May we be generous in listening?

The more I interact with people, the more I find that most of them are interested in talking about themselves. Nothing wrong with it! It’s after all a basic human nature. We all want to talk about ourselves and also love to hear good things about ourselves. But why do we forget that other people also have the need and urge to talk and would be appreciative of us if we listened to them!

In this post I am emphasizing on listening and not hearing. These are two different activities. Listening is accomplished by conscious effort while hearing happens on its own. Listening is difficult while hearing is simple. In order to listen, one must also have patience without which it’s highly impossible to listen. Unless you are patient, you will be tempted to interrupt the other person.

Reflect upon some of your recent conversations. Were you listening to the other person without thinking about anything else? Were you exclusively in conversation with that person or were you multi-tasking? May be you were browsing, or typing or doing some household chores or perhaps driving!! Though our hectic lifestyles have made it sort of mandatory to multi-task, some tasks are best accomplished when done single-handedly. Listening is just one of them!

So, how do we improve our listening skills? The answer is simple and straightforward….practice, practice and practice!! Try to stay focused on the conversation and resist temptations to interrupt or to think about something else while talking to others. It might be difficult initially but take one step at a time. For a few days, try to stay focused for at least 5 minutes during the conversation. Once you accomplish this, extend your time to 10 minutes and so on.

There are many advantages of having great listening skills. When you listen to someone carefully, the chances of misunderstandings are less. The other person feels valued and will also appreciate your 100% involvement in the conversation.

Advertisement