Listen with the intent to understand

Hi
I hope you are well and ready for the week.
This week I have a fabulous EDGE Coaching tip for you to practice, which may help you when in conversation. Sometimes, the two-way spirit of communication gets ignored; when this happens only one side of the discussion is adequately understood. Today I will offer five tips to practice that will hopefully help you avoid this situation and get you to a productive outcome quicker. After all
"You have two ears and one mouth; listen twice as much as you speak."
Epictetus, Greek philosopher
In coaching conversations, we believe there are three levels of listening.

Level 1. Internal listening: Listening to words to formulate a response or to meet your own needs. You are listening for what the words mean to you.
Level 2. Focused listening. Shifting the listening focus to the speaker, leaning in and listening intently. Words, expressions, tone, pace, and emotions are being heard.
Level 3. Global listening. Where listening seems to take place only in a bubble containing the two of you, a forcefield surrounds you both, and you are using all senses to listen with; what do you see, hear, feel and smell. When you get a sense of something else going on, your intuition comes into play, so you ask about what you sense.

My tip this week is:     Listen with the intent to understand

To support you,  try to remember these five tips for good interactive listening:

1. Listen intently: this inspires confidence in the speaker.
2. Listen for expression and emotion; how might your conversation partner be feeling
3. Use silence confidently as a tool to encourage hesitant speakers. (excellent for students)
4. Ask open questions that lead to a discussion or more information.
5. Start your response with something your conversation partner said, so they know you got the gist.

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."nStephen R. Covey
I hope this EDGE Coaching tip helps you to enjoy a more productive week.