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What Great Listeners Actually Do Summary

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According to Laura Schneider’s article, What Great Listeners Actually Do, good listening is much more than being silent when the other person talks. Many people have high appraisal of their listening abilities, often times they are seen as above average. In today’s society, management often encourages listeners to remain quiet, nod and “Mh-hmm” accordingly, and then repeat something like “So, let me make sure I understand.” However, recent research conducted by the Harvard Business Review (HBR) suggested that these behaviors actually fall short of good listening skills. With that in mind, the general consensus of good listening involves; not talking when others are speaking, letting others know you’re listening through facial expressions and verbal sounds, and being able to repeat what others have said. With that, HBR analyzed data describing behavior of …show more content…

As can be seen, good listening involves the ability to bounce ideas off of one another, amplifying, energizing, and clarifying your thinking. Good listeners never steal the conversation so that their issues can become the subject of the discussion. Listeners will understand the person’s emotions and feelings about the topic at hand, then proceed to identify and acknowledge them. The listener will empathize with them and validate those feelings in a supportive way that is reflective of their personality. This allows for a safe environment and suggests that there are no assumptions being made about the current subject. Often, we are caught up in barriers that do not allow us to understand the substance of what the other person is saying. It is natural for listeners to think of what they are saying before the other person has spoken. The listener must seek to understand the substance in order to have a frame of reference, allowing them to capture ideas, ask questions and restate issues to confirm that their understanding is

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