The Fine Art of Listening
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As a communications professional, I take my obligation seriously to write and speak clearly and effectively when interacting with the media, senior executives or faculty, and co-workers. While this seemingly basic skill is not unique to my trade by any means, I’ve found it’s equally essential to respect and master the art of listening.



Many of us, regardless of our specific job, are quick to brush off this advice and say they’re already a good listener. Roughly translated, this usually means that you are a good passive listener. What’s most critical to being a good listener is taking a more active, dynamic approach to conversations. This means not only processing the actual words exchanged, but also setting mutual expectations for the conversation, knowing your audience and making note of nuances like inflection and body language.



While we may accurately capture most of the factual elements of a conversation or presentation, what’s often more telling is not solely what was discussed, but what was not addressed, and how or why the conversation came about. Was it conclusive, i.e. was there an overt call to action directed to either individual and, if so, did you follow-up accordingly? If not, was it just conversation for conversation’s sake, or did you somehow miss any key takeaways, because you weren’t really listening?



At the risk of again referencing a classic marketing 101 textbook case study one too many times, I’m going to do so anyway, by way of example. When Chevrolet introduced its Nova sedan to Latin America back in the 60s, it first conducted exhaustive trademark research to come up with a model name they felt best supported the Chevy brand. While rights to the name were easily secured, there was a very good reason for that. Anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of the Spanish language will be the first to tell you that in Spanish, “ no va” literally means, “doesn’t go!”



Chevrolet’s cardinal mistake was not listening to their in-country dealers – that is, they failed to truly listen to, and understand, their audience. At its most basic level, being a good listener is as much an art as it is a science. While some of us will inevitably find it easier than others, it’s a skill well-worth mastering to help advance your career, whatever your vocation.