Intentional Listening

Illustration courtesy of Grok

So much of this semester in Sales and the Startup has been getting us in the mindset to ask questions, to dig deeper, to even feel the pain with others and be empathetic.  With this requires a very important skill: becoming a better listener.  And just how do we go about doing this?

Becoming a better listener is a skill every human should strive toward.  Many times I have left a conversation and realized that I was not asked one question.  I hardly said a word.  In those instances, I was the listener.  For some reason those experiences are often energy-zapping for me.   Listening can be hard work!  These experiences have helped me realize that being a listener does often have to become an intentional decision that we must make.

Being a better listener will help you in many aspects of life.  It will help you be a better friend, a better coworker, and better at sales, because, you know, life is about selling.

There are books on becoming a better listener.  There are so many articles only.  One from the Harvard Business Review was pretty interesting. This is a LINK to that article.

In my reading, body language is mentioned.  So it also is important, while we are listening, to not just listen but make sure you actually look like you are listening.  It could be you are genuinely listening, but the person speaking may not think you are.  If this is the case, pay attention to your body language and try to make eye contact on a regular basis and even lean in to show that you are focused.

It seems like there are so many common sense things we are learning about in class.  As simple as these things are, I know I am learning a lot and hope I can be more intentional about really listening well!

If we do our best to really master becoming a good listener we will not just benefit professionally, but also personally as Prof. Sweet touched upon in class today:-)

So I think the goal for us is Practice, Practice, Practice and be intentional.