Allegory of Hearing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Just listen!” she said. At the guilty face in front of her, the penny or other shoe drops.
“You never listen, do you?”
A rueful shake of the head.
“There is a reason.”
Say that to a guy and he goes ballistic. To a woman and she stares at you in amazement then demands an explanation.
Simple really. If I can talk and talk and talk, there is no chance you will be able to ask a question. Not going to hear the question. At least there is a 50:50 chance of not hearing it. To lower the odds, people with a hearing issue learn to talk a lot. Sound familiar?
It also happens when you’re interviewing, I’ve been caught out a couple of times by people saying ‘yes’ to questions. It is only when you rephrase the question and it doesn’t allow the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer that you realise:
a) They have not heard you;
b) You have to figure out how much they have heard, if anything(!);
c) You have to revise your questions so it doesn’t happen again.
We’re past masters at it as we’ve been doing it for years.
If you disagree, people want to know why. If you agree, they’re happy. If you agree but do nothing and they find out, they will explode! We have a badge on Hearing Market, an old commerce site, that reads ‘If I agree, I haven’t heard you.’ If you want one, email us your snail mail! And that’s a global offer for a global issue J
Related articles
- The number one skill – How to become a good listener (hazima.wordpress.com)
- Just Listening. (corporatehealthtrainer.wordpress.com)
- What It Means to Really Listen (empwaynek.wordpress.com)
