Comms Lab: Listen
Comms Lab: Episode 20
Be a Better Listener. But, How?
Ever heard that becoming an excellent listener is the key to becoming a great communicator? Sure. But how do you actually do it?
In this video, I take a leaf out of one of my favourite books on communication: Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss.
Chris is a former FBI hostage negotiator and master communicator. He teaches multiple skills for how we can all become better communicators, but it’s the simplest skill, that I have found to have the biggest impact on my ability to listen well.
In this video we’ll take a deep dive into that skill, and give examples so you can see how it actually looks and sounds.
Then, I’ll discuss the 5 reasons why I think this skill has been revolutionary for me, in transforming me into a better listener and therefore, a better all-round communicator.
Got a different take on this? Great – I’d love to see your feedback. Put it in the comments section below.
0:00 – The Biggest Barrier to Effective Listening
0:26 – This is Chris Voss
0:47 – The Mirror
1:51 – 1. It’s So Easy
2:11 – 2. It Forces You to Listen.
2:26 – 3. Gather Information Effectively and Efficiently
2:43 – 4. Incredible for Rapport Building
2:54 – 5. Subtly Direct the Conversation
References
- Voss C. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It. 2016
- Voss C. Never Split The Difference. TED talk
Further reading
- Richards H. De-escalating Challenging Emotions – A Battle-tested Approach. Comms Lab
- Comms Lab with Hayden Richards on YouTube
- Sunday Synapse Newsletter
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Comms Lab
A path to highly effective communication skills
Hayden is an emergency physician at University Hospital Geelong and a senior lecturer at Deakin University, Geelong. He is somewhat obsessed with the science and art of effective communication, and in particular: difficult conversations. He believes that we can all get better at having difficult conversations, and that the process of learning to do so can be seriously fun.
Hayden is also an avid but terrible surfer, ad hoc gardener, and dad to two awesome kids. | LinkedIn |