Key to Communication Part 8: Listening

Face your Audience

Face your audience and nod your head while you are listening. If you are too concerned about your own speech you can face other directions and it signals that you are not paying attention, when you really are anxious about what to say next.

Stay Present

Being an active listener is really about staying present, but what does that mean? One way to practice staying present is through silence and observation of the noises around you. Silence making you a better communicator? Yes! It helps your get present and listen to the person in front of you.

Ask Questions

If you are finding yourself constantly trying to formulate what to say next, instead come up with go to questions to ask your audience. This is one of the main keys in our series,here. These are the questions to memorize that everyone wants to answer and are critical to communicating effectively.

Don't Interrupt

Interrupting a member of your audience might not feel natural at first, after all, you have a lot to say and deserve to be heard, but as tempting as it might be, resist. Less is more with listening. Really concentrate on what your audience or other person is saying to you without thinking of your response.

We hope that some of these free quick tips help you communicate more effectively. Our series on effective communication from Udemy is under $10 and offers so many quick wins for listening and more. Click here to register.