Helping others become even better versions of themselves
They talk.
We think as they talk.
We wait for the pause.
We hear.
We think again, when is our chance.
We are on the starting blocks.
We are chomping at the bit.
They pause.
We’re in.
Our chance to stand on the podium.
Our chance for the limelight.
Our chance to talk and perhaps only be heard.
We hear but we didn’t listen.
We are always waiting for the pause.
It is not about assessing when you can break into the conversation, waiting for the other person to pause for breath to jump in or thinking what you are going to say next while the other person talks.
Listening is not hearing what we think the other person is saying, as often we think we know what the person is going to say before they say it.
How often do we really listen to the other person?
How often do we stop the thing we are doing and give the person who is speaking our full attention and eye contact?
How often do we actually put our phones or tablets down while someone speaks to us?
Listening is much harder to master than talking, yet it is the only way to really be able to know what the other person is really saying and not what we think they are saying.
Philip Dodson 