Friday, March 20, 2015

Listening is important


Pay Attention to Nonverbal Behaviors.

 Listen with your eyes as well as your ears—watch a person’s facial, eye, and body movements in addition to the tone of their voice. Be aware of clues that their silent behaviors provide while at the same time being sensitive to your own nonverbal signals. For example: are you encouraging someone to continue with a conversation, or silently telling them to stop?

Ask Questions.

 This is not about interrogation or control. Use well thought out questions to seek information, opinions, or ideas that will help you understand the person while helping them feel heard. The best leaders ask open-ended questions to encourage communication, clarifying questions to check for understanding, and prompting questions to encourage deeper thinking.

1 comment:

Road Warrior said...

We may be leaving out non-verbal communication...What about e-mails?Often time's I'm getting so many e-mails that sometimes I fail in understanding what was being asked..I simply scan the e-mails for key words and go on the next...I have to remind myself to read every line...