Think a bit.
A guy was complaining to his wife’s nagging. He said: “All my wife does is talking, talking, talking and talking.” His friend asked,“Well, what does she talk about?” He answered, “I don’t know, she doesn’t say!”
With two ears and one mouth, it would be nice to be good listeners than talkers! But research shows that we usually listen to only 20% of what others say to us. Yet to be a good listener is one of the easiest, most important ways to be successful.
It’s interesting that even though we can’t actually shut our ears. We somehow still manage to listen only to what we want to. But when we don’t listen to others closely, we not only hurt them, but also hurt ourselves. There are 3 important things we need to do when we listen to others.
The first is observation. Use your eyes and look at the speaker. It’s just common courtesy and respect. Take your eyes off the TV, newspaper or other else, and give that person your attention.
The second is concentration. Many of us feel shy to look at someone in the eyes. Some pretend that they’re listening, while their minds are actually miles a way. Also, when someone is talking to us, we shouldn’t interrupt him or her.
The third, probably the most important part, is consideration. Don’t just hear the person’s words, we should care about what that person’s feeling. Let the speaker know that we are really interested in what he is talking about. Let him know that we like to exchange ideas with him.