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Communication Skills - How to be a Better Listener

Communication Skills - How to be a Better Listener

One guaranteed way to annoy people is to appear not to be listening to what they say. The key word is appear. You might be paying attention, but it might not seem that way. What you need to display is active listening. There are some barriers which can get in the way of listening, and you need to be aware of a couple of these -

Prejudices

This is two-sided. One is the feelings (positive or negative) that you have about the other party to the communication. The other is how they feel about you. It's vital to listen without prejudice.

Brain speed

Most people speak at between 120/180 words per minute. At the same time, your brain works at 500/550 wpm. Therefore you need to concentrate fully on what's being said - and also learn not to interrupt simply to speed things along. You need to avoid the situation where your mind wanders to fill up this “empty space” between the speaking and listening speeds


Try the following "active listening" techniques -

# Teach yourself to carefully listen to the content - and to watch the body language which surrounds it. Check that the two messages are the same - if not, what the body is saying is likely to be the more accurate. Be careful not to focus on how something is said - thereby missing on out on what has been said

# Listen to understand - rather than simply to respond. If, whilst listening, in your mind you're forming a statement, then you're getting ready to respond. If you are forming questions, then you're trying to understand

# Provide verbal signals - sound like "uh-huh" "mmm" - words like "yep" "I see" "go on" "really" - demonstrate that you are listening

# Provide non-verbal signals - such as eye contact, smiling, nodding, leaning forward, tilting your head slightly forward and to one side etc.

# Check your comprehension - summarize the other person's key points and ask them to confirm that you have correctly gathered the information

# Repetition - repeat their last sentence or key points back to them - and then follow this with an inquiring question for further information

So, work at developing your listening skills - and enjoy the results





Communication Skills How to be a Better Listener - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard's Website.

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John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center.
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Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

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John Brennan
John Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website

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David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website


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Gordon Veniard
(Visit Gordon's Website) GORDON VENIARD thanks you for your interest in these articles He has been delivering training events - and creating and providing valuable development materials - for more than 20 years Gordon covers a wide range of business communication, promotion, sales, negotiation, customer service, leadership and management subjects. He has worked with major companies and organisations; spoken at many conferences and seminars - always adding good humor to valuable advice To find out more, Gordon would be pleased if you would take a moment to visit his new website: www.thevenworks.com. You can register for his free business tips newsletter; and download some valuable freebies (including a copyable, free-to-use "to-do" list) If you have any queries or questions you would like Gordon to answer, please email: gordon@thevenworks.com Thanks again - please enjoy - and feel free to share - any of these articles which are of use to you and your colleagues

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