I was having lunch with a colleague of mine many years ago, actually she was a mentee of mine. She loved to talk, and could talk …. alot! Somewhere in the conversation I lost interest in what she was talking about, but I did not look away.
She suddently called my name, “Michele, Michele …”.
I looked at her and replied “Yes?”.
“I’ve lost you, haven’t I,” she said.
“No, no I am listening”, I replied.
She started to laugh, “I can see you are not listening your eyes are glazed over.”
And she was right. As I would cheerfully say to someone in my shoes, “The lights are on, but I have left the building”.
I of course had heard what I needed to, but she kept on talking, and I zoned out.
Has this happened to you? Maybe in a different scenario? Of course, it has. We all do it at some time.
Listening is the most important criteria in communication. While we listen, we learn more.
Practice becoming a better listener – this will mean:
1. Having more patience
2. Making time to really listen to the other person
3. Looking out for those non-verbal cues in body language
On the other hand, we also need to practice watching the person YOU are talking to and their non-verbal cues. To practice this – this will mean:
1. Knowing when to stop talking
2. Watching out for those non-verbal cues
Something to think about, right?
#communication #listening #listeningskills