Become a Good Listener
Your listening skills has a lot to do with you being able to digest information and effectively communicate with others. Listening takes a conscious effort. Because listening is something we do routinely everyday few make an effort to develop their listening skills. Good listening gives you an edge and increases your ability to speak, it also enhances your business performance which could possibly lead to a promotion or increase in status. Here are some tips to becoming a good listener.
Instructions
1. Find areas of the topic that really interest you. If you are not to fond of the subject being discussed, look for something that you can get out of it and take with you. Listen for points of interest. Don't just completely tune yourself out.
2. Evaluate the content of what is being said and not the source of the content. Sometimes you will find that you can get good information from a bad presentation. Listen for the core of the idea being expressed.
3. Block out contending thoughts. Probably the biggest obstacle to becoming an effective listener is preventing those outside thoughts from invading our mind. Our minds often wander off to things in our personal lives, This happens because we can naturally speak faster than the speaker speaks. This can be a big distraction. The key to overcoming this is to concentrate. Focus on the task at hand and immediately stop yourself when you start to wander off, this will come with ease after time and repetition.
