How to Improve Listening Skills Effectively

Adriana Girdler

Stop tuning out & start having better communication at work! Do you sometimes zone out during conversations or stop listening so you can formulate your …


Stop tuning out & start having better communication at work!

Do you sometimes zone out during conversations or stop listening so you can formulate your next thought? That’s not always the most effective way to communicate.

Improving your listening skills will make your overall communication better and actually help you get your points across more effectively! Here are some ways you can do that:

  1. Understand why

The first thing you need to do is understand WHY you need to listen.

If you’re going to build genuine relationships in the working environment, or even personally, it is so important to have great listening skills.

Listening effectively allows you to better understand what the other person in the conversation is saying and properly respond back. Listening is part of good communication.

You have two ears but only one mouth, and that’s a great way to think about communication: listen more than you speak.

When you have all the information you truly need, this allows you to be better equipped to come from a place of understanding because you have all the information you need to make a proper response.

  1. Prepare yourself

Get rid of any external distractions (like your phone)!

The worst thing is when you’re having a conversation with someone in your office, and somebody else walks into your office and interrupts. Closing the door to your office when you’re in a meeting or having a one-on-one conversation is an easy way to remove background noise or unexpected interruptions.

There are also internal distractions. If you have to go to the bathroom, if you’re hungry or thirsty, this can actually cause a distraction within yourself because you will constantly be thinking about how to meet those needs so you can be more energized and more comfortable.

Remove those distractions as much as possible, externally and internally, so you can really listen!

These aren’t the only tips I have for you about learning to listen better. If you liked these tips and want to hear more simple ways to improve your listening skills, head over to YouTube with me so we can finish chatting about this. See you there!

Meanwhile, if you really are committed to mastering your next project, do consider taking my SLAY Project Management online course where I show you step-by-step how to successfully manage a project, plus you get access to every template you will need, along with detailed video instructions on how to fill them out.

-Adriana

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Adriana Girdler is a project manager, productivity specialist, entrepreneur, professional speaker, facilitator, visioning wizard, and author. As President of CornerStone Dynamics, Adriana is one of Canada’s prominent business productivity and project management specialists—helping both individuals and businesses do what they do, only better. She is a certified master black belt lean six sigma with over 20 years’ experience improving how companies work.

She also holds both PMP (project management professional) and CET (certified engineering technologist) designations. She’s a Tedx speaker, as well as a HuffPost and Thrive Global contributor. She has been interviewed on Global, CBC, CTV, CHCH, 680News Radio, Newstalk 1010, Sirius XM and published in the Globe and Mail and numerous industry magazines. WANT ADRIANA'S FREE ONLINE TRAINING? In 45 min, learn Adriana's 5 project management secrets she use on EVERY project. Sign up for the Free Webinar here: THE FAB FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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