The Art of Listening

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Art of Listening
THE ART OF LISTENING
Concentrated attention-giving

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Attribution: All images are from sources where a Creative Commons license exists for commercial use. All icons are on subscription
from thenounproject. All clipart is from free sources. The MTL Professional Development Programme is copyright of Manage Train
Learn.
TheArt of
Listening
Introduction: We all think that listening is natural and something we all do well. But real
listening, - listening that is profound, focused, and empathic, - is rare. For those who perform
the modern manager roles of communicating, people managing, and counselling, it is an
essential skill.

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When you need to listen, stop what you’re doing
1. STOP, LOOK
AND LISTEN
https://pixabay.com/en/mountains-warning-danger-1128464/
Skilled listening is total listening. It means
stopping what else you are doing and giving
yourself over, lock, stock and barrel, to someone
else. When you are a total listener, your whole
demeanour needs to say to the other person, "for
the next few minutes, I want to focus on you,
hear what you are saying, and understand you."

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2. TAKE
YOURSELF OUT
OF THINGS
https://pixabay.com/en/technology-spotlight-hamburg-1575496/
Focus on them, not on you
The biggest block to fully listening to someone
else is what is going on in your own mind. If you
hear yourself analysing what the other person is
saying, thinking about it and planning your
response, then you've stopped listening. You've
simply picked up a few things and hurried to your
own conclusions. Instead, listen to the end. Listen
without interruption. And take yourself out of
things.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/72283508@N00/3401804171/
Try to understand their frame of reference
3. LOOK
THROUGH A
WINDOW
When we talk to others, most of us interpret
what people say through our own perceptions
and understandings. In reality, we can do no else.
Our view of the world has to be different from
theirs. This is what is meant by looking at others
through a mirror. In focused listening, however,
you should aim to see things according to how
they see things, even if you yourself don't share
their view. This is empathic listening, or seeing
things through the window of their frame of
reference.

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4. STAY
TUNED IN
https://pixabay.com/en/ear-shell-ear-canal-inner-ear-973235/
Listening to hear
One of the greatest challenges for anyone
performing the role of professional listener is to
listen to someone who is talking about things that
wouldn't normally interest you. Most of us are
quickly turned off by things that are not on our
favourite list of topics. When this happens in your
professional role, don't switch off. Go to that
point of listening more intently than ever, even if
you have to ask more questions and seek more
explanations.

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https://pixabay.com/en/michelangelo-s-david-ear-blinds-sun-650499/
The Ear from Michelangelo’s sculpture of David
5. BE ALERT,
ALIVE AND
ATTENTIVE
You can tell if someone is listening carefully to
someone else. There is a stillness in their body
and their mind, like a calm lake. They don't move.
They give constant eye contact. They are as near
as possible to being on the other person's
wavelength. This is the quality of attentiveness
and it is one of the secrets to the art of listening.

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6. TAKE YOUR
TIME
https://www.flickr.com/photos/poptech/6035810410/
Be present, be aware, be focused
Time sometimes seems to stand still when you
are fully listening to someone. You are not in a
hurry. You don't think about what's just been said
or what you're going to say next. You are only
aware in a fluid, soft focus way of what is being
said here and now. Paradoxically, taking your time
to listen doesn't take you longer. In fact, it is the
most efficient way to listen.

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https://pixabay.com/en/ipad-girl-tablet-internet-1721428/
Listen to learn; listen to connect
7. RESPOND
TO THE
MOMENT
As a listener, you may spend most of your time
doing nothing but listening. However, sometimes
you may have to intervene to respond. Always
respond in the moment, in other words, to where
people are. Only ask questions that pick up what
the person has just said and where they are. If
you have nothing to say, then say nothing. That
way, the exchange is a true meeting of minds.

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This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
Listening is a powerful tool in all kinds of communication. The more skilled you are, - to the point
that it has become an art, - the more successful will be your understanding and communication.

The Art of Listening

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