Are you listening to hear what someone else have to say, or to reply?

Today I heard something very interesting that got me thinking.

“There is a difference between listening in order to hear what someone else is saying, and listening to reply.”

Have you ever thought about this before? What do you do? Do you listen, only to listen? Or do you listen, to be able to respond?

Interestingly enough these words where said during a presentation about value, and they were so powerful that most of the other ideas that was put forward was lost on me. Not only did it make me think about how I listen and how I could become a better listener. It also got me thinking about how society today is becoming so stressed that maybe we do not even have time to listen anymore.

Think about it:

If you are in a business meeting, do you really listen to what they are saying? Or are you thinking about how you are going to respond?

When you are home from work and have dinner with your partner, do you listen to what he or she is saying? Or are you going through your own day or think about what you should respond?

When your children is asking you a question or telling you a story, how do you show that you where listening? Because most of the time, you are doing something else while listening.

If we changed our way of listening, could we have a bigger influence on people because they feel that we are listening? Could we make someone feel better because we took the time to hear what he or she had to say?

I do not have the answers to these questions, but if I look at it from my own perspective, I would value a person that really listens. I would definitely feel better if a person heard what I said without having to reply. And I guess it is the same with you?

So tomorrow I will take the time to listen what people have to say, and I hope you will too.

What do you think? Are there different ways of listening? Can we change the way we listen?

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