listening Archives | Accent On Business

Listening is a Sign of Respect

listening-157386_1280 Think of your last conversation. If you remember what you said more clearly than what you heard, you probably need to work on your listening skills.

Listening is a sign of respect. It shows that you value what the speaker has to say. If you take the time to listen to someone, take the time to listen properly. Set aside what you are doing so you can focus on the speaker, showing them that they are important to you. This will encourage the speaker to crystallize his message instead of giving you a shortened and vague version. If you continue to focus on your work, you may miss key gestures or facial expressions that may indicate the speaker’s true feelings differ from his words.

It’s not always easy to focus on what a speaker is trying to say, especially if he has distracting idiosyncrasies. […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, conversation, fillers, habit, how to listen, how to listen better, how to work on listening skills, interview, interviews, listening, listening skills, technique, why listening is important, why you should listen|Comments Off

Stuttering: Advice for Listeners

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Often, people are unsure about how to respond when talking to people who stutter. This uncertainty can cause listeners to do things like look away during moments of stuttering, interrupt the speaker or fill in words, or simply not talk to people who stutter at all. None of these reactions is particularly helpful, though. In general, people who stutter want to be treated just like anybody else. They recognize-in fact, they may be acutely aware-that their speech is different and that it takes them longer to say things. Unfortunately, though, this sometimes leads the speaker to feel pressure to speak quickly. Under such conditions, people who stutter often have even more difficultly saying what they want to say in a smooth, timely manner. Thus, listener reactions that suggest impatience or annoyance may actually make it harder for people who stutter to speak.

When […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: communication, conversation, how to help someone who stutters, how to stop stuttering, listening, stuttering, stuttering tips, technique, tips for stuttering, voice problem|1 Comment