What Happens When You Don’t Listen & the Unforeseen Danger of Misinterpretation
What Happens When You Don’t Listen & the Unforeseen Danger of Misinterpretation…
Poor listening skills can lead to misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and missed opportunities.
But even if you do listen by paying attention and hearing all the words, you can still misinterpret what you hear.
How can that happen? A frequent cause is not having all the information or making an assumption which is not accurate.
Example– Your client is married and both husband and wife work remotely at home. You know this because your client talks about both taking care of the two-year old. You remember your client saying that the husband helped her get her job. She works remotely for a hospital system whose home base is in Minnesota. You assume they both work for the same company and decided (for some reason) to live in Pennsylvania.
ACK!!! Your assumptions are wrong. Turns out they live in Pennsylvania in the city of her husband’s professorial job at a university and he does blended work— on site at the university and remote work. They do not work for the same company.
So how to avoid misinformation and inaccurate assumptions? Use clarifying questions like: “Let me see if I understand accurately …” or “Do I understand correctly…” or “Tell me if I have the picture right…”
Develop your skill of listening and asking clarifying questions to increase connection with people, inspire trust and rapport, and build strong relationships that lead to greater satisfaction and successful outcomes.
English Communication Skill: Up Your Listening Game
English Communication Skill: Up Your Listening Game
Communication is connecting with people, and connecting with people is relationship. Half the story is listening.
Do you want to be a better listener.. or gasp!… an over the top listener? Do you want other persons to know you are truly in the same space with them?
Here’s two techniques, easy and immediate.
First, clear away the clutter–. noise clutter, desk clutter, even mind clutter.
What to do?
- Don’t just mute devices, turn them off– phone, streaming device or TV.
- Something else on your mind? Write it down before you enter a conversation. Your note’s the reminder, so no worry about forgetting to get to this issue– and your mind is free to focus on the rest of the conversation.
- Clear your desk of whatever is between you and the speaker – so you concentrate on the speaker’s message.
- Can’t turn phone off, then don’t accept phone calls or view texts. Such Interruptions makes the person in the room feel unimportant and makes what you have to say seem unimportant.
Second, count to three. Couldn’t be simpler– to enable you to listen more effectively, just count to three before you speak. This slight delay enables you to absorb and understand the last statement before you respond. Three seconds to absorb the message and give the other person one last chance to modify the statement or question. Even if your response is that you must consult with your client, spouse, or boss, pausing for three seconds helps you better understand and remember what the other person said.
Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.
