When you focus only on yourself it creates all kinds of problems for you, especially when you are attempting to communicate with another person or them with you. Many of us are busy thinking about what we want to say or have other issues on our mind that distract us.
You might even be guilty of asking a question and not paying any attention to the other person's answer. My children have accused me of that. At times, I have had to plead the Fifth Amendment on those charges; a few times I courageously owned up to it and sometimes I got defensive. When you get caught red-handed on not listening it's embarrassing!
Learning to be "present" and becoming an attentive listener will change the quality of your communication skills and the success of your interpersonal relationships. A skill worth developing, listening will boost your performance on the job and increase harmony at home!
Think about the last time you noticed someone obviously not paying attention when you were trying to communicate with them. What specific behaviors did the person exhibit that led you to believe that he or she was tuning you out? What did you read into that? Did you feel discounted or ignored?
Often when we think the listener isn't paying attention we choose to frustrate or become offended. Next time you get tuned out and turned off by being ignored, consider it a wake-up call and take note to pay attention and respect when it’s your turn to listen. Keep the focus on your listening skills; learn from others’ behaviors that you want to mirror and those you want to avoid.
If you want to discover more about listening behavior email me, honey@interaction-training.com and request a complimentary copy of The Listening Self-Assessment. It’s yours for the asking.
Still learning,
Honey
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