of misunderstandings -- the brunt edge of 'not listening' on our marriages, friendships, and business relationships. A sale will never be made if a customer's needs have not been precisely heard, and bosses who don't 'hear' their employees may have difficulty developing a loyal staff. Listening for what we want to hear may mean that we miss vital information that costs us politically, financially and emotionally. When someone doesn't listen to us, how can we trust them?