Toastmasters International Show Effective Leadership Requires Effective and Focused Listening Skills With The Golden Gavel Recipient Award
Listening Skills
Focusing on what someone is saying, not only in their verbal voice but in their body language and in their "implied" voice lends itself to effective communication.
Toastmaster's International, an international public speaking organization, has built a long-term reputation on teaching people of all walks of life how to speak and communicate effectively.
This year's Golden Gavel Recipient, Barbara DeAngelis, won the coveted award on being able to effectively teach people the benefits of personal transformation by listening to others and listening and focusing on themselves.
I particularly like one of the interview questions that asked her about human behavior skills and being authentic in their interaction with others:
The Toastmaster: As an expert in human relations, what aspect of communication have you found to be most challenging for people?
Dr. De Angelis: “The main reason many people have a difficult time communicating with others is that they are not communicating with themselves! They are disconnected from their own truths, emotions, needs and dreams, and spend a lot of their energy attempting to not feel, not see, not know. No wonder we don’t express ourselves clearly to other people.
We worry more about what we think we should say or [how we should] look rather than being authentic.... Communicating with authenticity means that how you present yourself to others is who you really are.
I totally agree that when we present ourselves to others who we really are, we are essentially employing our listening skills. You see, listening requires concentration, focus. We are successful in listening properly when we take into account:
1. What we have heard
2. Analyzed what we have heard
3. Act on what we have heard
Listening is not the same as hearing. It is a communication skill that takes practice. Practice is what develops our listening skills into become effective hearers, thus effective doers. If we want our employees to really hear us, to really listen to us, we should become effective listeners as well.
Really feel blessed that I had the opportunity to work with an extended arm of the Samaritans @ Hyd. India.There, I learnt that the more effective I was at listening to those who were potential suicide cases, the greater the likelihood of weaning them away. Truly, I felt the impact of 'listening' when one such person who was determined to go forward with the act, said that no one had actually 'listened' to him until then. I actually discovered the 'power of effective listening' then. Do need a referesher now! Thanks for reviving the need to get in touch & listen to oneself first!
Posted by: Brian Papali | January 6, 2008 9:28 PM | Permalink to Comment