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Nov 29, 2016
Brenda Smyth
Listening is hard. You’re distracted. You’re not interested. You’re evaluating, making assumptions and judgments. Even good listeners can have a few bad listening habits. But sometimes, even when you’ve listened well, it’s your response that’s ineffective. And your response is a key part of the listening process.
Here are examples of poor responses:
Examples:
2. Patronizing
Examples:
3. Interpretive
Examples:
4. Interrogating
Examples:
5. Empathetic
Examples:
Everyone can (and should) learn to listen well. But, remember how you respond is integral to the listening process. Be careful not to be judgmental, patronizing, interpretive, interrogative or empathetic. Don’t advise. Don’t evaluate. Don’t reassure. Your goal as a listener is to understand and to let the other person know that you do.
Brenda Smyth
Brenda Smyth is supervisor of content creation at SkillPath. Drawing from 20-plus years of business and management experience, her writings have appeared on Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com and Training Industry Magazine.
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