Listening Is More Important than Talking

When we offer our seminar on communication, we find that most who enroll want to get better at expressing themselves. It doesn't occur to them that they may need to improve their listening and reading skills as well.

Have you noticed how often you are asked about something in response to an email you sent that was addressed in a paragraph near the end of your email? Clearly the person didn't read all of your message or they wouldn't be asking the question. 

In face-to-face communication, notice how often you are thinking about what you want to say next while the other person is talking. You aren't listening, you're preparing a rebuttal. 

When I was an engineer, I found that many technical problems were taking inordinate time to solve because my colleagues weren't listening to each other when discussing the issue. I also observed that when conflicts occurred each individual was saying almost the same thing as the other, but neither of them was listening well enough to notice.

One of the seven habits of Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is seek first to understand before trying to be understood. Its a practice we should all adopt.

Note: To receive this blog by email, just enter it. You can unsubscribe at any time.