The challenges of a fast-paced world make many people poor listeners. Effective listening plays a critical role in business. The most successful people I know are people with solid listening skills. Improving your ability to listen will help you to earn respect, advance your career and generally improve all of your relationships.Here are 9 ways to become a better listener:
- Evaluate your listening skills by paying attention to how you currently interact with others.
- Avoid distractions so you can concentrate on what the other person is saying.
- Send nonverbal messages through eye contact and body language to indicate that you have heard what is being said.
- Don’t be too quick to judge or offer an opinion even when you agree with the other person.
- Practice reflective listening by paraphrasing what the other person has said.
- Ask good, open-ended questions to clarify your understanding and to show your interest.
- Learn to distinguish when commenting is worth it and when it’s not.
- Encourage the other person by exhibiting sincere enthusiasm and respect.
- Set aside your ego to focus less on you and more on the other person.
