By Peter Murphy Learning to listen would be easy if we were not so busy talking! In the meantime here are 7 super tips for developing superior listening skills. Each one is fun and will help you to become a great listener. A caring listener is someone who is valued and appreciated by friends and peers. People absolutely love it when someone is deeply interested in them and genuinely pays attention to what they say. Be different, be a great listener and stand out from the crowd. - Listen to music and pick out the silence and pauses between the words. You will be paying very close attention without even trying. And this skill will transfer to conversations. Plus you get to enjoy some great music!
- Pay attention to volume. Choose one conversation each day and observe how the volume rises and falls during the conversation. It is impossible to not listen and spot changes in volume, voice tone or pitch. Focus on these element when your mind starts to wander.
- Watch TV with the sound down low so that you have to strain a little to hear. You will be forced to listen attentively and you may even find yourself watching what is happening very closely to make sure you do not miss anything. Do the same thing with friends and they will appreciate that you care enough to give them your full attention.
- When you are on the phone exhale while the other person is talking. This will help you to get in rapport with their breathing since they are breathing out as they speak. And it stops you from jumping in with something to say before the other person is finished.
- Pick a conversation and decide that you will not listen to a word that the other person says. Notice how you achieve this. You may then realize how often you do this each day. Awareness is the first step towards improvement, now decide to be a better listener and practice.
- Have a conversation with someone about a topic that really bores you. Only pretend you are very, very interested. Adopting an attentive posture really helps as does maintaining eye contact. Can you see how easy it is to be a better listener just by deciding to be?
- Watch how people move their mouths while speaking. This virtually forces you to listen to what they are saying. Look for patterns to keep yourself challenged otherwise you may just lose interest.
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Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a a very popular report on Persuasive Speaking. To receive this report by email send a mailto:speakersreport@sendfree.com . Do it now because you can still receive it free.
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