Do you ever stop to listen?
What if the missing piece in your communication strategy is silence?
So much communication is lopsided. We spend hours writing reports, preparing presentations, and shooting videos—focused on what we want to say and how we want to say it.
But, how often do we stop to listen?
We all know how it feels to be listened to. Heard. Acknowledged.
And we know how it feels when someone doesn't listen to us. A conversation where you can't get a word in edgeways; an interaction where it feels like the other person doesn't stop to consider anything you've said, and their most frequently used word is 'I.' It doesn't feel good.
Effective communication requires active listening, which needs time and one's full attention: items that are in short supply in our always-on work culture and distraction-riddled society.
With a paucity of time and attention, active listening may be even more of a rare and "great art" than when philosopher J. Krishnamurti penned these eloquent words a few decades ago.
What might change in our work, and our relationships, if we listened just a little more deeply?
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Brendon Bosworth is a communications specialist and science communication trainer. He is the principal consultant at Human Element Communications.
