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Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a productive day and achieving all that you have set out to do. I have been looking for ways to improve my communication, but in particular active listening. At times I tend to zone out of conversations and not make an effort to fully understand the message because I'm distracted by something else. Even M.Scott Peck said, "You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time." So here are some stages of active listening I have been applying, which can be helpful to you in business communications.
Receiving
In this step, you want to be able to isolate all distractions, even if it means putting your phone on silent for a few minutes or closing down your laptop screen to focus on what the person is saying.
Understanding
At this stage, you want to be careful not to assign your perception of the message. Instead, focus on what the person is experiencing and sharing.
Remembering
For me, this is one of the most challenging stages. Have you ever had a moment when you shared your piece, and then someone asks you to repeat yourself? That same frustration is what the other person feels. Therefore, it is best to get some memorizing techniques to help. What I started doing is to take mental notes of keywords throughout the conversation.
Evaluating
This is the stage where you analyze and form your judgment of the message to share your insights or opinions about the matter.
Responding
I learned that there are two types of feedback. First, it can be formative feedback where you interact with the person and understand their message by head nodding or taking notes. The second type is summative feedback which is when you share your opinions at the end of the conversation. I realized that I usually give formative feedback, but now I'm trying to change to summative form because I sometimes steer away from the topic and end up on a whole rabbit trail.
My question of the day to you is: How do you practice active listening? I would be thrilled if you shared with us below! We appreciate it when you interact with us! Until then, be safe and be well, my Community friends!
