Listen Up!

Have you ever asked someone a question and as soon as you've asked it, you're thinking of a follow up question? Or you start thinking about your own experiences of what they're talking about? Or worse still you start judging them?!.... Take a look at my blog#nojudging….

If you're human! You'll have answered yes to at least one of the above, if not all of them - and this is absolutely normal. But. Are you having a valuable conversation and both getting the most out of it?

I've heard of active listening before but I was recently on a course where I had to really do it, and trust me, it was exhausting!

The key with active listening is to:
  • Properly listen!
  • Switch off your inner voice
  • Just be in the moment of the conversation
  • Don't let yourself get distracted
  • Truly listen to what the other person is saying
  • Listen to the phrases they're using
  • And tune into how they're felling when they talk.

It's hard work but if you really care about the answer to the question you're asking it can be enlightening… you can then ask brilliant follow up questions, you can show that you have empathy in what they're saying, you can paraphrase back to them what you've heard and you can demonstrate that you really care about them and what they have to say.


So I challenge you to try it, give it a go and see the difference it makes.




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