Don’t Talk - Listen

Communication difficulties can be due to poor listening skills. Effective listening is an essential part of effective communication. Experts estimate that around 80% of our waking time involves communicating and at least 45% of that time is spent listening.

The four stages of effective listening are:

Hearing the message or information involved

Understanding what is being conveyed

Thinking about the relevance of the message or information

Taking action as a result.

You can help the process of effective listening even more:

Set the scene for effective listening. Reduce possible distractions nearby and concentrate on the speaker rather than what is going on around you.

Keep an open mind on what is being conveyed. Keep listening to make sure you don’t miss out on an important point. Don’t switch off during the listening process because you think you know, or anticipate where the message is going.

Ask questions to confirm your understanding of the message and help you assess its relevance to you. On average, people think four times faster than they talk, giving them valuable time to absorb the central ideas and weigh up the case being presented.