Assertive Communication:
Getting What You Need through LISTENING!

Listening Is a Critical and Fundamental Skill in Communications
You being more open to new ideas
Better communications with others
Providing better customer service
Quicker to understand and deal with change
Becoming better at conflict resolution
Higher productivity
More friend
Better love life
A raise $$$$$$
Engaged Listening Leads To:
Researcherstell usthat we spend
45% of our time listening but most people are only 25% effective listeners.The goal of this program isto give you tools that you can start using right away to help
you become a moreeffective listener.
Becoming a good listener requires you to first assess yourself on several behaviorsthat may be negatively impacting your overall listening capabilities.You may want to get feedback from a good friend, boss or mentor.
What Keeps You from Listening?
Biggest Challenges to Engaged Listening
* Interrupting others
* Finishing others sentences
* Listening poorly to those we __________
* Planning the answers or solutions while others are still talking- not listening
* Misinterpreting non-verbal signals
* Not listening to the whole message or thecontent
Activity
Listening Toolbox
1. Non-verbal Signals
2.The Communication Loop
3. Listening Levels
We gather more information from tone of voice and non-verbal expressions than from actual words.
Several research studies on listening have shown that less than 30% or meaning comes from the words we say.
Much of Non-Verbal is based on
What We See
What
We Hear
1. Non-verbal Signals
Engaged listening requires understanding of what someone is saying with their gestures,eye contact, tone of voice as well as their words
2. The Communication Loop
The communication loop
contains 4 parts. A breakdown at any point, can cause a communication failure
The Sender
Wrong time, wrong message, wrong place, wrong tone of voice, wrong words, wrong non-verbals, wrong communications instrument
The Message
Too long, too short, too general, too quick, too imprecise, too late, too soon, too abrasive, too fluffy, to aggressive
The Receiver
Distracted, lack of interest,
emotional block,
lack of attention, confused, scared, impatient
Feedback Breakdown
Failure to seek feedback, failure to give feedback, unreliable source, avoid conflict, fear
3.The Awareness of your Listening Level
Today many organizations
Reward quick solutions
and
short term results
Time to check ourselves on these behaviors
___ Impatient- pure action driven
___Insecure- wants to take the credit
___Arrogant-assumes that others arent that smart
___Individual contributor- doesnt think TEAM
___Inattention to details
___Over-focused on own agenda
___ Too competitive to listen to anyone else
___Dont like the process
___Anything else?-
An Opportunity
Engagedlisteners (leaders) know that they do not have to have all of the answers, and
That the best solutions often come from
Anyone in the organization
A collection of ideas from many individuals
People that are closest to the customer
Take A Seat triumphs at BANFF-Dominic Gills mission is to cycle the 32,000 kilometers from the north coast of Alaska to the southern tip of South America, on a tandem push bike, picking up strangers on the way
Intention
vs.
Impact
karen@karenmccullough.com