Hone Your Listening Skills To Boost Your Career
Good listening is crucial to effective communication and career success. However, only about 10% of us listen properly. Most of us don’t know how to listen intelligently, systematically and purposefully.
Think about your most recent conversations at work. If you remember what you said better than what you heard, you’ve probably developed some pretty bad listening habits. Instead of really listening, you let your mind wander while others were talking. You were thinking about what you were going to say before the others had finished. Poor listening can cause snafus in the office such as missing important appointments, misunderstanding directions, misinterpreting valuable suggestions or addressing the wrong problems.
There is little doubt that disgraceful listening habits have hindered many managerial careers. According to several estimates, about 45% of a manager’s typical day is spent listening. Some managers believe they earn up to 60% […]
Executives often spend “windshield time” and even scheduled time crafting the words they will use to convey their vision. With so much time spent on what to say, why is it that we often have to repeat ourselves two or three – or ten – times before we get everyone in the office “on board”? I’ll tell you why: it’s not just about what you say; it’s how you say it that makes the difference. Content represents only 7% of what people remember after they have heard you speak. The bulk of what people understand (93% of it, actually) is conveyed through your gestures, the eye contact you make with the crowd, your body language and movement, and your tone of voice. Does your body language and tone of voice “say” what you want it to say; what you intended?
Last time we started our “Top Tips for Your Next Speaking Engagement”. This is Part 2 of better microphone usage:
Here’s food for thought: when you meet with senior management in your organization, do you know what to say? More importantly, do you know how to say it and when to say it? If not, then you may be selling yourself short when it comes to stating your value to the organization. Sure it’s great to get a company to help take care of the HR, workplace injury and other sections of the company but this won’t help increase the value of yourself if you keep selling yourself short.
Picture this:
Here at Accent On Business, we work with clients from many different professional and personal backgrounds. Whether they are doctors, salespeople, junior executives or administrators, our clients come to us with needs as diverse as they are. Some seek to improve their presentation skills, others are looking to overcome a fear of public speaking, and still others simply want to improve their overall communication skills or create a memorable “elevator speech.” In the end, however, all share a common bond – to be the best they can be at what they do. Recently, one of our regular clients did just that and he wrote us to share news of his achievement.