Are You Listening Effectively or Do Your Misunderstandings Ever Get You Into Trouble?
Communication begins with understanding, so stop talking and start listening. Philosophers, psychologists and business professionals have all written endlessly about the power of listening. Your ability to listen determines your ability to influence and communicate.
For one thing, when you fail to listen effectively, you often respond to situations with inaccurate information.
I once went to McDonald's with a friend. We were racing to grab our dinner before watching a movie at his house. As we began pulling out of his drive, we realized that my car was blocking the way. So I jumped from his car, re-parked my car down the road a bit, and scrambled back into his passenger seat. We tore off together, ordered our food and headed back to his place. At the edge of his driveway, he stopped and pointed to my car.
"Do you want to move it back?"
"Nah, I'll just leave (it)."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's okay."
The next thing I knew, he was driving me to my car and saying, "Okay, then good night." "How weird," I thought. "What happened?" I figured that he wanted me to leave, so I got out of his car in a daze and said, "Good night." I drove home, still confused, wondering why he'd suddenly decided to turn me out; when a few blocks from my house, I suddenly realized that he'd not heard me say the word "it".
I had said, "I'll just leave it."
He had heard, "I'll just leave."
Our evening ended with confusion and hurt feelings, simply because I had slurred the word "it," and neither of us had stopped to clarify our confusion. Instead, we chose our actions based upon inaccurate information, and we reaped the benefits of cold food eaten alone.
Too often, we respond to opinions, misunderstandings and hearsay, instead of facts. But when you learn to listen effectively, you'll remember to verify any information that you receive before you react.
Moreover, gathering accurate information is only the first benefit of effective listening. To read more about effective communication, visit Navigating Life's website at http://www.navigatinglife.org, where you will find a free fourteen week on-line course, based upon A River Worth Riding Fourteen Weeks for Navigating Life, which can help you steer through the roughest waters, as well as an on-line life coach available to answer your questions.
Lynn Marie Sager has toured over two-dozen countries and worked on three continents. Author of A River Worth Riding Fourteen Rules for Navigating Life, Lynn currently lives in California; where she fills her time with private coaching, public speaking, and teaching for the LACCD and Pierce College. She runs the Navigating Life website, where she offers free assistance to readers who wish to incorporate the rules of worthwhile living into their lives. To read more about how you can use these rules to improve your life, visit Lynn's website at http://www.navigatinglife.org
Source: http://www.ezinearticles.com/
Added: 17 апреля 2008
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