Director de Inglés
Colegio Alerce
5 Easy Ways to Be a Better Listener
1. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted. Keep your attention on the speaker.
Too many times we are pending of all the external stimuli around us (cell phones are the worst example of this kind of distraction). No, show the person that you want to listen. It’s just that simple.
2. Relax and don’t interrupt the speaker.
Be patient to allow the speaker to express his/her ideas. Remember, it’s not a competition to see who has the better ideas or who needs to dominate the One of the best ways for a conversation to shut down and be totally ineffective is to be close minded. Be humble and listen. You don’t know everything nor do you have all the answers.
4. Listen to the words the speaker is saying, not your own inner dialogue.
This is a common error. Many times we are planning on what we’ll say next in the conversation instead of truly focusing on the precise words of the speaker. Don’t do this. Turn off your inner dialogue while you are listening.
5. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.
Apathy is so very destructive when listening. If we can really feel what is in another person’s heart or mind, we will be much quicker to listen than to speak.
