One of the most important aspects of oral communication is listening. Many of us listen looking for the opportunity to speak ourselves and not paying near enough attention to what the other person is saying. When we do this we miss out on a wealth of information.
When we listen to the radio or our iPod we are practicing passive listening. We are not listening with intent. However when we practice active listening we are listening to get as much information as possible. The better we are at active listening the more information we will gather. With more information we can make better decisions, judgements and interpretations.
I am reminded of the quote “The greatest compliment I was ever paid was when someone asked me my opinion and actually took the time to listen to it.” – Unknown We are perceived very differently when we make ourselves present in the moment and practice active listening and we have more information to work with.
Many people think that if you are the speaker you don’t need to focus as much on listening. Nothing could be further from the truth. Studies have shown that as much as 55% of face to face communication occurs at the non-visual level. For a speaker or presenter that represents a wealth of information. If you are dealing with a large audience then it is likely that vast majority of your audience’ communication will be at the non-verbal level. So it is important that we pay attention to our audience and that we take advantage of every opportunity to ‘listen with our eyes’.
Do you want to be a more effective communicator? Practice active listening.
Active listening is a tool in your Speaker’s Tool box
Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!
Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.
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